Scotland and the BMP

[Davy Holt]

Obviously there will be some short term hardship involved for a few fishermen, but that is the price that has to be paid if we want more and bigger fish.

 

Thanks for the reply Steve, I just wanted to confirm my uptake on the issue.

[Steve Coppolo]

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Migration patterns have changed in as much as only 10-20% of our bass move outside our 12 mile limit.

 

The French pair trawlers can and often do fish up to within 6 miles of the coast in the SW approaches, I am not sure how far up the channel this is allowed, in this area the French are allowed only to 12 miles.

 

A fisherman from Gosport wrote to the Fishing News.

 

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The catch rates of foreign trawlers, fishing for 36-45cm bass in the 6 to 12 mile zone in summer and winter.

It is my expierience that the French catch a considerable amount of under 45 cm bass during the summer in this zone

So it is not only the Spawning aggregations being targeted.

I think it is still an expanding fishery for the French, we had a large French trawler targeting bass here last summer on the off shore banks.

The French are building up a huge track record, I would not be supprised if under the guies of a conservation messure the EU commission will soon make bass a pressure stock and the French will get 90% of the quota.

 

 

The French are allowed to fish up to the 6 mile line down there because of their so called historic rights.

 

The French probably do catch bass under 45cm in the summer. There will be a local population of bass in any area where the size varies from 0 group upwards. It's the winter fishery that targets mature bass on the over wintering grounds. Even then, they may catch some fish under 45cm because male bass mature smaller than females.

 

What we need to do now, and it's already underway, is to lobby the EU for a Europe wide MLS to protect bass.

[wurzel]

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What we need to do now, and it's already underway, is to lobby the EU for a Europe wide MLS to protect bass.

 

No hope and Bob Hope come to mind.

[stavey]

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What we need to do now, and it's already underway, is to lobby the EU for a Europe wide MLS to protect bass.

 

No hope and Bob Hope come to mind.

 

How do you know wurzel have you realy tried??????

[wurzel]

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How do you know wurzel have you realy tried??????

 

On other matters loads of times.

[Ian Burrett]

One question on this please.

 

What are the commercials that are targeting the smaller Bass just now, going to do while they wait for the Bass to reach the proposed min landing size ???

 

Hi Davy

 

Catch the same 36cm fish and sell them to the chinese.

 

Happy new year by the way

[wurzel]

Thats only if the anglers have not flooded the market

[Leon Roskilly]

Thats only if the anglers have not flooded the market

 

You mean unlicensed commercial rod and line fishermen surely Wurzel?

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Jaffa]

Hi Chris

I rally can't understand your opposition to the BMP. If the talk was of introducing alien species then i could understand it better.

No one is playing at God but just trying to stop the Bass going the same way as every other species in the sea.

 

Let's face our governments, the CFP's and commercial fisherman haven't done a very good job so far and it is time for change.

 

If it is unlikely that Cod will reemerge due to Global warming, zoo plancton etc then it looks like the Bass could fill the void.

 

The BMP will not make this happen but a mangement plan will hopefully allow this to happen if that is nature's will.

We have been given a second chance with the Bass and IMHO is an ideal fish to protect as it is both a big target for RSA and also has a high commercial value.

 

The recreational Bass fishery in South West Scotland has increased ten fold in the last five years and is worth thousands to the local economy. If the Bass stocks continue to expand then it could also provide commercial jobs.

 

Something has to change because vast areas of the West coast are becoming plagued with small Whiting and dogfish and there are few predators to take them after the Spurdog and Cod dissapeared. I am sure everyone would agree it would be better to have the area filled with Bass with the odd better one, than tons and tons of small whiting that are no good to anyone.

 

All the BMP would do in Scotland would give the chance for the stocks that have made it up here to breed once before they are eligble for slaughter. to deny them that chance is shere folly and is playing against nature.

 

Chris, What are your actual reasons for the opposition th the BMP?

 

Hi Ian,

 

I'd be against a Scottish BMP, or indeed the imposition of RSA status on any species unless maybe its done at a local level, and even then....

 

I don't understand the arguement behind trying to manage one species in isolation from everything else; the fishery scientists are (with great difficulty right enough) trying to move away from all that . Worse still, to have that backed up with a vocal lobby group, no doubt based mainly in the central belt, that can interfere with the decisions of the fishery scientists and local communities.

