Anti-fishing protest in Norway (Photo: Aftenposten)

"Students could get binoculars or cameras instead of learning to make fish suffer," Relling said in a story cited by the Oslo daily Aftenposten.

The rights group insists "Fishing Pole Project 2003," an expansion of a popular program run last year, also should consider the worms.

"We can't rule out that worms feel pain," said Relling. "I also doubt that children think it is OK to thread a worm onto a hook."

Relling explained his group does not have a specific stance against fishing but "reacts to the suffering of all animals."

"When we have research that shows fish feel pain that means we can not support the school project," he told Dagsavisen. "Bullfighting is culture in Spain, but it shouldn't be maintained on that ground."

Steinar Paulsen of the Norwegian Hunter and Fisherman Federation, the group handing out the fishing poles, did not deny fish feel pain but contends it is not to a great degree. He rejected the comparison to bull fighting.

"There is, after all, a difference between catching a fish with a worm and torturing a bull to death," he said. "But it is important to kill the fish properly and that is why it is essential to teach children how to fish and how to kill them."

Paulsen's group said it would go ahead with the project because to stop it now would "be like canceling Christmas."

Don't forget to see the real funny website called FishingHurts.com.
These people need to get lives...
--Tony