Bob Shotter

Thought anglers would be more concerned with the absolute s**t storm heading towards the C&R anglers of both fresh and saltwater thanks to the likes of the Angling Trust but hey ho. Nice to see this forum is still going however been a while since I last looked in.

Frankly both WSF and its C+P site are a waste of space time will tell if the new owners make a difference TBH I feel Mike T Jnr cashed in at the right time.

Still bashing the anti Angling Trust drum then Baz thought you had given that up as a lost cause. See they have just been granted a big lump of funding and are growing from strength to strength. Still the Bass thing is to be debated in parliament today tune in from 2.15pm or use the catch up HERE

Good grief Lux your alive, new computer for christmas? Looks like your way behind re this Bass thing perhaps you should give WSF a look in some of your mates are missing you http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/threads/bass-2016-regulations-thread.4909339/page-82#post-9602230

Can’t speak for Kent & Essex but here in Cornwall we are arranging an open meeting before moving forward with a strategy. Anyone wanting further info should contact Ben Bradshaw at Cornwall IFCA on 01736 336842

All the minutes from this group can be found here >>> http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/seaangling/steering.htm

Bait collection summit I’m surprised more is not being made about the Bait Collection Summit that the Angling Trust has organised. The event takes place in London at Fishmongers Hall on 24th September 2013 and in part a response to proposed restrictions proposed by some of the ten IFCAs. http://www.rodbenders.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Angling-Trust-Bait-Collection-Summit-Agenda-September-24th-2013.pdf

The game is already afoot Shaun the Eastern IFCA has already received reports about the amount of Skate being taken by anglers, in Yorkshire the Whitby charter fleet anglers are reported to be selling fish illegally. The question is will the IFCAs act? Already under huge pressure to sort out the various habitat directives as well as looking at the proposed MCZs my feeling is that other than what is already covered by law then things are unlikely to change any time soon. On the other hand if sea angling reps start making demands on the back of what is expected to be a boost from the social economic clarification that Angling 2012 should deliver then we could well see them dig a hole for themselves.

I’m inclined to agree with you ‘Seafoods’ it seems the few have decided for the silent majority but let’s be fair, being in the EU where other member states have been every bit a part of the want/need for recognition that has got us to this point. Fishing politics is like a cancer fuelled by the supposed lack of fish and the need to treat it with various forms of conservation and regulation. Sea Angling is now in that mire and that means those that care will now have a job on their hands, the time for division and playing the blame game is over we should be looking for unity now to protect our right to recreationally fish the sea from beach or boat without masses of regulation. My biggest fear is that some will drive for more and bigger fish for sea anglers and that could well bring us into a conflict with an already under pressure commercial sector, time will tell.

What a charming response to be sure, all I have mouthed off at these past two years are at those who have in one way or another let sea anglers down and are helping the likes of the Angling Trust further their cause. Many who you would like to suck up to rather than be honest about and all because you want to be liked, sorry Barry but it don’t wash and that’s why you will be for ever moaning on the internet and a fat lot of good that will do.

One has to ask “What is your beef Barry?” Is it that the Angling Trust has ignored you? I take it you are still a non-member not that it makes much difference as they have long since closed their own communication forum. However members do get a response so I’m reliably informed. Do you feel their idea of following what is claimed to be an Irish success story is wrong? And are you basing that on what appears to have been a good year on parts of the south coast. While that can’t be denied other areas have not had a good year for RSA Bass fishing by any stretch of the imagination, so how does that fit with your ideal? The Angling Trust has been in consultation with the Southern IFCA working group, do you not have friends in that part of the world who might advise what that IFCA might be asking DEFRA for advice on? The EU has set the MLS for Bass at 37.5cm they say at that size Bass can and do reproduce so not much chance of any changes there, but the word is the Angling Trust and the Bass Fishing Society want that increased. Chances are that will mean sea angling will concede while the commercial sector keeps to 37.5 nothing new in that given the track record on Tope and Eel debacle, it will be seen as a victory by their sea committee too but who helped destroy the one voice that could have made a difference? Oh yes it was YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.rodbenders.net/wp-content/uploa...inalVersion.pdf http://www.rodbenders.net/wp-content/uploa...tionQ&A.PDF

Seems the Eel is still in trouble.................... http://www.ices.dk/committe/acom/comwork/r...012/eel-eur.pdf

Both the Angling Trust and the Bass Fishing Society are pushing for the UK to increase the MLS for Bass. The EU has set the MLS for Bass at 37.5 at that size they say Bass can and do reproduce, while others including the Angling Trust’s Conservation rep Malcolm Gilbert dispute this. They would like to see an MLS of 48 and are asking the UK to adopt 40 across the board now with a view to increasing this to 48 over the next few years. The Trust will sight the EU landing figures which increase year on year to support their claim that the stock must be falling; they will add to that the fact that some areas well known for its Bass fishery in the UK are seeing a decline in landing numbers, the far South West being a prime example. The idea that a bigger MLS and Bag limits for RSA will make a difference is about as daft as it gets and without the support of the commercial sector at EU level then all that will be achieved there is more discards not more and bigger fish. What is needed impo to protect Bass is the introduction of a TAC particularly on the breading stock in the Channel something all sides seem to agree on the trouble is the demand across Europe for Bass outweighs this and nothing is likely to change until the stock really is seen to be in trouble. Meanwhile the Trust and co. will push for a bigger MLS and if they get it they will claim it as some sort of battle won.

