Fishermen visitors frequently join locals on the beaches and waters around Fraser Island to enjoy fishing as a sport.

1.  This is a typical scene along the eastern beaches of Fraser Island when the Tailor fish are biting.
 

2.  To catch a fine Red Emporor like this one it is necessary to board a boat and go fishing over one of the reefs in the ocean offshore from Fraser.  Commercial boats departing from Hervey Bay's boat harbour will take you ocean fishing.
 

3.  These big Flathead were caught off the western shores of the island and make fine eating.
 

4.  Ladies sometimes go fishing too, and catch big fish like the Trevally being displayed here.
 

5.  Taken at night after a successful day's fishing, this photo captures an Oyster Cracker being displayed.
 

6.  Island resident Neville Siede can wander down to the beach in front of his home and catch a feed of fish almost any time.  He is seen here preparing a catch of Dart for the freezer.
 

The other side of the coin:

Researchers tell us that fish have a skeletal and nervous system somewhat similar to humans, making them very capable of feeling pain and panic.  Some species have numerous nerve endings around their mouths, causing these regions to be particularly tender, sensitive, and useful in detecting food.  These facts should come as no surprise to fishermen who have observed the panic and struggle put up by a fish which has had a tender part of its body suddenly pierced by a fishing hook.  That we can not hear their screams is because most fish can not vocalise pain (or anything else).

A human starving for food might reasonably overlook these facts.  But well fed humans who torture fish by hooking, stabbing and spearing them before returning them to the water might like to consider the ethical basis for their sport, in the knowledge that a wounded fish returned to the water immediately becomes likely prey for predators and is likely to die even without their attentions.

Something else to consider is the CSIRO report that the waters surrounding Australia are running out of fish!  The meagre catches of many amateur fishermen these days provide stark contrast with the plentiful catches remembered by older fishermen years ago, confirming that many places are almost fished out.