Metric vs. Imperial

We recently received a thoughtful letter from Keven McRae of Guelph, Ontario, asking us to please use metric instead of imperial measurements when discussing weights, depths, speeds, temperatures and more in our fishing and hunting articles. “My kids do not know what a pound is,” Keven wrote. “We need to encourage our youth to get outdoors, so let’s make it easier for them to understand your articles.” Point taken, Keven. And this is not the first time we’ve struggled with the topic of imperial versus metric.

As it stands, we do indeed primarily use imperial when discussing fishing and hunting techniques, as that is simply the prevailing system of measurement in the world of fishing and hunting. Certainly, metric has been Canada’s official measurement regime since the 1970s, but for whatever reason, the angling and hunting world continues to view the world in imperial. Personal-best fish and tournament-winning limits, for example, are described in terms of pounds. Fishing depths are in feet, meanwhile, and shooting distances? Yards. Then there are lure sizes and weights, always in inches and ounces. And on it goes, including Fahrenheit over Celsius.

Certainly, our close proximity to our metric-free neighbours to the south plays into this, but all that aside, we do at least use metric when it comes to travelling distances, geographical measurements and other things not dictated by fishing and hunting norms. So, what do you think, dear readers? Should Outdoor Canada: