Close season review, the fight is still on.

[snotty]

I agree with your sentiment Peter, I just thought it would be beneficial to sort out the fact from the fiction for the benefit of those like me who are less educated in the traditional ways.

 

A proper scientific study of cause and effect would only serve to enhance angling in the eyes of the conservationists. What do you think?

[guy robb]

I think the best way to send a message to the anti,s is by self regulation,its a sad day when angling is just about commercial interests,that spark, that made us love angling is being eroded by the greed of a few,In MAY the barbel become easy to see, gathered in a few inches of water for the spawning, they are also at their biggest size which would make them targets, I dread to think what would happen with people casting at these large fish when they are vunerable, also as people we should show respect to all of nature and give it a break

[Chris Plumb]

What many folks now don't realise is that The Freshwater Fisheries Act, 1878 was introduced as a Private Members Bill by one Anthony James Mundella.

 

Mundella was mainly responding to pressure from the coarse angling community for such a break - particularly northern anglers including his constituents in Sheffield. (At the time Sheffield boasted of 211 angling clubs!). Having failed in 1874 he was succesful 4 years later. Yes, the close season was introduced at the behest of anglers of the time.

 

Many arguments against the close season appear to be not about the need for it but the timing of it!! Yes, it's a bit late for say Dace and probably too early for say Tench. So yes the timing's not perect but this ISN'T an argument for not having one surely!

 

Peter spoke of pike - in fact spawning is very stressful for most fish and spring time sees many not survive the experience and this without man's interference.

 

In short all the arguments in favour of abolishing appear to be economic ones; those in favour of keeping it conservation ones. I know which side of the fence I'm on.

 

I've yet to meet a TRUE river angler who is not in favour of the close season - unfortunately we make up the minority of anglers (as recent EA figures showed). In fact I doubt if the majority of ALL anglers are in favour. One of the clubs I belong to had a free vote on the issue the season before last. 70% of the membership voted (A high turnout I'm sure you'll agree) - only 20% were in favour of opening up the club's still waters all year round. Hooray for them & one VERY good reason why I will continue to pay my subs! These are the sort of anglers I want to rub shoulders with!

 

I'd like to finish with a quick quote from the late, great Peter Stone writing in Waterlog 3 years ago...

 

"On stillwaters it is too late. Where the rivers are concerned my message is this: PLEASE (his emphasis) do not bow to the pressure from greedy anglers. Long may the fish enjoy their annual love-in undisturbed; long may anglers walk through fresh grass and sit behind lush vegetation. Your job is to protect the environment; do not fail in your duty."

 

It's very sad that we seem to been having this argument ever since. Alas, there are now plenty of stillwaters open all year round so if you want to fish between March and June - seek these out BUT LEAVE OUR RIVERS ALONE!

 

Chris

 

[ 15. November 2002, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: Chris Plumb ]

[Bradford Angler]

Not wanting to rock the boat on this one . . I agree with the benefits of the closed season on rivers (and tench waters too, although they seem to have been short changed for financial reasons). However, one or two more famous figure head anglers are advocates of the close season and then dissapear over to Ireland to continue their stick float work during our close season . . this is not fair for the working angler who can not jump ship so easily for a predicted settled weather or warm spell . .

 

question though . . last year, the year before and possibly the year before (if memory serves well) River fish were reported as spawning twice due to milder conditions (global warming) . . this is a trend that I think will become more the norm in years to come . . do we have a crack at a sliding window for the close season ? or are we just upholding a tradition for the glorious 16th ?? Do match results on rivers not contain nodule covered bream or fat perch filled with milt and spawn ??

 

What if some fish expert comes back and plays a safe ball and recommends we call the close season 1st Jan - 1st June . . where would we be then . .

 

I watched an article on discovery the other day about a canal barge challenge, where the boats had to navigate down dis-used arms of canals and run as many of the brummie canals as possible in a given time. One boat decided to run an old long since used arm of a canal - turned up more silt and what was later reported to be contaminated waste . . results fish kill, not a small one either tench of 3lb shown gasping at the surface, Carp dead in the margins . . . why do we not stop these practices . . especially on canals and navigatable river sections in the close season ??

 

what's good for the goose must be good for the gander ?? but what about the environment - - can we cover the cost of that with the canal barge fees :confused:

[Bruno Broughton]

Mundella didn't base his arguments for a closed season on the impact of angling on waterside birds, bankside vegetation or anything similar; he campaigned for the protection of spawning fish.

 

The rationale was that March 15th to June 15th (inclusive) covered MOST coarse fish spawning activities. In the subsequent primary legislation, there is no requirement for a closed season for coarse fish BUT if there is one, it MUST be at least 93 days in length.

 

The two crucial, fish-related arguments in favour of a closed(d) season on rivers are:-

 

1. ownership of opposite banks is often different, and a free-for-all would effectively prevent one riparian owner stopping anglers from fishing in the spring on his side of the river.

 

2. Many river fish move upstream to spawn, and such spawning aggregations of fish render them particularly vulnerable to over exploitation by anglers. Damage done to fish in one or two pegs in spring-time can subsequently affect populations in downstream reaches later in the year.

 

Before anyone else mentions it, if we do retain the close(d) season, it should apply to everyone else who could harrass and damage fish during the spring months. Specifically, boating/ canoeing should be prohibited from sensitive areas BY LAW.

