04-22-2026, 08:47 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-22-2026, 11:46 PM by Director Michael.)
The following series of questions was received from a Noahide:
Fishing is permitted on the same basis as hunting for birds and animals. Fishing is a type of hunting - for fish. In The Divine Code, see Part IV, chapter 7. It explains that hunting purely for sport is forbidden. The same applies for fishing purely for sport, in which the fish that are caught will not be used for any practical human need.
Most people are in places where they can buy fish from stores. That's a valid ethical reason for choosing not catch fish for yourself, but rather to eat fish that have already been caught by others and put on the market. But the availability of commercial fish doesn't make it forbidden for a person on his own to catch fish that will be eaten.
Catch-and-release fishing is classified as causing unnecessary tza'ar ba'alei chayim ("pain / suffering to a living creature"). So it should not be done.
It is permitted to catch fish to eat them. (Gentiles may eat any species of fish. Jews are only permitted to eat kosher species of fish, which are those with fins and scales.)
It's permitted, and it's not considered to be a risk of unnecessary harm to the fish.
That risk is a necessary part of that method of procuring fish for food.
Likewise, hunting animals for food is permitted (in accordance with the government's laws), despite the risk that an animal might be only wounded by the hunter and might still escape without being taken.
Ethically, a hunter or fisherman is encouraged to take steps to reduce the amount of suffering that he will or might cause to the creatures he is obtaining or trying to obtain for food, if it's not troublesome or inconvenient for him to do so.
Quote:Is fishing permitted for Noahides? I'm talking about rod and reel fishing, with the hooks and everything. It says in The Divine Code that hunting purely for sport is forbidden.
Fishing is permitted on the same basis as hunting for birds and animals. Fishing is a type of hunting - for fish. In The Divine Code, see Part IV, chapter 7. It explains that hunting purely for sport is forbidden. The same applies for fishing purely for sport, in which the fish that are caught will not be used for any practical human need.
Most people are in places where they can buy fish from stores. That's a valid ethical reason for choosing not catch fish for yourself, but rather to eat fish that have already been caught by others and put on the market. But the availability of commercial fish doesn't make it forbidden for a person on his own to catch fish that will be eaten.
Quote:What types of fishing are permitted. Can one catch and release?
Catch-and-release fishing is classified as causing unnecessary tza'ar ba'alei chayim ("pain / suffering to a living creature"). So it should not be done.
It is permitted to catch fish to eat them. (Gentiles may eat any species of fish. Jews are only permitted to eat kosher species of fish, which are those with fins and scales.)
Quote:So fishing with hooks is permitted, despite the risk of a hook snapping off and causing unnecessary harm to a fish?
It's permitted, and it's not considered to be a risk of unnecessary harm to the fish.
That risk is a necessary part of that method of procuring fish for food.
Likewise, hunting animals for food is permitted (in accordance with the government's laws), despite the risk that an animal might be only wounded by the hunter and might still escape without being taken.
Ethically, a hunter or fisherman is encouraged to take steps to reduce the amount of suffering that he will or might cause to the creatures he is obtaining or trying to obtain for food, if it's not troublesome or inconvenient for him to do so.