Port Logan boat fishing - angling pressure

[Snatcher]

Snatcher,reporting in from Mariners Cafe,Drummore

 

I have not an axe to grind on this one,just after some meaningful input from my peers. I am

basically a shore angler with the occasional boat foray - cheers Tom. All I am doing is posing a few questions to those boat anglers who fish on a regular basis out of Logan.

 

Yesterday afternoon the wife and I had a walk (yes walk) over to Logan. When we arrived there what amazed me was the number of boat trailers lying on the beach and dotted around the car park. I counted 22 trailers in all which seemed a large number for a Friday afternoon. Here are some photos I took.

 

 

 

 

Last summer I recall counting the trailers there one Saturday and I am sure there were 35. On those sort of numbers I am sure that I cannot be too far off the mark saying that there must be about 100 angling launches per week during the summer if the conditions are fine.

 

My question is quite simple,can the fishery sustain this sort of angling pressure?? A lot of todays forward thinking anglers do tend to go with catch and release but there are still a lot of the old "bang everything on the head" brigade still around. In fact there are two boat owners I know who fall into this category and they fish Logan a lot. Ironically I heard that one kept an 8.5 pollack yesterday !!!!!!!!!!

 

I do not think there is a real problem with anglers keeping cod,whiting,haddock,mackerel caught out from Port Logan. My concern is that it seems like the inshore resident pollack are coming under the cosh.

 

I have been fishing this area for about 16 years now and the increase in boat angling really is quite noticeable. Shore angling has also greatly increased over this period as well but I have to say that at least from my own experiences 90% + of us put all our catch back.

 

This is not a shore v boat thread. All I was after was your opinions about the health of the Port Logan fishery,especially the inshore pollack.

 

John

[Norm B]

Snatcher,reporting in from Mariners Cafe,Drummore

 

I have not an axe to grind on this one,just after some meaningful input from my peers. I am

basically a shore angler with the occasional boat foray - cheers Tom. All I am doing is posing a few questions to those boat anglers who fish on a regular basis out of Logan.

 

Yesterday afternoon the wife and I had a walk (yes walk) over to Logan. When we arrived there what amazed me was the number of boat trailers lying on the beach and dotted around the car park. I counted 22 trailers in all which seemed a large number for a Friday afternoon. Here are some photos I took.

 

 

 

 

Last summer I recall counting the trailers there one Saturday and I am sure there were 35. On those sort of numbers I am sure that I cannot be too far off the mark saying that there must be about 100 angling launches per week during the summer if the conditions are fine.

 

My question is quite simple,can the fishery sustain this sort of angling pressure?? A lot of todays forward thinking anglers do tend to go with catch and release but there are still a lot of the old "bang everything on the head" brigade still around. In fact there are two boat owners I know who fall into this category and they fish Logan a lot. Ironically I heard that one kept an 8.5 pollack yesterday !!!!!!!!!!

 

I do not think there is a real problem with anglers keeping cod,whiting,haddock,mackerel caught out from Port Logan. My concern is that it seems like the inshore resident pollack are coming under the cosh.

 

I have been fishing this area for about 16 years now and the increase in boat angling really is quite noticeable. Shore angling has also greatly increased over this period as well but I have to say that at least from my own experiences 90% + of us put all our catch back.

 

This is not a shore v boat thread. All I was after was your opinions about the health of the Port Logan fishery,especially the inshore pollack.

 

John

You think that's pressure, you should see the boats on the Solent at a weekend but marry that with the fact that all those anglers probably keep less fish than 1 trawler on 1 day. Do you get much commercial pressure there?

[Brian Carragher]

From my vantage point here in the NE I can't see anything wrong with either the numbers of boat launch's or with any fish they take for the table, after all thats what we do when we catch a few and thats put a few in the freezer to eat later, thats a sustainable way to me anyway of managing the inshore stocks

 

Pollock taste nice I had one for tea the other night and I prefer one I've caught rather than wild Alaskan pollock as available from supermarkets and in ready made meals

 

No critisism from me for taking an 8.5lb fish for the pot as that probably fed a family of four for a good two meals each

 

As for the number of launch's I would'nt have thought 100 launch's a week was a lot especially when a large number of those going afloat will be practicing catch and release ( I tried it once and was'nt very good at it so went back to the old method of catching cooking and eating) so they won't have much of an impact at all on any of the inshore species.

 

Every week from Hartlepool to Scarbrough there must be literally thousands of launch's per week and we have some of the finest fishing availabe to us right on our doorstep and there does'nt seem to be any impact on stocks, quite the opposite I would say as results from boat anglers getting better and better year on year and as we learn how to target those species that are newer to us then our expertise increases and our knowledge broadens but the fish stocks don't suffer

 

I'm not saying that all anglers keep everything we catch , I return a lot of it back alive as I think I'm more selective on size of fish kept for the pot but overall if you look at what happens on this part of the coast with regard to the number of rods on the water I don't think you have much to worry about

[northsea]

No critisism from me for taking an 8.5lb fish for the pot as that probably fed a family of four for a good two meals each

 

Sorry, slightly confused about this one?

Why do you feel it's wrong to take a 8.5lb pollack?