 

To say Bass would be good as an RSA species down your way might be true, and if thats the best way to keep your local economy going then great, but it would make no sense to say Shetland, where they are forging ahead with local fisheries management, to have to deal with yet another urban lobby group on top of everything else.

 

I am old enough to remember the ending of the seal culls (against the DAFS scientists advice ) due to the "big brown eyes" effect on urban Britain. Now seals are everywhere, untouchable and currently killing more fish than the entire Scottish fleet. This at a time we are supposed to be doing everything possible to "save" cod. The Canadians are currently bringing in drastic cod recovery measures in some of their waters: These include banning commercial & recreational fishing, and introducing a seal cull. (FWIW our seals now eat kill more fish than the "huge" commercial fleet we are always hearing about.).

 

Now I don't know if a seal cull makes any sense at all but i want that option open to the fisheries managers, open to discussion, not closed on someone elses moral grounds. I don't know if bass would have any adverse effect in specific places but if so, I want to see the managers and local people have the flexibility to do what they think is right.

 

Reading the stuff on Cheasapeake Bay has been an eye opener for me ; its open to question what is causing the falling stocks of menhaden there, but even if it is shown to be due to the Stripers, or if its shown its due to climate but that a reduction in striper numbers would be healthier for the bay, there seems little prospect the Striper RSA lobby would allow more to be killed.

 

I suspect the English BMP will soon make you rethink, though, like everyone else, Im often wrong

 

Chris.

[Ian Burrett]

Hi Ian,

 

I'd be against a Scottish BMP, or indeed the imposition of RSA status on any species unless maybe its done at a local level, and even then....

 

I don't understand the argument behind trying to manage one species in isolation from everything else; the fishery scientists are (with great difficulty right enough) trying to move away from all that . Worse still, to have that backed up with a vocal lobby group, no doubt based mainly in the central belt, that can interfere with the decisions of the fishery scientists and local communities.

 

To say Bass would be good as an RSA species down your way might be true, and if thats the best way to keep your local economy going then great, but it would make no sense to say Shetland, where they are forging ahead with local fisheries management, to have to deal with yet another urban lobby group on top of everything else.

 

I am old enough to remember the ending of the seal culls (against the DAFS scientists advice ) due to the "big brown eyes" effect on urban Britain. Now seals are everywhere, untouchable and currently killing more fish than the entire Scottish fleet. This at a time we are supposed to be doing everything possible to "save" cod. The Canadians are currently bringing in drastic cod recovery measures in some of their waters: These include banning commercial & recreational fishing, and introducing a seal cull. (FWIW our seals now eat kill more fish than the "huge" commercial fleet we are always hearing about.).

 

Now I don't know if a seal cull makes any sense at all but i want that option open to the fisheries managers, open to discussion, not closed on someone Else's moral grounds. I don't know if bass would have any adverse effect in specific places but if so, I want to see the managers and local people have the flexibility to do what they think is right.

 

Reading the stuff on Cheasapeake Bay has been an eye opener for me ; its open to question what is causing the falling stocks of menhaden there, but even if it is shown to be due to the Stripers, or if its shown its due to climate but that a reduction in striper numbers would be healthier for the bay, there seems little prospect the Striper RSA lobby would allow more to be killed.

 

I suspect the English BMP will soon make you rethink, though, like everyone else, I'm often wrong

 

Chris.

 

Hi Chris

Ask Leon the NFSA the NMC and a few more. No one wants to treat a single species in isolation . Bass is just the first.

Tope and Mullet are next. If a few folk had got together and formed a Cod pressure group then they would

have the chance for proposals in the marine Bill.

 

The success of the BMP will open the floodgates.

 

Re the striped Bass I suspect that if so many sharks hadn't been killed they would have sorted them out

 

There was a documentary on seals a few months ago. It said at the turn of the previous century there was 200.000 seals. Two subsequent culls for oil reduced their numbers down to the present 50.000

 

They are certainly a problem for us, some days we have to abandon the pollacking because a seal will take 5 out of 10 fish caught. Funnily enough, I am not sure they do the damage to resident stock. We catch a lot of damaged fish in April May. By June the wounds are healed. I suspect they will move onto the oilier mackerel and Herring. We still have the best pollacking in the country even though the territory is alive with seals with over 50 in a 2 mile stretch