would we get this

[maximo]

20 lads are being summoned to court for false reporting in their fish returns and face a £3000 fine or 3 months jail.

no not trawlermen haaf netters on the solway.

for those that dont know what they do they are part time commercials who have been doing this for centuries hence the name haaf from scandinavian invaders.

these lads go out on the solway flats when the tide floods and stand in water with a net about 12 feet wide a bit like a set of goals.

they have been under surveillance for two months in the summer and are now being prosecuted for offences like not declaring which days they fished even if nothing caught and not declaring fish.

what i am asking is if the sea fishing license is brought in would we get any fisheries protection now or in the future approaching this level.

[Andrew Boyd]

I don't support "commercials" but Haaf netting at least normally does not decimate the stocks or as importantly the sea bed.

 

If they has played fair in the first place these guys would not be facing what to them will be a huge penalty.

 

I presume they were after Salmon.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

I could not fore see having to record days fishing and catches, it would be impossible to police and extreemly difficult to keep records of.

 

I could see and expect bag limits on certain species and this would probably be backed up with the same kind of fines.

 

They have woken up to the fact that a ten bob fine has no impact today.

 

I know very little about the Haaf netting, I did see it on one of Hugh Fernly-Wittingstalls programs ( I think that's how you spell his name) and of all forms of netting it did seem to be the one with the least impact on fishing stocks.

 

If there are laws in place to control this type of fishing and they have been consistently broken over a period of time they only have themselves to blame.

 

If I go out and drive down the road at forty miles per hr. in a thirty zone and get caught I have broken the law and deserve to be fined.

 

Surely that would be true of size and bag limits.

[maximo]

sorry i missed out that they fish for salmon/sea trout.

that was the point would the sea fishery get any protection on this scale.

and yes the salmon anglers i know hate these netters.

what happens is the fish go up the estuary to spawn in the rivers.

but in low river levels they cant get up so are in and out of the estuary with every tide.

therefore they are targetted on the way in and out on most tides.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

If that's the case Maximo they will have to hope they are not up before a game fisherman/woman.

[gannet]

I am surprised any salmon have succeeded in reaching the Solway Firth given the number of legal and illegal drift nets off the N and NW coast of Ireland. I have a salmon/seatrout rod licence issued by The Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland which comes with a log book and gill tags (for attaching to all rod caught fish). The Board has reduced considerably salmon poaching at sea, estuaries and rivers over the past decade and if the same results were to be achieved regarding sea fishing in the UK I would not have a problem with a licence.

With regards to the Solway poachers. I say, Throw the book at them! Here in Ireland we have the "Mono Men" poaching from the Atlantic to the lakes. They are mostly part timers, tax free and vat free so as far as I am concerned "If you can't do the time... don't do the crime".

[maximo]

they arent poaching gannet.they are licenced.

drift nets were bought out a few years back here.

[gannet]

Poach v.t.to take (game) illegally,no different to "false reporting".

[Newt]

Poaching defined (and I agree with gannet)(note that US hunting = UK shooting)

 

The illegal hunting or taking of wildlife out of its natural habitat.

www.sandiegozoo.org/wildideas/glossary_p-q-r.html

 

killing animals illegally for profit

www.cedu.niu.edu/scied/student/technology/technology_01/gregg/webquest/Glossary.html

 

to hunt or fish illegally

https://www.sitesalive.com/tg/wl/private/hs...rwlglossary.htm

[maximo]

the bottom line is theres too much money to be made from salmon and sea trout fishing as these are some of the top rivers in england/southern scotland.esk,eden, liddle,annan,nith.

they want them off.

but for our £20 sea licence would we get any netting stopped.

more like sod all for it.