Breaking news from the government!!

[Guest jay_con]

are those 6 to 12 officers abiding by the letter of the law or are they turning a blind eye because defra tells them to? not that i would know. but are they corrupt?

[gonefishing]

first off i dont mind paying the money...i can afford it but i really see problems

 

1) policing it...is someone going to walk the length of chesil every day during summer evenings? theres probably 100 marks within 25 miles of me that you'd never even see another soul let alone a ticket inspector.

We would need a sea patrol for a start as well as land based spot checks.

 

2) doing it...i dont have a problem, but i bet 95% of have a go tourists would...unless there was a small daily tariff. Even then i suspect a lot of hardened anglers would think twice about paying if they could get away with it.

 

3) its effectiveness...dont really agree with man made reefs, but how far would funds go for all that they say they'll do. Policing the ticket, policing the law, conservation...out of 3 million? thats like £1500 per mile of coastline per year...so thats like £ 75,000 for the year to cover weymouth to southampton for the year...o kay. I would expect that just policing it would chew that up.

 

Either it needs to be more, or the government needs to start pulling some back from the EU, or a levy needs to go on fishing gear...or people need to start using common sense, or we'll just be hoinking out mackeral in 10 years.

 

I say fine the buggers that are breaking quotas, illegal netting and dredge fishing so it puts them simply out of business, confiscate the boat and sell it to pay for costs and redundancies.

 

Theres some git in poole harbour that has been witnessed dragging a plastic dustbin full of fish from a net...it doesnt sound right to me but i have to go all over the shop to even check its illegal, then see him at it, then try and get someone to nab him in the act...if i pay my £22 i want his boat or car to be sold off and him to pay some big fine for the next 10 years.

 

The shortcut is i slip on a rebreather and slash the crap out of his net and tie a few dead rats onto it every time i see him do it.

[thurso angler]

winter, black fish is a problem all over the uk its impossible to be everywhere at all times, the fishery officers will admit even with there 6-12 officers per port they are understaffed to check everything.

 

Beleive me fishery officers let nothing slip if they suspect somthing they will chase it to the end.

 

But if you have 3 trawlers landing at the same time with 50tonne of fish each landing there catch in 420kg bins whos to say, in say 10 bins hidden under a top layer of fish there is not a total of 3500 tonne of black fish now how do you find that 10 bins out of hundereds of bins being landed at once?? Not 6 or even 12 fishery officers could find that without a HUGE AMOUNT OF LUCK!!!

[Guest jay_con]

sounds like u know whats happening. why dont you start pointing the finger. do us all a favour.

[guernseybass]

My two penneth :

 

1. its a good thing, it formally identifies us as stakeholders legally. and it puts the idea of conservation and management in the minds of some anglers who wouldn't think of it - i bet some anglers on here still take bass home !

2. policing - how are lakes & rivers policed ? by a few officers who only turn up occasionally, but if you get caught its a £2,500 fine.

 

it really is up to us to make this work, but we need to use our voice - i urge people to join the SACN or BASS, give them your time and money and they'll be able to lobby government for our corner.

 

NB - i don't support the NFSA, as to qualify for their records you have to kill the fish, and most of their local competitions are still killing bass. Although they do have a Conservation group, they are not primarily a conservation group, your support is better off elsewhere i feel.

 

GB

[Ian Burrett]

I suspect rightly or wrongly that the sea angling fraternity will ignore the license and who is going to police it.

 

A leading coastguard admitted to me they were powerless to prevent a cowboy charter boat operator as they didn't have the man power to observe anglers paying him money. A different issue but shows that government can make laws but they don't appoint anyone to see they are obeyed. Also not too dissimilar to the illegal fish landing on the black market.

 

A chance to help the situation can be found on my

posting "The future of Scotland's marine environment"

[thurso angler]

winter:

sounds like u know whats happening. why dont you start pointing the finger. do us all a favour.

And how am i any different from the fishery officers????? We know it happens and how it is done but proving it, another thing completely.

 

But to be honest i have the upmost respect for the deepsea trawlermen that operate in scotland, they are out fishing for 5-12 days in weather we landlubbers wouldnt go out of the house in, let alone try to work in, it is a seriously dangerous business, and to them i give them my respect i couldnt do it and i doubt many here could either, they are just trying to make a living and like any business you get good guys and bad guys but i can honestly say that the majority of fishermen that i know are honest and extreemly hard working brave men.

[PhilC]

If they would also police the beaches and fine those litter louts who give us a bad name I too would agree to the idea of a licence.

[Leon Roskilly]

gonefishing:

 

1) policing it...is someone going to walk the length of chesil every day during summer evenings? theres probably 100 marks within 25 miles of me that you'd never even see another soul let alone a ticket inspector.

We would need a sea patrol for a start as well as land based spot checks.

Freshwater anglers are expected to pay for an annual fishing licence.

 

Now, if you add up the length of every canal, river, their streams and tributeries, carriers etc (both banks), then add up the length of banks around all the ponds, lakes, meres, resevoirs, broads, lochs etc

 

The distance of bank to be policed is far, far greater than the amount of coastline around the UK.

 

And whats more, most inland banks are covered with bushes and tall reeds where anglers can easily hide from the sight of fish (and bailiffs).

 

Not many bushes on Chesil beach, or most beaches for that matter!

 

Boats?

 

Plenty of freshwater anglers use boats on freshwater, and many freshwater fishing locations are as remote and rugged as any coastal venues.

 

Enforcement/policing isn't about checking the licence of every angler, every trip.

 

It's about checking enough to find sufficient people angling without a licence, and bringing them to court, to ensure that the majority will think very hard about fishing without a licence.

 

And sufficient freshwater anglers believe that their angling is improved by the spending of their licence money to put peer pressure on those who consider fishing without.

 

And of course the Environment Agency polices those places that are popular with anglers.

 

In the case of a sea licence, you might get away for a long time, fishing without a licence if you choose to forgo fishing at popular beaches, piers and charter ports, always uneasy when you see a stranger coming along the shore. But the majority will quickly prefer to have the peace of mind of fishing with a licence, wherever and whenever they choose.

 

There's plenty of good arguments for not having a licence as well as plenty of goood arguments for having one.

 

Problems of enforcement are just a red herring.

 

It will work as well, if not better, on the coast as it already does inland.

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Cranfield]

Leon is 100% correct.

Thats exactly how it will work.

 

Charter boats and ticket sellers on piers, may well ask to see your licence also.