Problems at Sea? Clew Bay Disaster waiting to happen!!

[Colin Brett]

I have just returned from a trip to Ireland and picked up a copy of the Mayo news. In it I found this article about Clew Bay, I think this tells us a lot about the lack of concern from both the Irish Government and their agents, the Western Region Fisheries Board, about the condition of both the sea and the freshwaters they should be controlling and nuturing.

As pointed out in the following reproduction, the greater good [Tourism, Angling etc these create greater employment] is being sacrificed for the pursuit of greater profit for the few.

 

Colin Brett

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The Desecration of Clew Bay [Mayo News 5th June 2002]

 

CLEW BAY YESTERDAY

One of Europe’s most visually stunning sea and mountain panoramas, Clew Bay and its wide-range of fish once lured fishermen worldwide to Mayo. The salmon and sea trout rivers running into the Bay also provided employment in sports angling and tourism.

All has changed. The Bay’s sandy-bottomed breeding sites for multiple pelagic species have been virtually

obliterated by industrial fishing. Also providing feeding and protection for immature flatfish and for other

bottom-feeders i.e. ray, skate, monkfish, gurnard - these grounds have been over-fished, simultaneously eradicating the young of many species and the breeding-areas for adult fish.

 

CLEW BAY TODAY

Forget yacht-sails and salty breezes; a chasm now exists between the perceived appearance of Clew Bay and the reality beneath the waves. The health and the numbers of the wild creatures inhabiting the Bay, plus the quality of its waters, are the true indicators of the Bay’s overall wellbeing, not its outward appearance. The Bay is currently wilting under the increasing and combined effects of:

(1) Overfishing

(2) Pollution from salmon farms

(3) Untreated sewage.

(4)Agricultural run-offs.

 

OVERFISHING

Parts of Clew Bay now mirror those found in the North Sea; aquatic deserts where fish stocks have vanished; the Bay has been fished and trawled almost to extinction. ‘Trawling” means ripping up the seabed and scooping up virtually every living creature. Only marketable species are kept - prawn, scallop, monkfish; the bulk of each catch dies of asphyxiation and is either jettisoned or used as bait for “long-lining”. This involves leaving miles of unattended baited-hooks dangling in the sea thereby sentencing every captured fish to prolonged, agonising deaths. Many birds also die, their beaks hooked by the moving scraps.

In summer, illicit night raids by foreign fleets begin, the culprits usually Spanish. They pillage the Bay with miles of inter-trawler netting and are gone before sunrise. “Unwanted” species, e.g. dolphins, which must surface regularly for air, inevitably perish in the nets. The recent washing-up of 300 drowned Atlantic dolphins indicates the hidden carnage of this type of fishing. I have complained to the Department of the Marine concerning these inshore illegalities, identified the boats involved and expressed my willingness to go to Court as a witness. Response of this Department - total lack of interest. Upon demanding Clew Bay stocks be protected, I was informed the problem was the responsibility of the Western Region Fisheries Board (WRFB). The WRFB told me such maritime problems belonged to the Department of the Marine. On re-contacting this Department, I was referred back to the WRFB. Get the picture? Parts of Clew Bay resemble elsewhere in maritime Europe where 17 species have been fished almost to extinction. The Department of the Marine issues minimum information on fish stocks, intimating that Ireland is somehow immune from such environmental desecrations. Truth is, many Irish waters are far worse.

Skate

Clew Bay once boasted prolific breeding populations, yearly producing specimen-sized fish. Widespread twenty years ago throughout the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, skate was common fare in fish & chip shops. Today it is one of the rarest commercial species in EU waters. It has probably been fished to extinction in the Irish Sea.

 

Monkfish

Taking eleven years to reach maturity, females are now extremely scare. Being a solitary, non-shoaling fish, with only its tail edible, huge stretches of seabed must be trawled to capture these bottom-dwellers. Since intensive fishing began twenty-five years ago, they have now been driven almost to extinction.

Flatfish

Plaice, brill, sole etc, are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because the young fish are taken in trawler nets before they can breed. Although now farmed extensively, wild halibut is classed as endangered.

Haddock

 

North Atlantic stocks cut from 899,000 tonnes in 1995 to 200,000 tonnes now forcing marine experts to

warn that haddock is vulnerable to extinction, Cod were formerly plentiful and large throughout Clew Bay, today the numbers are a shadow of what they were and the average size greatly reduced.

Mackerel

The only seasonally abundant species remaining, these fish supply sport and livelihood and are essential food for other fish and bird species. Two years ago, the mackerel’s Atlantic breeding population was located. Working day and night for three days, trawlers using high-pressure suction, hoovered up the mile-long shoals. Value? £6,000,000. The seemingly inexhaustible cod-fisheries of Newfoundland and the North Sea were similarly plundered, as were the anchovy fisheries of Peru - today these seas are empty. Without the mackerel, most of Clew Bay’s tourist fishing would grind to a standstill.

Pollock

Inhabiting rocky ground, it is unlikely this species will be totally fished-out but today’s average catch and weight/size has dropped dramatically throughout the Bay. Once prolific and plentiful, its numbers continue to fall.

Atlantic Salmon

50% of our Atlantic salmon have recently disappeared; it is now an endangered species in Scotland, Europe and North America. Ireland is one of the last refuges yet our stocks are the lowest ever. 83% of returning stock are netted off our western coasts.

The Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Guardian and the Independent all blame salmon farming for destroying both sea trout and wild salmon. The Sunday Times Supplement claims salmon farming is; “driving wild salmon and sea trout towards extinction”. The World Wildlife Fund, Friends of the Earth, and BBC ‘s Watchdog make similar accusations. Because it causes catastrophic reduction in wild salmon stocks, Alaska and Sweden ban salmon farming.

Sea Trout

 

Once a widespread Clew Bay species, the sea trout has been virtually wiped out as a result of infestation

by sea-lice from the salmon-farms. Other areas devoid of salmon-farms e.g. the north Mayo estuaries, have

healthy sea trout populations. The ecosystems of Clew Bay’s rivers have been devastated by large

populations of escapee salmon and rainbow trout.

POLLUTION FROM SALMON FARMS

The volumes of pollutants released (Suspended Solids, BOD, Ammonia, Total Phosphorous and Nitrogen) are disturbing. Loadings from these farms far exceed that of the Bay’s human population. Clew Bay’s two salmon farms annually excrete the phosphorous loading equivalent of 46,650 people. The farm’s projected tonnage increases of 260% and 75% respectively, will increase this pollution loading to that of 120,000 people.

In Scotland, MP’s want an immediate halt to all new salmon farms as pollution loadings by salmon farms now exceeds that of the total human population. Scotland’s Environmental Protection Agency found

generalised contamination by Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB’s) in salmon farm sediments. Cancer

causing and immune system suppressants, these chemicals under Clew Bay’s farms could have public health implications.

Concerned about PCB levels in farmed salmon, the EU has declared the intake of these chemicals be, 14 picogrammes per kilo bodyweight. This reduces the recommended consumption of farmed salmon to a maximum of one portion weekly.

In the UK, the insecticide, di-chlorvos, regularly used for ten years by salmon farmers, has been declared a cancer-causing agent. A salmon-farm worker is currently claiming in the Dublin High Court that handling this compound was responsible for his contracting testicular cancer.

The Norwegian Royal Commission, the Icelandic and Danish governments insist salmon farming is environmentally damaging. Disease and parasites from farms decimate wild stock and the cross breeding of escapee salmon with wild fish hammers another nail in the wild salmon’s coffin. The Department of the Marine, legal custodian of wild salmonids, does little to protect them while the Minister himself wholeheartedly supports salmon farming, recently handing out a million euros to Clew Bay farmers. Why should the taxpayer fork out such astronomical sums while ignoring considerably more deserving and environmentally friendly endeavours? Like the shellfish farmers? Or the Fishery Boards?

POLLUTION FROM UNTREATED SEWAGE

Male fish are changing sex because of the cocktail of gender-bending substances present in sewage; surfactants from detergents and the human birth-control pill are the culprits. Westport’s new treatment works will soon end the town’s untreated sewage polluting the Bay. Spending millions to install state-of-the-art treatment plants makes little sense if salmon farms continually re-pollute elsewhere.

 

POLLUTION FROM AGRICULTURE

Much of the land surrounding the Bay is not intensively farmed so the volumes of applied fertilizers, silage and agricultural-sludges that find their way into the Bay are considerably lower than elsewhere in the country. Because of the widespread nitrification of both surface and ground waters in Ireland, new EU legislation will restrict the volumes of these substances allowable on land. This will lead to improvement in the Bay’s water quality.

 

CLAMS

Because no other developed democracy would allow a farming organisation to despoil such a hallowed tourist attraction as Clew Bay - abracadabra - the Co-ordinated Local Aquacultural Management Plan (CLAMS) has been pulled from the hat! This Plan is 100% Department of the Marine-backed, Department of the Marine-supported and Department of the Marine-financed (good ole taxpayer again!). The Minister even chooses the manager. Conjured up to provide an expensively elaborate smokescreen over the blatant drive for profits by a handful of salmonid-farmers, CLAMS’ agenda involves the soft-soaping of the Mayo public to accept huge farms strung across the county’s prime tourist attraction.

CLAMS is a hotchpotch document exuding blatant propaganda and platitude, it is bereft of hard information and flaunts half-tmths that masquerade as fact. Possessing neither statutory power or scientific rigidity, CLAMS ‘ proposed environmental safeguards carry as much clout and conviction as the Beano, e.g. State authorities will ‘(monitor” and “scrutinise” the new salmon farms and will act as, “never sleeping watch-dogs looking after the well being of Clew Bay! “

Will these be the same, alert, never-sleeping State-watchdogs the EU Court found guilty of serious transgressions under EU law for failing to protect our woodlands, wild-life habitats and various indigenous species? These same vigilant guard-dogs are soon to be dragged squealing again into the EU dock over allowing our rivers and lakes to become virtual sewers. These same wide-awake environmental-hounds also “monitored” and “scrutinised” Loughs Conn, Cullin, Leane, Derg, Ree etc for twenty years, yet today these waterways are recognised as being the most polluted in the country! You may legitimately ask how can the most-monitored lakes become the most polluted? Ireland’s regulatory authorities enjoy the reputation of being past masters in the art of benign inactivity and supervised neglect. Our State-financed Environmental Protection Agency possesses little operative independence while its day-to-day operations reflect State philosophy and guidelines. Its directors are State-appointees whose CV’s reflect longstanding Government loyalty rather than displaying the real commitment necessary to protect Ireland’s increasingly embattled environment. “State authorities monitoring the effects of salmon farming?” - Pull the other one - They never did it before, why should they bother now?

CLEW BAY TOMORROW

The Department of the Marine ignores conservation and protective measures for Clew Bay and favours exploitation. This shortsighted and blinkered philosophy sacrifices endangered wild stocks and ignores the environmental costs of salmon farming. Look at what the authorities in Denmark have achieved. Twenty years ago their waterways were approaching the current state of Ireland’s waterways; pollution was widespread due to their being used as sewers to transport farming wastes. The only people against new, anti-pollution legislation were farmers, who claimed they would lose money and certain industries that claimed employment would suffer. After three years of cleaning-up, all-year-round tourism is booming due to the huge increase in wild fish. Today, the small Island of Fyn enjoys multi-million pound tourism by annually attracting 10,000 anglers (yes, ten thousand) who flock to fish for the rejuvenated numbers of sea trout Desecration of Clew Bay must stop and resources concentrated into protecting its future. Neither the entrepreneur or the investor, possesses right or mandate to undemocratically foist exploitative and polluting policies on Clew Bay - the Mayo public should decide on what’s best for their Bay. Their verdict will decide what will be bequeathed to future generations of Mayo children. “What’s a salmon, mam?” or, “Why are there no fish in the sea, gramps?” are questions that once might have sounded preposterous. They’re not so farfetched today, are they?. Unless measures are soon put in place to guarantee the Bay’s long-term protection then this truly unique stretch of water will never be the same again.