Do you think it's too small and deserves to grow bigger?

Would you prefer smaller pollack taken?

[John E Ashford]

Snatcher why not buy a boat and join those happy fishermen.

 

I'm sure not all those boats would be used for fishing, some just like cruising around for some leisurely pleasure.

[Brian Carragher]

Sorry, slightly confused about this one?

Why do you feel it's wrong to take a 8.5lb pollack?

Do you think it's too small and deserves to grow bigger?

Would you prefer smaller pollack taken?

 

I'm not sure what you mean

 

Is it me , yourself or Snatcher that you think is confused or wrong as I certainly don't have a problem with an 8.5lb fish taken for the table, I thought I made that perfectly clear from the post above indeed went as far as saying so

[Guest challenge]

From my vantage point here in the NE I can't see anything wrong with either the numbers of boat launch's or with any fish they take for the table, after all thats what we do when we catch a few and thats put a few in the freezer to eat later, thats a sustainable way to me anyway of managing the inshore stocks

 

Pollock taste nice I had one for tea the other night and I prefer one I've caught rather than wild Alaskan pollock as available from supermarkets and in ready made meals

 

No critisism from me for taking an 8.5lb fish for the pot as that probably fed a family of four for a good two meals each

 

As for the number of launch's I would'nt have thought 100 launch's a week was a lot especially when a large number of those going afloat will be practicing catch and release ( I tried it once and was'nt very good at it so went back to the old method of catching cooking and eating) so they won't have much of an impact at all on any of the inshore species.

 

Every week from Hartlepool to Scarbrough there must be literally thousands of launch's per week and we have some of the finest fishing availabe to us right on our doorstep and there does'nt seem to be any impact on stocks, quite the opposite I would say as results from boat anglers getting better and better year on year and as we learn how to target those species that are newer to us then our expertise increases and our knowledge broadens but the fish stocks don't suffer

 

I'm not saying that all anglers keep everything we catch , I return a lot of it back alive as I think I'm more selective on size of fish kept for the pot but overall if you look at what happens on this part of the coast with regard to the number of rods on the water I don't think you have much to worry about

That’s very interesting brain, so angling has significantly improved over the last couple of years, while commercial fishing has significantly retreated over the same period. In the same area’s.

There’s two ways of looking at it. Bad management comes to the front of most peoples mind’s because commercial fishing has been managed while recreational fishing has knot.

Or a vast improvement in recreational methods and technology that is now available to anglers be it in a boat or kayak. But then again that same (and much better) technology has been available to the commercial industry for years.

Regards.

[Brian Carragher]

Hello John

 

I think we have to be clear that in this instance we're talking about angling instead of fishing , angling being by rod and line whilst fishing is defined as commercial activity and I feel that to compare one against the other is to compare chalk and cheese

 

Angling methods have got better over the years from better rods, better reels modern high tec lines or braid and the development of new ways of fishing with baits or the recent upsurge in the use of artificials

 

Boats have come on a long way and are now suited to angling styles and most small boats now have use of a sounder to help them locate fish holding ground or features or gps to locate wrecks , things that not too long again were outside of anglers pockets as they were just too expensive to be able to justify for a few days a years use whereas now you can buy a good sounder for £200 or less

 

The reasons for the decline in commercial fishing are many and I coud probably put up pages of text to explain why but I think we both know most of those reasons

 

As an ex commercial fisherman you will not get any critisism of the inshore fleet from me as I know from first hand just how hard a job it is

 

Its just a coincidence that as one area has grown (angling) commercial fishing has declined and has declined over a period of about fifteen years whereas angling has grown in technological development in the last 5/10 years

 

Saw the Guardian over our way this morning again and you must have been Northside on Monday as you were heading back towards Whitby, we were fishing off side of Two Dogs and you passed inside of them on your way back home

[barry luxton]

Its just a coincidence that as one area has grown (angling) commercial fishing has declined and has declined over a period of about fifteen years whereas angling has grown in technological development in the last 5/10 years

 

I think commercial fishing has got more and more successful. Too successful for thier own good. I'm amazed when you see a pelagic trawler fishing away and has virtually sold the catch before they have even heaved the trawl, due the the electronics, sensors on the trawl etc. They are going to have to be very much more selective (bottom trawlers) in their practices, eliminator trawls and whatever new ideas they can come up with or no disrespects they will be party to thier own demise and the stocks, in particular where the reason is sorry but we can't help disgarding.

Edited May 31, 2009 by barry luxton

[Guest challenge]

I was a commercial fisherman too Brian so understands your sentiments.

You’re correct about the rise and fall of two totally different fishing activities.

Yes where about most days the same as there are plenty about trying to catch fish, be it for pleasure or a living. Good luck to all of them is all I can say.

Hi Barry. There will always be discards of some kind with bottom trawling; it’s what is acceptable that is the problem.

There’s nothing wrong with efficient commercial fishing. A pelagic super trawler who can catch his monthly quota in one haul is the sort of efficiency that the industry has been investing millions of pounds for years to be able to do. One midwinter four hour trawl of his net will be environmentally acceptable too most people I would imagine.

regards.