Local Fisherman

I have too say I generaly agree with what you have said.... however I also need to say that you need to concentrate on the UK palagic fleet & the French Pair Fleet that does the damage to the prime Bass stocks in the western English Channel. 15 tons a month or 5 ton a week is to much. Over 12 tons caught I beleave in the Channel Islands was landed at Brixham this week. No doubt the crushed Bass went for fishmeal again. Most anglers on the south coast have said they will not accept bag limits or licenses. As you have said there needs to be a bit of acceptance by each sector but beleave me the paragraph above is where you need to concentrate your effort. I will answer the rest of the thread at a later date as I have run out of time..

Barry .......... Your sad and not in touch with reality. Ask your skipper you go out with from the south coast port you fish out of frequently how big this problem is. If you still dont believe me let me know when your next out from the well known south coast port & I will come down to the watering hole you frequent & tell you in person. This is how much you do not know about the Commercial sector....... Tags are in use already by Bass rod n line fleet in Cornwall & Dorset. These Tags indicate the fish have been through slush ice & were caught on handline or rod & line. The damage done by the few RSA who keep on at DEFRA & other Government departments is now coming back around to bite RSA on the A#*e. You cannot say you were not warned by your own people. The real problem is: RSA will not accept that their own illeagally sell fish. If theres an angler caught like in Wales last year he suddenly become an unlicensed Commercial fisherman. Sooy gents but you cannot have all you own way by twisting words. Theres a few RSA that like to spout off alot about subjects they do not know about. This leads to the same names starting threads on various website forums. I did notice that one websites conservation section got so out of control that they shut it down for leagal reasons.If there is not a blackfish problem why did the Welsh Assembly say there is in their Bass MLS replies. I have watched boats day after day fish for Bass off a well known south coast port. If they wanted a few for the table they would only be out for a few hours. But no they are there day after day. There are only so many fish you can fit in a domestic fridge / freezer. So where are the rest going???? I will tell you. They are being sold to food outlets, pubs, clubs ect through the backdoor. You will of course claim that this does not happen. But you need to wake up as this is the biggest problem the south coast of the UK has. This is also why Devons sea fisheries committee is going to introduce bag limits. But as per usual you get one Commercial guy who is willing to talk on a thread and all you do is abuse him. Well Im sorry but these threads are suppose to be disscussions not slagging matches as you seem to have made this. Let me ask you a question? When you go out fishing with your buddies on the southcoast, howmany fish do you all keep? especially relevent if you go wrecking, and please dont try & pull the wool over my eyes as I know what you catch & bring back. I saw with my own eyes anglers taking black dustbin bags full of Bass off boats in April this year Then you get the following in a DEFRA consultation. If 350,000 anglers catch a 1kg Bass each once a year thats 350 tons of fish. If they all do this twice a year thats 700 tons. once a month its a frightening 4200 tons. As the Commercial fleet only lands around 400 tons a year who does the damage to the stocks???????? I know what your going to say to this but as another individual who wears both hats (NO NETS...... only rod & line) you will all slag me down anyway as you donot want to enter into sensible disscussion,..........

Steve you must of lead a very sgeltered life. This is the very reason the Commercial sector are very upset with the RSA. The Black fish market is a massive problem throughout the UK. Prosecutions rely on proof.. and proof is very hard to come by with so few fisheries officers.

Steve you must of lead a very sgeltered life. This is the very reason the Commercial sector are very upset with the RSA. The Black fish market is a massive problem throughout the UK. Prosecutions rely on proof.. and proof is very hard to come by with so few fisheries officers.

--> QUOTE(Norm B @ Aug 19 2007, 11:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> , as long as it's legal, to the large ones as they taste better and fit better on the plate. Sorry I did not see this until I had posted my last message. Norm B " I rest my case for plate size Bass" You may say you are refering to Cod?? But you have put your foot in it now??? !!!