 

Dr. Roderick O’Sullivan BDs MSc

Dr. O’Sullivan is an environmental scientist and author of “Intensive Fin Fish Farming in Ireland” [1989]

[chesters1]

nothing will change whilst there is profit to be made,the first thing people hear is not that there are no fish in a place , but that fishermen are GOING UNDER because there are no fish ,remember its these same fishermen that fished out the place in the first place,

the same goes for most cheap food in our shops , complete countries are providing us with food and goods that may be just a few pence cheaper to the supermarket ,just think of the hundreds of acres of fields dedicated to providing us with food that should be given to their own people who are starving .

to stop the exploitation of poor countries (who have to sell US food at prices fixed by US to pay depts to US , all LOANS should be stopped ,nature will then balance out the population to what the country can afford .

[ShoreDemon]

Colin,

 

Europe has cocked up its maritime fisheries, Ireland has (or had) the chance to avoid the same mistakes but hasn't and doesn't appear to be doing anything about it. The CFP unfortunately allows other EU countries to catch 'our' stocks but I'm not just pointing the finger elsewhere, Ireland is to blame and so is the EU.

 

The open economics of fisheries creates the problem of over fishing. However, the romantic protection of fishermen and the fishing industry doesn't help and needs to be re-addressed. I know these jobs are necessary to isolated populations but there will be no jobs soon and these people will be worse off than ever. It is sometimes my opinion that governments deliberately ignore the problem so that they won't have to pick up the tab when everything goes belly up. Just like modern farming, modern fishing is intensive and excessive and is not concerned with environmental or natural needs. It's time to drop the rustic dreams and images!

 

Where can we get some correction lenses for this dangerous short sightedness???

 

Neil.

[drseafish]

A very informative article. I think many people are aware of whats going on, especially those who have a interest in the Irish marine environment, for social or commerical reasons. I know most of the public are blissfully unaware of what has happen over the last decade or so, it always confounds me, as for an Island nation we are very ignorant about the sea etc in general. Our problems started in joining the EEC when most of our fishing rights were sold cheaply to get enhance our argicultural development, mainly dairy farming. The farmers have always had a strong lobby, but the fishing community were always to small to be effective in europe and to paltry for our governement to monitor probably. In respect very little research has been undertaken on the marine environment around Ireland in relation to argiculture and this has not helped putting a stop or even a check on what is happening, as little real figures exist to back up any direct lobby. I regularly shore fish, and have noticed the dramatic decrease in fish and at the same time have to view the undersize fish regularly sold in Irish fish markets. Their appears to a complete lack of interest to deal with the problems of over fishing and pollution and making the government of the day do something other than throw paper at it. We need a conserted lobby group which would involve all interested parties, even the fishermen before this issue will be taken seriously. I notice recent goverment departments do not include a dept of marine, it looks like its been downscaled further. This issue has bugged me for years and I cannot see a stop to it until its not commercially viable for boats to fish, but this maybe to late for all concerned.

[Cranfield]

I have fished Clew Bay and the surrounding area for 17 years,in the company of Mary Gavin-Hughes.

 

It is one of the most beautiful and bountiful places it has been my pleasure to fish and I am well aware of the dangers of complacancy.

 

The article quoted here is probably partly true, but it also contains signficant inaccuracies.

