Hugh's Fish Fight

[Bob Shotter]

I suppose that criticising the language is easier than answering the question

 

Was this not a good enough reply then Quote Is there not an imbalance of quota for the big boys who get something like 90% and our smaller boats the remaining 10%?

 

You see the days at sea sounds like a good idea but then I foresee the amount of fish allowed being insufficient to sustain the boats economically. If that is not the case why don’t they stop fishing once the quota has been reached under the current system? You either want to conserve the stock or continue discarding.

[Bob Shotter]

Bob, even if he had caught his quota of cod and coalfish and knew damn well that he was going to catch more of them whilst trying to catch the fish he still had quota for, don't you understand that with a boat to run and a crew to pay, he doesn't have a choice? The alternative is to keep the boat tied up and go bankrupt, putting his crew on the dole.

 

Contrary to popular belief I’m not a commercial hater as you put it Steve.

 

However I have no time for these discharges which I believe could be reduced by more selective fishing rather than the high grading and use of discards as a weapon to try an move the EU quotas up.

 

I have read on many platforms that this is what folk think and there is seldom smoke without fire.

 

Now I asked for a little honesty that’s all, I’m only an RSA with little knowledge as many of you are quick to point out, so are all of these discards not avoidable in part or whole. Is there no such thing as selective fishing when you have mixed fisheries and areas where only a few species are to be found?

 

Also would some one throw some light on the quota imbalance?

 

The sort of disregard to stop catching Cod when the quota has been reached would not be accepted by any similar land based company and I fully understand the argument you’re using and quoted above by Steve, so no need to repeat that as a reason.

[wurzel]

Contrary to popular belief I’m not a commercial hater as you put it Steve.

 

However I have no time for these discharges which I believe could be reduced by more selective fishing rather than the high grading and use of discards as a weapon to try an move the EU quotas up.

 

I have read on many platforms that this is what folk think and there is seldom smoke without fire.

 

Now I asked for a little honesty that’s all, I’m only an RSA with little knowledge as many of you are quick to point out, so are all of these discards not avoidable in part or whole. Is there no such thing as selective fishing when you have mixed fisheries and areas where only a few species are to be found?

 

Also would some one throw some light on the quota imbalance?

 

The sort of disregard to stop catching Cod when the quota has been reached would not be accepted by any similar land based company and I fully understand the argument you’re using and quoted above by Steve, so no need to repeat that as a reason.

 

Hello Bob

 

It's possible to be selective on sizes of fish you catch but very difficult on species, it also varies on areas and fisheries, there are also what quotas and track records you have been allocated for the vessel you have.

The vessel in the programme fishing north would have difficulty in finding an area where there are no cod but other fish he has quota for, perhaps some soft ground for a some haddock but would have the same problem with wighting discard and would not find many monk or lemon sole. I can relate to the Hasting boats being closer to home, yes in the height of the summer sole season it is possible to have a relatively clean sole catch but the seasons over lap early in the year there are good amounts of sole turning up of which we have some quota for but there are still plenty of cod on the grounds and at the end of the season it's the same but in reverse, you just can't catch soles and ovoid cod, you can how ever by using large meshes catch cod with out catching sole or much else for that mater having no discards what so ever but with cod considered endangered there is no quota so there is no choice but to fish for sole.

 

Days at sea are perhaps an option for larger boats, so long as there are enough days allowed to be viable, I think days at sea for smaller inshore boats would be dangerous forcing boats to sea when its not fit to do so.

[cleeclive]

Contrary to popular belief I’m not a commercial hater as you put it Steve.

 

However I have no time for these discharges which I believe could be reduced by more selective fishing rather than the high grading and use of discards as a weapon to try an move the EU quotas up.

 

I have read on many platforms that this is what folk think and there is seldom smoke without fire.

 

Now I asked for a little honesty that’s all, I’m only an RSA with little knowledge as many of you are quick to point out, so are all of these discards not avoidable in part or whole. Is there no such thing as selective fishing when you have mixed fisheries and areas where only a few species are to be found?

 

Also would some one throw some light on the quota imbalance?

 

The sort of disregard to stop catching Cod when the quota has been reached would not be accepted by any similar land based company and I fully understand the argument you’re using and quoted above by Steve, so no need to repeat that as a reason.

 

 

Now then Deene O I guess after a lifetime of working closely with the fishing industry and 10 of those years working as a discard scientist I might havs some credentials to pass a few comments.

 

I stated in a post not long ago tat after the formation of the CFP the first 10 years was spent pumping money into the industry to develop it and create fishing units that could murder lots of fish, which was funded through grants and loans.

By the begining of the 90's the scientists were saying"oh **** these guys are catching too much the stocks are in trouble" We will give them quotas and keep cutting the quotas to get the balance right.

No one did the sms to say that the guy with a £2000000 investment needs £3000 per day for 200 days a year to pay the loans, the fuel bills and give a reasonable wage to the crew. Is that a fair way to manage things???

Of course it wasn't so we had 10 years of 'Black Fish landings' as a way of making the books balance. As time went on over half the fleet was de-commissioned and rules were tightened up to reduce black landings, but those who have survived still find it hard to balance the books.