Point is I’m not on any ones side Shaun if I were it would probably be that of a sceptic to all these claims of empty sea’s that are supposedly devoid of fish. Just the same as global warming were we are told we are killing the planet by producing too much co2, when the truth is we can’t come close to matching that produced naturally. If I were to defend this lot Isabella Lovin would be a good place to start. She is a reporter and Green MP in the Swedish Parliament her book is a good read and asks many good questions, what can’t be denied is she has researched the various issues in some detail. Then there is Green Peace, Professor Cullum Roberts, Pew and as you say WWF to mention a few. Google any of them but you know that already don’t you? The one thing that never gets a mention in all this and I include global warming is the Sun. It’s our star and provides us with heat and light it drives our weather and affects sea currents and almost all marine life. Like all stars as it ages it gets both larger and hotter and the various solar storms affect us more than we fully understand. What I will say in closing is and this is for Wurzel. I’m inclined to agree with you about the masses being “Brain Washed” that’s nothing new but to dismiss the word ‘Overfishing’ out of hand is wrong impo. Professor Ray Hilborn is a leader in the field of marine research indeed I recall him saying much the same as you about the Grand Banks Cod, he too has published a book, it’s called ‘Overfishing what everyone needs to know’ I’m reading it at present and I was at a conference which he addressed last year the man is no mug and he has the ear of government.

Ah but using these greenies and there research is just the best bait to get you lads biting init? Truth is it’s rather like Global warming loads of data to support both sides of the debate but what can’t be denied I bet is Al Gore had no idea what a money spinner he started with that famous movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth’

Most know about Newfoundland and the Grand Banks Cod collapse but few talk about the Baltic Cod collapse, not to mention how close it came to a similar Cod collapse in the North Sea. Then like now there was not a problem according to the fishermen who worked those grounds, now is that the truth or is that just propaganda? Source “Silent Seas by Isabella Lovin”

Penning did indeed say there would be no stations closed until the new system is up running and fully tested. Not only did I get that in response to a written question but he also told the all-party select transport committee the same thing. Is this what we now see termed as a ‘New Approach’ which in truth is nothing short of a policy change? What would be good is to know why either the government or the MCA have allowed the changes to take place, one thing is for sure and that is it has nothing to your being Jocks that don’t vote Tory.

Again many thanks for the explanation Shaun, seems morals don’t enter into this then. Once the UK boats realised what was what did they up and leave in the interest of sustainability and French Fishermen’s livelihood or are there still cries for help?

I rather gathered that there would be a logical reason and thank you for the explanation Shaun. None the less would it not be in the interest of all concerned that here we have an example of the French looking after their fishery If and it is a big if all these boats were to work an area near to their home port with an exclusion to outsiders then the fish stock might be in a far better state. The whole idea that if we don’t fish it someone else will seems to be a major problem with this EU Common Fishery can you imagine that working on our farms.

The thing is I’m lead to believe that the scallop fishery around Scotland is buoyant, that is what one Scottish scalper (Steveg) has insisted. So one must ask, why do these Scottish boats need to be fishing off of the French coast in any event.

There could be any number of reasons that Bass are moving further north as are Trigger Fish and a few others inc their food source. Global Warming is one theory a shift in the Gulf Stream another who knows. What we do know is that over fishing in the North Sea is why the Cod stock suffered we also know that the a genetic change has taken place as a result and North Sea Cod now start to reproduce at an earlier age, which means smaller fish with fewer eggs are now keeping the stock going. The scientific term is fishing from the top down, go read that Ray Hilborn book “Overfishing: What Everyone Needs to Know” the title says it all.

Here is what a real 50lb+ lunker looks like this was caught in Norway and was the size I saw around the IOW when I was in my late teens. Then we have a 35lb+ fish caught near the IOW in 2002 this would be from the North Sea and having moved to the IOW spawning grounds. The best you will see there now are fish to 25lb rarely do you get one over that weight. The stock is supposedly under recovery so who knows what the future holds.

A twenty pound Cod (11 to 15 years old) is what was seen as a middle aged Cod in the North Sea years ago still is in parts of the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea. What Cefas are saying is that there a few real adults the old 30 to 40lb + lunkers (18 to 23 years old) that’s the sort of size that was the norm caught by RSA around the IOW when I was a lad. You might see half a dozen caught this year but where are the forty pounders that they used to get? I might mention Paul that the man sucking up to you is the same guy who wanted a front row seat in court if and when you get nicked for being a party to the sale of fish from a charter boat.

Paul you and your fellow Whitby skippers fish an area of the North Sea predominately targeting Cod so how many lunkers in the 25 to 30+lbs (10 to 12 year class) fish get landed by your customers, compared to the 10 to 15lb (six to seven year class) fish?