 

It would be interesting to know which "pelagic species" ever bred in Clew Bay, according to well informed locals, none.

 

There are no salmon farms in Clew Bay,there are trout farms and mussel growers.

 

Dolphin have always been a rare sight inside Clew Bay, off Clare Island they are quite common.

 

"Skate" as fish and chips, I think he means thornback ray.

The Common Skate of Clew Bay have never been that "common", my friend caught a 195 lber 3 years ago, which we were pleased to see.

 

The author claims "agriculture run-off" as being a problem and then states that it isn,t, as there is not the necessary agricultural usage on the land surrounding the Bay.

 

Stock reduction statistics quoted are for the whole North Atlantic, not Clew Bay.

 

I have seen Fishery Protection vessels much in evidence on all my trips to the area.

Looking for offshore salmon poachers and other illegal fishermen.

 

Using Denmark was a poor example, whilst they have done a marvellous job there, the main problem was "agriculture run-off", already admitted as not being appropriate to Clew Bay.

 

There are other contentious areas in the article.

 

I think its important for us all to be aware of the marine enviroment and do all we can to protect it, but I am not sure the cause is helped by "alarmist" articles like this one.

 

I believe a number of rebuttal responses to this article have been published in Ireland, If I can locate them, I will post them here.

[spasor]

Colin.

What do I say? There are plans afoot for massive gravel extraction on the banks surrounding the Isle of Weight!! It seems the nation needs a lot of pebbles?

All us fisherfolk know what that means. But who else gives a damn?

Personally I think all trawling and netting within a 7 mile limit should be banned!!

After all, you need a game fishing license to boat a sea-trout within 7 miles of the shore in the UK? So where are all the NRA inspectors!!

I get really peed off, when I book a charter boat for the day. Only to be asked to keep a watch for all the illegal nets!!!

I try my best to hook them with a double edged pruning saw!! Half inch rope has no chance?

But the illegal netters know, anglers won`t put their charter boat in danger of snagging the prop?

If you confront these netters in the local? They say,`We`re only making a living`?.

So are the car thieves in all our near by streets?

Can any of you report an ongoing car crime and expect a bobby to turn up that same week?

That`s what happens when you report an illegal netter!!

Nothing happens!!

S.S.M mk 3. Costs little over £300 when bought in bulk. Guaranteed to blow a factory ship clean out of the water!! Can we have a collection please? And a few enthusiastic volunteers.

Paul.

[Colin Brett]

Cranfield:

 

It is one of the most beautiful and bountiful places it has been my pleasure to fish and I am well aware of the dangers of complacancy.

 

The article quoted here is probably partly true, but it also contains signficant inaccuracies.

 

There are no salmon farms in Clew Bay,there are trout farms and mussel growers.

 

Dolphin have always been a rare sight inside Clew Bay, off Clare Island they are quite common.

I have received an email from a friend in Ireland who is involved in the Aquaculture industry [but an Angler as well] and he has stated the same as you re the inaccuracies. I will publish a copy of his comments soon.

Salmon farms, I thought the one off the east end of Clare Island was in fact a Salmon Farm? Salmon or Rainbow it is a bit of an eyesore and the plan is to quadrupel the output!!

Dolphins are quite common in Clew Bay and not just off Clare Island. Well I have certainly seen plenty. I too have been visiting the Clew Bay area for many years and would hope that sense prevails before it is to late.

Thanks for your comments

Colin

[drseafish]

The article may be overstating a problem but a problem never the less. Their is without question an commercial over fishing problem, with juvenile fish been unable to achieve an age to spawn and this concerns many species caught up in modern fishing techniques which do not discrimate and destroy habitats. I recently read an article regarding fish farms in Scotland which found that marine worms and crustaceans were present in very low amounts in proximity to fish farms, which must be related to chemicals used to control sea lice. However, I do feel that their is a need for fish farming as it possibly means a less relaince on wild fish in the future, and not just in relation to Salmon, but for turbot, cod and possibly plaice.

