Bigcod on TV

[Deepseacodmaster]

Paul tells the truth to the Nation.

(No fishermen's tails for a change )

 

 

Good Lad.

[mr motorola]

Oh bugger , i missed it!!!!!!!

 

Is it available anywhere else?

[Davy Holt]

Hiya,

 

Yup Paul did well.. pity about the Professor from York Uni though

 

Linda had typed this up and sent it to him and countryfile before the programe had finnished:

 

"

I have just watched the above programme and as a Common Skate Angler am quite incensed by the false impression that you gave on anglers fishing for this species of fish.

 

It is a well know fact that since the 70s the Common Skate had become the Uncommon Skate but the evidence is now proving that the species has increasing numbers thanks to the changed attitude amongst recreational anglers who learned from the mistakes of the past.

 

My partner and myself are private boat anglers who fish 12 months a year for this species and we have been part of the Glasgow Museums Common Skate Tagging Programme for 18 years. On watching your slot unfortunately there was no doubt that you gave the impression that when fishing for this species that anglers are killing them. The only people who did kill Common Skate were the commercials and this species is now quite rightly protected by law and MUST be returned alive, a thing that ALL Recreational Anglers have done since the “bad old days” of the 70s were learned from. The majority and I mean 90% of Recreational Anglers when catching common skate, follow care fully developed guidelines on what to do to ensure the fish is returned healthy. As part of the tagging programme we don’t even recommending weighing the fish as charts have been developed to ensure that the fish is returned as soon as possible to the water. They are tagged and new measurements taken, the fish have a high recapture rate proving that the anglers are looking after the welfare of these fish and NOT reducing stocks of them as your interview indicated. Despite all this so called pressure that the “experts” say comes from the recreational anglers the Common Skate is now more prolific than it has ever been in the last 30 years and the fish are now re colonising in areas that they were once wiped out. The experts in this fish species are the anglers who have fished for them for the last 20 years. In the North Channel they were classified as Biologically extinct and now they are being caught, tagged and released proving that they are re colonising It appears that maybe you are rather un educated on this particular species of fish and may I suggest you take a look at the PowerPoint that we have created at http://www.catchalot.co.uk/skateguide.ppt, which my partner uses to give talks to angling groups, fellow anglers that come out fishing with us and anyone else that is interested. You can also find more information on the tagging programme at http://www.catchalot.co.uk/tagging/skate.htm

 

Apologies for the rant but unfortunately as someone who is amongst a large group of people who take a lot of time to ensure the health of these fish , it was infuriating to listen to your interview and as for yourself and countryfile not checking out the facts before going ahead with this all I can say is Shame on you.

 

Linda Deas"

[Elton]

Hi Davy,

 

Some of the 'facts' I hear about anglers are astonishing these days, the sad thing being that many of them come from so-called experts. Sea anglers seem especially hard done by.

 

Well done to Linda for taking the time to put her point across.

[glennk]

Its quite sad isnt it. I think the Scientist, and the Eu statement declaring war on anglers who deplete stocks, will be used to portray us as careless people doing our best to finish off anything that swims in the seas.

 

I do honestly think that our days are numbered.

[Norrie]

Geez, I missed it, and I usually watch it too...and no where to watch a replay either.. usually they can be watched on BBCi Player...but for some reason, not this weeks..

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t0bv

 

 

oooOOOoooo Its on again on the 6th Feb...at 0240 hrs !!!, great stuff!!!! Typical bleedin BBC...

Edited February 1, 2009 by Norrie

[Deepseacodmaster]

Oh bugger , i missed it!!!!!!!

 

Is it available anywhere else?

 

I will make a DVD copy and post it on to you.

Cannot put it on u tube because of copyright

[Leon Roskilly]

Watch it online at:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hd...ile_01_02_2009/

[barry luxton]

What a load of tosh that there is an implied link with the demise of the fish stock and the recreational angling scene. Pollack and ling were mentioned. What about the common skate, were they not at one time all around the uk along with the spur dog, again have the rsa been part of the demise, i think not. Mr Roberts is also in a dream world if he thinks the uk rsa are part of the problem. That point he needs to made abundantly clear. Shame the rsa are having to fight rubbish assumptions.

Edited February 1, 2009 by barry luxton

[mr motorola]

Watch it online at:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hd...ile_01_02_2009/

Cheers Leon , i usually watch it as a lot of you guys do but , i missed it this morning. Thanks for the link , works a treat.