Oh Dear........ No body has said your going to have to pay a license yet. Although I do acknowledge what your saying in your 1 st para, and I also acknowledge that this has been proposed. Local councils and SFC's are not biased towards commercial fishermen. They look after their people who elected them. Therefore the statement "While the significant contribution of angling towards local economies was fully acknowledged, the importance of commercial fishing was also recognised as a PRIORITY" is the correct way for the Council to steer. SFC Members: They actualy now have to declare their interests as MP's do and if a proposal is a conflict of interest they must withdraw from the debate and they do not vote on the proposal. As for do I sit in any elected chair..... ? NO. Nor on any SFC. Do I have the said correspondence? Yes... But ... I will not divulge the email or its contents and Leon knows why! We all know you work with Malcombe G, Richard F, Bob Cox, John L. You have all done the RSA an injustice. You all claim to represent the majority and you dont. RSA is seriously fragmented and yet you act on their behalf. Wurzul you got it right.... this is going to go full circle and bite the RSA on the A*#e. If only they had worked in conjunction with the commercial sector they would not be in the mess they now face - Licenses and bag limits, plus other possible restrictions. No Steve I did not post the rant on the BASS website. Someone else beat me to it. As for is the MLS increase in the bag.... No... If a challenge is mounted through the courts the Government will have to suspend the MLS increase until a judgement is made. I have seen some brilliant statements from both the RSA and the commercial sector: 1. Stop the pair trawlers 2. Bass closed season 1st Jan to 30th Apr. 3. Commercial and RSA should have worked together. 4. If the RSA lobby had approached the commercials with the same sort of proposals and acted along with like minded commercials we would not be in the situation of bickering and trying to score political points off each other that we have now. Instead they are(RSA) trying to use bullyboy stakebloodyholder tactics, trying to build bridges much to far, egged on by desperate for something to do DEFRA officials along with vote and revenue hungry politicians. I think the RSA lobby needs to back off, hind sight can be a wonderful thing, the commercials are doing what any cornered animal will do, fight back, the RSA need to reassess their objectives discuss what is obtainable, scrap what is just fantasy and start again. A very true statement from Wurzel.

I find Total Sea Fishings (TSF) Oct o6 editorial offensive. Weymouth & Portland Borough Council (WPBC) looks after and represents both its charter and commercial fleet as it should. It was elected by the people for the people. The editorial was written by Bob Cox and not by Darren Taylor. The figures stated are incorrect as para 6 in the notes of the DEFRA document used state the under ten meter fleet is not included. What TSF also did not tellyou was Bob Cox wrote an email to WPBC stating he would write to TSF if he did not get an answer. Gross abuse of position Mr Cox, shame on you and shame on TSF. By the way. I hope WPBC sue TSF for the deflamatery remarks. I have also noted that TSF have never printed any letters of reply to the article!!