My point is that we who are interested in preserving the marine environment for what ever reasons should uniting and not nit picking about what the causes are but doing something about the problem before its to late.

[Colin Brett]

Cranfield:

I have fished Clew Bay and the surrounding area for 17 years,in the company of Mary Gavin-Hughes.

 

It is one of the most beautiful and bountiful places it has been my pleasure to fish and I am well aware of the dangers of complacancy.

 

The article quoted here is probably partly true, but it also contains signficant inaccuracies.

.

The following is a reply from a friend who wishes to remain anonomous for obvious reasons:

I work in Aquaculture and have quite a bit of knowledge about marine matters. I do not consider myself to be an expert but I believe I have a rounded balanced opinion as I am an angler. I believe therefore that I can see both sides of the argument. I enclose for your information two document above that will give you all some more info on Fishfarming worldwide and in Ireland.

I think that Dr. O'Sullivans article has too many untruths in it. The WRFB are responsible for migratory fish and Native shellfish beds in Clew bay. The Dept of the marine are responsible for commercial fishing.

 

Now on to the article.

 

Clew Bay yesterday: This paragraph could be written about all of Europes commercial fisheries. We do need no go areas for commercial fishing and protect nursery areas. This idea has been mooted for a long time but until the fishermen come around and start agreeing not to fish areas then its a waste of time.

 

Overfishing: Prawns are caught using Traps, Scallop by dredging and clew bay is protected by a shellfish co-op. The only longline boat in Ireland is based in Rossaveel and fishes out on the continental shelf for Sei Shark and Ling. The Spanish are not allowed inside irish territorial waters and believe me they don't want to risk their boats for a very few fish. The Spanish are after Hake which is a fairly deep water fish. Many birds do not die as the longlines are set a night for the Hake. Birds do not feed at night. Trawling does take place in all Ireland's bays but by Irish and they do rape the bays no argument there. No Dolphins are caught in Trawls. Dolphins are to fast and smart for that. Where they do get caught is in Tuna drift nets [which are now banned by the EU] and in Seine nets also for Tuna by offshore French and Spanish boats. Severe bad and prolonged weather also kills Dolphins if they get caught in it. The bottom line is that commercial activity is allowed in Clew bay as in all other bays all over europe.

 

Skate: Skate was never a commercial species in European waters. Fishermen refer to ray as skate. As for Skate in general yes they are down on numbers. But ask Mary Gavin Hughes in Clew bay about the wonderful Skate fishing there. She has an angling charter boat and still has many anglers catching skate regularly. 'probably extinct in the Irish sea' which species? there are 5.

 

Monkfish: Is he talking about Monk or Angler. The commercial boats target Angler ( Lophius sp) but they actually call them monk. The angler (men) want to catch Monkfish or Angel shark. Commercial monk landings is also under quota.

 

Flatfish: Again under quota (I know not ideal). We are at the exteme southern limit of Atlantic Halibut. In the Pacitic where their halibut is managed properly they sport fish and commercially catch thousands of tons per year.

 

Haddock: Definatly going downhill. However farming is looking very possible. Whatever you guys think about farming, remember it is the next eveloutionary step on from fishing. Remember we were all hunter gatherers until faarming came along.

 

Mackeral. In Newfoundland they are now looking at Farming Cod as a means to get the industry going again. Interestingly Lobster catches have increased in magnitude probably due to the Cod decline. In peru the anchovy has failed due to the failure of El Nino. This wind drives in nutrient rich water (nitrate and Phosphate) inshore which inturn blooms algae for the anchovy to eat.

