fishing and canoeing

[andy_youngs]

Andy, because my opinion differs from yours does not mean that I need a reality check!

Yes it does ... planet earth calling .....

[BoldBear]

"You can't canoe down this piece of land" they insisted "the barbel are spawning. "this is an SSSI and you're disturbing their habitat"

 

"But it's the closed fishing season" I reasoned "that's why I chose to canoe down the river at this time of year"

 

If you are disturbing the the fishes habitat in a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' then you are disturbing the the fishes habitat in an SSSI regardless of whether the season is closed or open; therefore your reply "But it's the closed fishing season" doesn't hold water, does it?

 

See here --> Canoeing without consent we are only asking Canoeists to have consent from the riparian owners or controlling clubs before they plough through private streams and rivers; whether 'disturbing the the fishes habitat' during spawning or otherwise.

Edited June 1, 2009 by BoldBear

[andy_youngs]

Let me get this straight ....

 

Canoeing down a river is supposed to upset the barbels' spawning? Are they serious? This is *much* less of a disturbance to the barbel than a lengthy summer downpour raising the river by a foot. And I mean **much** less. A few gentle paddles and you're gone.

 

These people are taking the mick, surely, or there's some other agenda afoot.

 

Yes, you're quite right of course .... there's another agenda, and it's purely political ...

[grumpybum]

Access at the moment for canoes is forbidden unless you have the permission of every land owner whos land the river runs through. If you do not have permission then you are trespassing and the land owner can insist that you leave the river and you must take the shortest route to the nearest road.

 

This does not apply to rivers that are designated a Navigation. Even then access must be from a spot that has public access to and from the river.

 

The river can and is damaged by canoes if the level is low. As the canoe will ground on gravel banks etc. Most river fish spawn on these gravell so the fry and eggs can be damaged. This then means winter for game fish spring for coarse fish. Summer and autumn time anglers on the river who will not be best pleased to see canoes running the river. This then leaves only one period and thats winter when the rivers in flood. Not exactly the best time for exploring the river with fishing in mind.

[andy_youngs]

If you are disturbing the the fishes habitat in a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' then you are disturbing the the fishes habitat in an SSSI regardless of whether the season is closed or open; therefore your reply "But it's the closed fishing season" doesn't hold water, does it?

 

See here --> Canoeing without consent we are only asking Canoeists to have consent from the riparian owners or controlling clubs before they plough through private streams and rivers; whether 'disturbing the the fishes habitat' during spawning or otherwise.

Bear, if you're going to canoe a river then the reality is that it is simply not practical to get prior consent from every single landowner along the way. There are too many of them and I'm afraid it's not really feasable. What you have to do is canoe the river, without disturbing the flora or fauna, and then sort out the **** afterwards ... that's what we're trying to do here.

 

As for your point that canoing through an SSSI is disturbing the fishes habitat, well yes, I agree with you. But the whole Wensum Valley is an SSSI from Raynam all the way down to Norwich. There are various reasons for this but none of them have anything to do with the spawning of barbel. In fact, barbel are an invasive species which were introduced in the 60's.

 

In any event, canoeing down the Wensum is not disturbing the barbel as much as actually fishing for them with a hook and line. I think we're in danger of losing sight of the whole point as to why NACA are trying to re-instate the river in the first place.

 

The Environment Agency seem to think that if they can preserve a precious little barbel sanctuary on the Wensum then everyone will be happy.

 

But they're wrong. That's not why the public is paying to have the Wensum rejuvinated from the abuse and neglect of years gone by.

 

The reason the taxpayer is footing this particular bill is to create a recreational resource for all the citizens of this country ... and I'm afraid that includes canoists ...

Edited June 2, 2009 by andy_youngs

[Peter Waller]

A year or two back we had a plant from the BCU rattling the cages of AN. Indeed we had a very thorough discussion on this very topic back then.

 

In the case of Andy Youngs, he has 120 miles of Norfolk & Suffolk Broads right on his doorstep, all navigable. He has the River Blyth, a delightful, and navigable river. Indeed he has the open sea right on his doorstep, he is not short of recreational waters where he can canoe his socks off.

 

Perhaps he should try his hand at Lenwade, on the Wensum. There he will meet Mr Bernard Matthews, not an angler, but a man who values/demands his privacy thus he does not welcome canoeists. Instead of critiscising anglers who wish to protect their sport perhaps Andy should take on Mr Matthews. Point being that this is not an angler versus canoeist issue, but one of canoeist versus landowner. In this particular case Mr Matthews is not short of a bob or two.

 

By and large anglers pay for their access to such as the Upper Wensum, canoeists want that access for free.

[Peter Waller]

Re barbel being an invasive species, not so. It was a valid reintroduction. By the way, I am not a member of NACA.

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks for the links Andy.

 

Whats your main niggle though,acsess for canoeists or the fanatical barbel anglers attitude?

[Rob Ward]

Re barbel being an invasive species, not so. It was a valid reintroduction. By the way, I am not a member of NACA.

 

That's correct, Barbel are indigenous to all of the Eastern Rivers believe it or not. The eastern Rivers were all once tributaries of the Rhine and Barbel are indigenous to the Rhine.

[Anderoo]

There are many places where I can fish legally, and many other places I am not allowed to fish.

 

Same with you and your canoe.

 

In each case, the beliefs and opinions of the landowners who control the fishing rights/canoe access are their own and irrelevant.

 

Ask the same thing on a canoeing forum and you'll probably get different answers!