--> QUOTE(Norm B @ Nov 15 2006, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Most anglers who fish for bass don't catch a bass and of those that do, most put their fish back. Before bass became fashionable and expensive they weren't targeted and there were plenty of them but there were still more of the other fish than there are now, so your figures prove nothing, unless you are saying that the bass have eaten them all. . Norm didnt you mean most anglers who fish for Bass cant catch Bass!!! As for the figures BASS supplied the first, DEFRA the landings and the rest is hyperthetical, but some anglers do catch alot of Bass which is why there is a vast Blackfish problem on the south coast. To Leon Roskilly - The under ten meter fleets catches are mainly included as the markets have to give DEFRA returns. As for most anglers returning fish - I dont think so, most sell them, thats why WAG took the proper action of instructing SFC's to look at bag limits for the unlicensed. Bass spawning: The optimum temp is 9 deg C for breeding. As for this most breed at 45cm plus thats aload of rubbish and you know it. Even if the mls was 55cm plus you would still not catch more bigger Bass. Most RSA donot know how to target them properly. As for if we have colder winters the Bass stocks would collaspe - again another piece of pie in the sky info.... The Bass fishery fished at its current rate is a sustainable fishery. There are more Bass know than tere was ten years ago and thts a fact backed by CEFAS. Wurzel - Thanks for the input, your right the Bass stocks have never been better. The bit we need to stop is discards from trawlers, and increasing the mls and mesh size is not the way to do it. CEFAS know that even 120mm mesh will still catch 36 - 40cm Bass and this will know be discarded, what a waste. Glenn K - My figures are way out - no their the truth apart from the hyperthetical bit. And as for that its probabily nearer the truth as some anglers do catch and retain alot of Bass especially on the south coast and in the west country. Leon you only have to look at RSA magazines and papers to see that there are actualy more bigger Bass around now. Anglers just donot know how to fish for them properly. Wurzul - You have to remember that that was at a certain time of the year. If you go everytime at that time of year you will find the same size Bass present. Thats a fact provided again by CEFAS. So if your lucky enough to go out in Nov /Dec of a certain south coast port with a large charter fleet, you will find you only catch 36 - 40cm fish every year at this time. Again thanks for the input. Leon quoted "The 'evidence' given almost universally to the bass consultation by the catching sector claimed that inshore anglers would not benefit from an increase in mls because bass over 36cm move offshore. That had a big impact on the decision making." The fact is the only time these fish move slightly offshore is when you have the first snow falls. This occurs because the icy water drops to the seabed and the Bass dont like it. The biggest impact on the decision for the mls was the polictical one. DEFRA and CEFAS said do nothing. Labour party saw 4 million votes - Now we have seen how bad the Labour party have been we now know which sector to blame for voting for them. Any way gents. Back over to you. Im off to the for a week. Just before I do go though heres a quote from a parliamentary Committee that Leon gave evidence to: "Chairman: The ethos of the sea angler is: eat your own. Q227 Diana Organ: No, they sell. Mr Roskilly: A recreational sea angler catches fish for recreation. A commercial fisherman catches them for commerce. If somebody uses a rod and line to take a fish and sells that fish, he is a commercial rod-and-line fisherman, not a recreational angler. If he sells that fish illegally, he is an illegal commercial fisherman. Most anglers are united in condemning the practice of people who represent themselves as anglers selling their catch. They are not recreational anglers, they are commercial fishermen." Firstly The answer Mr Roskilly has given here was a play on the word Commercial taken from the English dictionary. If somebody uses a rod and line to take a fish and sells that fish, he should be a licensed commercial rod-and-line fisherman. If he catches a fish on rod and line and sells the fish when he is not licensed he is breaking the law, which brings us straight back to the Blackfish market.

Firstly let me say that I am not and donot want the NFSA, SACN or BASS representing me as RSA at national level. I have not authorised you to represent me and nor do I wish you to. The reason: Many moons ago the SWFSA tried to unite the sea angling organisations and federations at an event held in Birmingham over an entire weekend. All organisations and federations agreed to the umbrella body being formed, but because the NFSA greadily wanted total control, and the NFSA would not give any voting rights to other groups, the umbrella group collasped. Now the NFSA wants to go down this avenue again. So I will say to them "Only if each group has a vote, otherwise forget it" Sea Anglings biggest problem - Groups will not unite and fight as one - why? Because the NFSA wants totaL CONTROL.

BASS - NFSA - SACN Now you have your new Bass MLS size in England, why dont you now concentrate on stopping the the French pair trawlers and the Palegic fleet who target the breeding Bass shoals in the western English Channel?????????????? These are the people who do the most damage to the Bass stocks. I await your replies.

BASS states 400,000 anglers fish for Bass (Parliamentary Monitor Article) If 400,000 anglers go Bass fishing once a year and retain a 1kg Bass each they would remove 400 tons of Bass from the sea. If they go once a month and retain a 1kg Bass they would remove 4800 tons of Bass from the sea. If they go once a week and retain a 1kg fish each they would remove 20800 tons of Bass from the sea. In 2000 licensed fishermen in the UK landed 401 tons of Bass (DEFRA Statistics of fish landings in England, Wales & Northern Ireland by port) Which sector is doing the real damage? When 36 to 40cm Bass are at plague preportions in the southwest please dont moan. Just remember they will eat all the food and the other fish will have to move offshore to feed. All spelling mistakes are alcohol enduced