 

BTW, as someone who also attended this week's angling summit with Mike 'Waterman' Heylin, I totally endorse his comments about Martin Salter (and Minister for Rural Affairs, Alun Michael). It was one of the most productive angling meetings I have ever attended, and - in a non-political sense - my admiration for both MPs went from 'low' to 'very high' in about three hours.

 

Don't put money on the abolition of the close season - it's the arguments that will swing the issue, not the opinion polls.

 

[ 16. November 2002, 12:03 AM: Message edited by: Bruno Broughton ]

[Excalibur]

And yet nobody mentioned Yorkshire, ahead of the game as usual! We're just waiting for everybody else to catch up!

[lyn]

Why oh why do they keep bringing this up. Now someone in Government has decided

to stick their oar in to see if the rivers should have a close season. (Well according to

AT!!) What do they B***** care? Unless they are anglers of course that would like to

fish all year.

 

Apparently the EA is going to select at random X amount of anglers and send out a questionnaire. This is NOT a voting exercise but just to get an idea of what the angler wants!!

 

Just suppose out of this X amount only a dozen or so are river anglers. The others that are already fishing their lakes 12 months of the year aren't going to give a s*** if the rivers stay open or closed as it won't effect them anyway!

 

As has already been said, everything needs a rest and I agree with Bruno in that ALL sports should be banned on ALL waters for that period. It’s like some SSI sites they stop fishing on these waters during the close season but still allow water sports, which doesn’t make sense. How can a few quiet anglers interfere/damage wild life more than someone screaming around the lake on a jet ski or speed boats towing water skiers???!!

 

They should NEVER have abolished the close season period! Once again it was down to money and greed! When they lifted it on still waters the fishery owners had a choice to open or stay closed. Some chose to stay closed & still do. Most have followed suit and opened because they 1, needed/wanted the money or 2, were afraid of loosing members. Now if they had all stood together on this they could have all just refused to open the gates!

 

It’s a bit like any method trout fishing, as far as I am concerned this should practice should be stopped during the close season and only fly-fishing aloud.

 

Get ready for round 2 the battle continues. We should all start to partition to get in re-instated on the still waters where it should never have happened in the first place

 

lyn

[Vagabond]

Good post Bruno.

 

The only arguments that are relevant to close seasons are those concerned with the welfare of fish.

 

"Resting" the riverbanks (so dogwalkers, trailbikers and the like can "enjoy" unfettered use in spring) is a non-argument, as is the need for anglers to take three months off to polish their car or their tackle

 

I have long held the view that close seasons need to be FLEXIBLE ie different times/length of closure (never mind Mundella and the 93 days - change it if necessary) for different species, different times for the same species on different rivers, and even different times each year if spawning is unduly early or late)

 

This would mean a much greater emphasis on LOCAL control. The recent establishment of Fishery Action Plans for each river system (FAPs) by the EA seems a step in the right direction. The old system of River Boards (before they were called "Authorities") had much to commend it.

 

Flexible local rules might at first sight make angling life more complicated, but the principle seems to work well in New Zealand, the States and Canada, wher there is wide variance in seasons, bag and slot limits etc etc.

 

What do you think ? If protection of spawning fish is the object, the present close season is inadequate in some ways.

 

Good point about disturbance by canoeists/boaters - the same should apply to flyfishers (of which I am one) - there is no excuse for someone "flyfishing" an area where coarse fish are spawning.

 

[ 16. November 2002, 08:09 AM: Message edited by: Vagabond ]

[poledark]

Vagabond, I am with you 110%. But unfortunately it would be almost unworkable over here. Just take Pike for example, the number of "anglers" that target them during the last weeks in March, "when they are at their heaviest" amazes me, one poster on here quite recently talked quite openly of fishing the shallower parts of the lake "where the pike go to spawn"

 

I have long advocated the type of close season as in the USA, but it will never happen.

 

Den

[Peter Waller]

As the piker who admitted to targetting pike when they congregate ready for spawning let me come back on that one. Also my understanding of pike behaviour, at that time of the year, is that they congregate and feed near, but not actually on the spawning areas. Once they move onto the beds thats it for another season.

 

I would question whether you would ever catch a pike when they are actually spawning. The last couple of seasons have seen pike actually spawning during the first two weeks of March up here on the Broads. I did catch a thirty last March but she is thought to be barren, plus she was well away from the spawning areas, other than that all I caught were jacks. Catching fish at their maximum weight is understandable. But pike do start congregating near the spawning beds sometime before they actually spawn. If pikers were to leave then alone at that time their season would end about mid Feb!

 

I'm not so worried about pike at that time of the year. Its after spawning, when the pike are pretty ragged and feeding like billy-oh that causes my concern! Apparently they eat something like 40% of their annual intake from spawning till June. Easy to catch, but not in a condition to be caught. I would guess that much the same applies to barbel.

 

Re giving the banks a break Vagabond. In practice you are quite right. But my feeling is that we should be seen as the good boys, and girls. Let the dog walkers and Cats Protection League ladies etc be seen as the bad people. Afterall, don't our four legged friends account for staggering ammounts of carnage in the countryside?

 

P.S. Car cleaning is a close season bonus!

 

[ 17. November 2002, 09:59 AM: Message edited by: Peter Waller ]