Fishing nets ban to protect birds

[Bob Shotter]

MLS, do they work?

 

During this thread we have indeed discussed MLS and I have just had another thought prompted by the mention of Whitby. Last year as you will have gathered I joined a group who fished a week of the Whitby Festival the biggest Cod of the week was landed by one of our group and was all of 14.5 lbs

 

There was no shortage of codling but no big Cod not one even though many of the charter boats went some distance. One would suspect the netting effort has a lot to do with that so thinking along the lines of the Bass principle and the idea that MLS will lead to more and bigger fish, should the local IFCA not consider the introduction an MLS of say 10lb for Cod or whatever the average measurement is for that size. Yep go run the idea by the lads up there and see the response.

 

Edited January 27, 2012 by Bob Shotter

[Elton]

Not sure if it's already been mentioned, but the ban has now been lifted:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-16743977

[Phone]

All,

 

Please continue this thread in the new "nets" thread.

 

Phone

[Bob Shotter]

All,

 

Please continue this thread in the new "nets" thread.

 

Phone

 

Are these not separate issues Phone? While this thread has probably run it’s coarse now, given the ban has been lifted, the ‘nets’ thread is about an entirely different problem and is in relation to a topic that is a long way from St Ives.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Bob Shotter

[barry luxton]

You have been provided all the necessary info to check out what I say I’m not here to pamper you, so go do your own research and bring back the evidence to back up your hearsay claim.

 

You claim bass are affected with your mucus membrane argument yet provide no facts to back up your claim that bass are affected within the size range that is of interest to the rsa guys. Lots of info re membrane on lots of specis, now direct it towards this issue that you claim is affecting the bass, you know that it ain't avalible as i do, otherwise it would have been used before.

 

You don't have the bottle to 'quote' Mr Drerriman to back up your claim that he has rubbished The rsa and their application, that claim was made by you before the minutes where released.

 

You alone consider that Chris Caines was wrong with regards to what he said at that meeting. I know exactly what he said, you have taken it totally out of context and made it your campaign to continually rubbish him. Is it your intention to affect his sucessfull business, where he has provided many thousands of anglers a supurb fishing platform.

 

You have provided no link, evidence what so ever to back up your argument with regards to pair trawling and the effects of the bass stock and ignore the fact that there is no warnings. You lack substance to back up your claims.

Edited January 28, 2012 by barry luxton

[Bob Shotter]

You claim bass are affected with your mucus membrane argument yet provide no facts to back up your claim that bass are affected within the size range that is of interest to the rsa guys. Lots of info re membrane on lots of specis, now direct it towards this issue that you claim is affecting the bass, you know that it ain't avalible as i do, otherwise it would have been used before.

 

You don't have the bottle to 'quote' Mr Drerriman to back up your claim that he has rubbished The rsa and their application, that claim was made by you before the minutes where released.

 

You alone consider that Chris Caines was wrong with regards to what he said at that meeting. I know exactly what he said, you have taken it totally out of context and made it your campaign to continually rubbish him. Is it your intention to affect his sucessfull business, where he has provided many thousands of anglers a supurb fishing platform.

 

You have provided no link, evidence what so ever to back up your argument with regards to pair trawling and the effects of the bass stock and ignore the fact that there is no warnings. You lack substance to back up your claims.

 

Your claim quote ‘YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID’ now that’s strange as I was sat next to him and you weren’t there at all were you? So you are relying on what you call….. Hearsay? Yeah right.

 

If you think I got any pleasure out of picking fault in Chris then your sadly mistaken but you can’t pick and choose if you are going to put our representation back in order, I know what Chris said I also know what he meant, the thing is he got one sentence wrong I heard it, the MMO heard it DEFRA heard it and there was no need to have even brought the subject into the conservation. Barry I know Chris meant well but the truth is he gave them something to think about something they may or may not have considered but now you have the likes of Councillor Lamb who was also there and now he is fuelled with an idea to take to his IFCA. Thing is I haven’t forgotten what Councillor Lamb said but I bet Chris has. You do know who this councillor is and the position he holds don’t you?

 

As for affecting Mr Caines business, that’s the biggest crock of poo I have ever heard. Chris has made it clear to me where he stands on the subject, it is a shame he hasn’t made that view public knowledge and that is the only thing that may affect him and his future custom, or do you think when the brown stuff flies people will be forgiving. Like it or not Barry the PBA the Angling Trust and others are steering this data collection on, using the old Reg Phillips argument ‘Ya have to be in it to count’ that also is wrong and the sooner they realise and get out of it the better, though to be honest it’s probably a bit late for that now.

 

The pair trawling effort you mention go look on the B.A.S.S. web site you will find it there and it is in a related article written by Nigel Horsman.

 

Told you where to find Mr Derriman and his response mush, Provide you a link, hugh, why should I? Like I said if you believe I lack substance to back up my claims then go get the evidence to prove me wrong.

[Leon Roskilly]

The pair trawling effort you mention go look on the B.A.S.S. web site you will find it there and it is in a related article written by Nigel Horsman.

 

 

Some historical perspective.