 

Salmon. The fisheries boards could improve the numbers of wild fish running our rivers. We all know of rivers that have been left to their own devices and poached or pollouted out of existence. If the more money was spent on improving beds and using enhancement techniques then there would be a lot more salmon to go round. Last year, with the help of the Salmon research agency in Mayo a salmon was caught on the Rhine in Germany after many years. I think it was about 8 or 9 kgs and was of Irish stock. The Rhine used to be called the sewer of Europe. As for Alaska and Canada, they have a massive wild salmon fishery and while its true to say that they don't want farming its also true to say that it would be uneconomic. Only last year the total farmed salmon weight passed the total wild caught salmon, pacific and atlantic.

 

Sea Trout: Again while most fishery owner's did nothing during the sea-trout decline and this includes the WRFB a few succesfully looked after their fishery and never had any decline. The Casla fishery in Galway caught female sea-trout and released unfed fry into their system. Catches of fish up to 70 per day in a boat were recorded. If the WRFB did the same there would be no decline. Indeed a spate system would have very limited sea-trout running it and its very easy to overfish sea-trout and decimate the spawning stock. Anglers have been doing this for years.

 

Salmon farm pollution: See attached paper. There is about 1500 tons of Salmon in Clew bay. 46,650 people averaging 100 kgs each gives a biomass of 4,650 tons of people. And salmon **** more? Remember that salmon feed is made up of fish meal pnd soya. Also Mammals (humans) are warm blooded and need more food and energy than fish. Plants also need phosporus and its been proved that seaweed hovers up phosporus. Di-Chlorvus is not used anymore as it is more deadly to humans than to lice. It is biodegradeable and is gone from the environment in 24 hours at a dilution of 1part per million. Thats 1 grain of sugar in a cup of tea.

PCB's come from the fishmeal.

 

Pollution from Agriculture: The highest density of sheep in the country is in Co. Mayo. Just look at the overgrazing around. Killary Harbour has a B (lot of **** ) classification for shellfish consumption simply because of the sheep. There are not many people living in Killary.

 

CLAMS: Check out eithe BIM.ie or Marine.ie for more info on CLAMS. I need to start shutting up.

 

Clew Bay tomorrow. Denmark farms the most Rainbow trout, fresh water and sea, than any other european country. Why is their seatrout fishing so good. Its management, cooperation and respect. I think the tonnage is up around the 200,000 ton mark. Ireland farms only 25,000 tons of salmon and about 1,500 tons of Trout.

 

So to finish I could say a lot more but when Dr. O'Sullivan says about CLAMS and I quote ' a hotchpotch document exuding blatant propaganda and platitude' I say beware until you see both sides. I have to a certain extent played devils advocate but I have not exagerated anything I have said here. I do think there is a balance to be struck with all user's of our shared resources. We have a long way to go to get bays like Clew back to its former glory and the WRFB have a lot to answer for but so do many other people and groups.

Anon.

 

The 2 articles spoken about at the start are too long to put on this site, but if anyone wants to view them please email me colin@accony.freeserve.co.uk and I will send them to you.

 

Regards

Colin

[Davy Holt]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Colin Brett:

[qb

Skate: Skate was never a commercial species in European waters. Fishermen refer to ray as skate. As for Skate in general yes they are down on numbers. But ask Mary Gavin Hughes in Clew bay about the wonderful Skate fishing there. She has an angling charter boat and still has many anglers catching skate regularly. 'probably extinct in the Irish sea' which species? there are 5.

 

Regards

Colin[/qb]

---

Common Skate (D. batis) although it has never been a commercial species, it is regularly landed and used maily for animal feed and in the past by anglers for trophy shots.

Personaly I would never class Irish skate fishing as "wonderful" there are a few fish caught but nothing compaired to what would be caught if the had been left alone by the commercials. There are probably more skate caught by anglers out from Oban in 1 month, possibly even 1 week than the whole season in Clew bay.. that is wonderful skate angling.

 

As we only have 2 species of true skate (the rest are Ray's) in UK waters and as only one of them was found in the Irish sea, it would have to be the Common Skate that is concidered extinct in the Irish Sea.

 

[ 19 June 2002, 09:59 PM: Message edited by: Davy Holt ]