Using these could lead to more sustainable fish stocks?

[stavey]

There is no doubt that trawl and tangle nets are some of the biggest culprits of bycatch problems, so why has'nt our fisheries looked in to using these methods?

 

http://www.blueoceantackle.com/trap_entrances.htm

 

Take a butchers at these cages and tell me that this type of fishing is more damaging then trawling etc.......

[Guest @Winter@]

Interesting m8. The local potters here catch plenty of cod in their crab pots so no doubt they work fine.

[big_cod]

Aways fancied haveing a go with a few fish potts .

[sam-cox]

A net make near to me called Tosh makes some very large fyke netts, these are normally used to catch eels and are fairly small. Some have the D rings as large as 2.5 across.

I used to have lots of small fyke netts and used to set them from the sea wall in the crouch for eels. I once had a 7.5lb bass jamed in one, and often caught soles.

[Sharkbyte]

I remember seeing some quite large amounts of cod caught in the parlour traps on Skys 'Deadliest Catch'.

 

When caught they were sometimes put into the tanks below the deck and kept alive until they were used as bait.

[stavey]

I remember seeing some quite large amounts of cod caught in the parlour traps on Skys 'Deadliest Catch'.

 

When caught they were sometimes put into the tanks below the deck and kept alive until they were used as bait.

 

Yeh sharkbyte i saw that series, they also had some big flatties in them crab cages aswell hallibut maybe? i am not sure but the bloke (to his dissapointment) who was catching a lot of cod instead of crabs, i think took a gamble and bated his cages with farmed salmon, but after realising his gamble was not paying off he then baited them with the cod he had caught and hey presto started to catch the crab! i think?

 

I think its obvious why some one like wurzel would not use them, as he only has a small boat and most of the inshore brigade are ten meters or less and hence they would not be able to carry many cages perhaps and could not make it pay? mind you you could fish wrecks more effectively without the risk of losing your gear like gillnets etc, but there is no reason why these big trawlers could not adapt to it, it would stop all this seabed distruction from beamers and the like.......

[wurzel]

hello Stavey

 

Beamers fish for sole and other flatfish I'm not sure cages would be effective enough for such fish. I can see they might be effective for cod but if I have to bait them with farmed salmon I hate to think what the bait bill would be, good quality squid is bad enough. the cages would be to expecive to put any where near a wreck and one rouge beamer would wipe the lot out.

I would not dismiss them entirely as with lobster pots I like the idea of catching fish while sitting at home watching telly, and just popping out once in a while to empty the pots. sound to good to be tue, which usualy means it is.

If Stavey forks out the £10,000 or so for the pots I'll take them out and try them and see whether they work or not.

[DJMCJERICO]

They look a good idea and the divers will love em

[stavey]

If Stavey forks out the £10,000 or so for the pots I'll take them out and try them and see whether they work or not.

 

Ok wurzel i'll buy the pots and you could rent them off me or give me a small share out of the catch say 15% but the deal would have to include you cutting back on the amount of netting you use when using the pots, otherwise there would be no point, the extra added bonus of using these cages is not the amount you catch it is the quality, you could demand top dollar for your bass and cod you do catch wurzel as the fish will have not died like they do in your nets left a couple of days, your always looking for new niche's are'nt you wurzel i cant see a better one than this at the moment and you will be doing your bit towards better sustainability, well i think so anyway........

[big_cod]

Would binitone like to comment on this method of fishing.