 

see: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/authors/leon19.htm

 

As a result of the BASS campaign (of which the above article was part, and joined by SACN and the NFSA, and the campaigning of a number of cetacean protection groups) eventually the UK government banned pair-trawling for bass in the waters it controls (up to 12 miles) in the South-Wester approaches.

 

Unfortunately France and the EU did not agree to the measures being applicable to EU boats with 'grandfather rights' to fish within the 6-12 mile.

 

It also capped UK pair-trawling effort both within and without the 12 miles (I believe 12 vessels (mostly Scottish) were involved, as opposed to some 70 French vessels, and some fromHolland/Belgium).

 

It also introduced the 5 tonne per vessel per month landing-limit for bass (or 15 tonne per month), similar to that which had already been introduced in France for French vessels to protect the market of French coastal fishermen.

[Phone]

Bob,

 

Light hearted on my part. Of course since I don't understand either thread very well, or at all, do as you please.

 

Phone

[Bob Shotter]

Some historical perspective.

 

see: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/authors/leon19.htm

 

As a result of the BASS campaign (of which the above article was part, and joined by SACN and the NFSA, and the campaigning of a number of cetacean protection groups) eventually the UK government banned pair-trawling for bass in the waters it controls (up to 12 miles) in the South-Wester approaches.

 

Unfortunately France and the EU did not agree to the measures being applicable to EU boats with 'grandfather rights' to fish within the 6-12 mile.

 

It also capped UK pair-trawling effort both within and without the 12 miles (I believe 12 vessels (mostly Scottish) were involved, as opposed to some 70 French vessels, and some fromHolland/Belgium).

 

It also introduced the 5 tonne per vessel per month landing-limit for bass (or 15 tonne per month), similar to that which had already been introduced in France for French vessels to protect the market of French coastal fishermen.

 

Wow Leon was that an Ode to a single species c&r fanatic or what, very poetic though I must say, all credit to you.

 

While it is good that you also acknowledge the effort in the English Channel I have actually been researching some official documentation and here are a few quotes that will help build a picture of what has gone before; The first is from the House of Commons Library Sea Bass Fishing >> Standard Note: SN/SC/745 Last updated: 19 January 2011

Author: Christopher Barclay Section ‘Science and Environment Section’

1 The regulation of bass fishing

 

There has been particular interest in bass, because they are fished by both sport fisherman and commercial fishermen.

 

There is no quota for bass, so that it can be fished by commercial fishing boats, by commercial rod and line fishing and by anglers. There are some protective measures for bass, particularly for nursery areas. There is also a minimum landing size, laid down at EU level. Defra has also persuaded supermarkets selling Mediterranean farmed bass to label it as such, so as to avoid undersized bass being caught and passed off as farmed bass.

 

However, the Labour Government reconsidered the decision after a meeting with the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO). On 25 October 2007 the Labour Government announced that the minimum landing size for bass in English waters would remain at 36cm.7 The change of plan was debated in November 2007. Martin Salter criticised the Minister’s decision:

His announcement of 25 October on retaining the minimum landing size for bass at 36 cm rather than increasing it to 40 cm and then to 45 cm by 2010, as recommended by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science just two years ago, flies in the face of scientific evidence and has been greeted with understandable anger and dismay by hundreds of thousands of sea anglers, as well as by conservationists. He himself admitted that his decision was based on looking after the short-term interests of the inshore fleet rather than the long-term interests of the species and the environment. I want to tease out those points.

The Minister replied: Before making this decision, I was aware that the consultation on the issue had generated some 2,800 responses… My approach was to ensure that my decision took proper account of the science and all the other evidence. I was also clear that I would not reach a decision until both parties had had a chance to put their case to me. I am also concerned about the effects of any increased minimum landing size on discards of bass—when fish are thrown back into the sea, often dead. That is a key issue for fishermen and for managers, and the European Commission has recently produced proposals to reduce the number of discards in key fisheries. The largest discard impact would have been on trawlers in the eastern English Channel. At 40 cm, an estimated 55 tonnes of bass would have been discarded—and would probably have died—from UK inshore trawlers each year out of an average trawl catch of around 230 tonnes.

Finally, when I reached my decision I bore it in mind that we now had a clear indication that other member states and the Commission would not support an increased MLS, as we had originally hoped.

 

8 Bass fishermen worried about the stock, 2009

The BASS Anglers Sport fishing Society reported alarm about the sustainability of stock in 2009:

UK anglers will soon start to see a disastrous decline in both the number and size of bass available in the important and valuable Recreational Fishery. That is the conclusion from studies that show an alarming reduction in the number of juvenile fish coming into Southern nursery areas indicating a collapse in recruitment in recent years. And if that isn't bad enough, this harsh winter could very well have wiped out most of the young fish expected to have recently entered the nursery areas

"Typically young bass will spend four or five years growing in protected shallow inshore areas" said John Leballeur, Chairman of the BASS Restoration Project team. "And it's not until those fish leave the nursery areas and spread out around the coast that anglers and fishermen will notice that there are far fewer young fish joining the fishery to replace those now being taken as adults in the commercial fishery." BASS are calling on DEFRA to take urgent action to address the problems of overexploitation of bass stocks and to reverse this alarming decline now, not when their failure to do so becomes obvious to all.