Faster animations didn't do anything at all, save save a few seconds. They did let fish be turned into shards (the best thing ever done for a gather class so far) and they raised the amount of sp per gather for a really good amount. However, they haven't re-released the content they erased for an inexplicable reason, they crippled the fishing leves to near uselessness, and now they're getting rid of any fishing grades higher than 5.

I hope that the reform in guildleve sp rewards might help fishing leves at least, but what it will probably do is just make Sweat of Brow useless outside grinding and cut the sp rewards for leves on Botany and Mining.