 

It has been known for 50 years or more that in trawl fisheries we only eat 25% of the bulk that we catch, half goes over the rail as discards and half is wasted when we fillet it.

 

There is no doubt that fisheries management has been full of failed conservation policies since it started these were enhanced by the madnesss of the CFP and what Hugh is demonstrating is the total madness of wasting tons of mature marketable fish. All of the UK demersal fisheries are mixed fisheries. However a skipper will go to a specific place at a specific time to target cod or haddock etc, but there will always be a mix in the catch.

 

The sight of a lot of big fish in a catch does not bode well for the state of stock recruitment as thes are mature fish 5 years plus. A catch full of 34cm cod shows a strong year class of 2-3 year olds which is a good sign. Wasting our mature breeding stock is total madness.

 

From what I can see so far Hugh is doing a first class job, and I am delighted to see a programme that is not blaming so called greedy fishermen for all this, because you guys that see it all that way have got it wrong, as have the scientists who see it allas the fisherman's fault. The fishermen have had a very raw deal from the incompetence of scientists and so called fishery managers

[barry luxton]

Now then Deene O I guess after a lifetime of working closely with the fishing industry and 10 of those years working as a discard scientist I might havs some credentials to pass a few comments.

 

I stated in a post not long ago tat after the formation of the CFP the first 10 years was spent pumping money into the industry to develop it and create fishing units that could murder lots of fish, which was funded through grants and loans.

By the begining of the 90's the scientists were saying"oh **** these guys are catching too much the stocks are in trouble" We will give them quotas and keep cutting the quotas to get the balance right.

No one did the sms to say that the guy with a £2000000 investment needs £3000 per day for 200 days a year to pay the loans, the fuel bills and give a reasonable wage to the crew. Is that a fair way to manage things???

Of course it wasn't so we had 10 years of 'Black Fish landings' as a way of making the books balance. As time went on over half the fleet was de-commissioned and rules were tightened up to reduce black landings, but those who have survived still find it hard to balance the books.

 

It has been known for 50 years or more that in trawl fisheries we only eat 25% of the bulk that we catch, half goes over the rail as discards and half is wasted when we fillet it.

 

There is no doubt that fisheries management has been full of failed conservation policies since it started these were enhanced by the madnesss of the CFP and what Hugh is demonstrating is the total madness of wasting tons of mature marketable fish. All of the UK demersal fisheries are mixed fisheries. However a skipper will go to a specific place at a specific time to target cod or haddock etc, but there will always be a mix in the catch.

 

The sight of a lot of big fish in a catch does not bode well for the state of stock recruitment as thes are mature fish 5 years plus. A catch full of 34cm cod shows a strong year class of 2-3 year olds which is a good sign. Wasting our mature breeding stock is total madness.

 

From what I can see so far Hugh is doing a first class job, and I am delighted to see a programme that is not blaming so called greedy fishermen for all this, because you guys that see it all that way have got it wrong, as have the scientists who see it allas the fisherman's fault. The fishermen have had a very raw deal from the incompetence of scientists and so called fishery managers

 

Yup, nice post, the job that hugh is doing, has he come up with a solution? It's the 50% over the rail and the filleting waste that needs addressing. Along with the E U managers if they can't agree on one.

[medwaygreen]

I have never commented on the SFF before, because I do not sea fish, but this is politics and my view as an outsider is.

 

Why are quota,s not weight related and why do they have to be species oriented, does not this created waste and discards.

 

Yes I realise what the answer is MONEY IE I will fish for the most profitable, but then surely does not the better skipper/fisherman prevail if weight is the target and not, what the hell keep fishing and if I don,t like the catch chuck it overboard until i fill up with money?

[seafoods]

It's the 50% over the rail and the filleting waste that needs addressing. Along with the E U managers if they can't agree on one.

 

Perhaps filleting the EU managers would be the best option

[Jim Murray]

Good programme but did anyone else think the comments made re wasted bycatch by the fishermen, especially the trawlermen, were all expressing regret at all that lost income?

 

Not a lot of concern expressed for the impact on the stock levels.

[seafoods]

Good programme but did anyone else think the comments made re wasted bycatch by the fishermen, especially the trawlermen, were all expressing regret at all that lost income?

 

Not a lot of concern expressed for the impact on the stock levels.

 

Same thing in their eyes - if you throw it away dead because of stupid regulations, you can't catch it again when you are allowed to sell it. Conservation ideas that actually work are thought up by commercial fishermen - contrary to what some would have you believe, commercial fishermen are well aware that conservation is in their own best interests.

[SandTiger]

Good programme but did anyone else think the comments made re wasted bycatch by the fishermen, especially the trawlermen, were all expressing regret at all that lost income?

 

Not a lot of concern expressed for the impact on the stock levels.

 

 

What was he supposed to do, break down in tears on the deck after the first haul? I think you'll find that he is painfully aware of the impact that the CFP has on the stock levels. Also remember there will have been a fair bit of footage that was edited for that 5-10 minute section.