Is it the end for charter skippers and fishing clubs? No time to bury your heads

[Steve Coppolo]

As I said, it is down to the individual - hence my example of the 1000 fish to the Caithness Comp and my example of a hypothetical angling trip - It is not your role to impose your restrictions unless you happen to know the given area that you seak to impose restrictions on - To do otherwise only shows that you are simply out to make a name for yourself and have no real understanding of conservation beyond your very small area. Maybe we should take people off fish when *we* feel they have caught enough?

 

 

 

We are fully licenced to operate under the MGN 280 scheme, which I will email to you this week if you so wish, sod it - I'll put it up on the site for inspection, how's that? Now would you care to expand upon which fish are commercially landed from our boat, since you sought to open this little can of worms?

 

 

 

Don't make me laugh, I've worked fish-markets where the average landing of fish twice a week is 170 tonnes per sailing, presumably this is the quotas that you seek to encourage for a slap on the back from the 'good ol' boys'? At a low average 340 tonnes of fish landed weekly at just one port your ambitions seem nothing less then pure self-indulgence or at best, misguided.

 

 

 

Again, I strongly resent your inclination that we "land" fish, given that this is a technical term which you may be asked to back up, so I will invite you to rephrase your question.

 

 

 

 

gee-whiz, do you really think so?

 

You really need to take some time out, lighten up and stop acting so surprised when you get a bit of a lash back for attempting to interfere in other peoples work just because you are out to make a name for yourself.

 

You are wrong.

 

You haven't understood anything I've said and have twisted things to suit your own ideas of what is going on. The fact that you think I'm in any position to interfere with anything anyone else does proves that you haven't got a clue. What do you think I am? What influence do you think I've got? Whatever it may be is in your imagination only, get a grip. This is an internet forum for gods sake, it's where people post their own views on things. As for you thinking I'm out to make a name for myself, again it proves that you haven't got a clue. There is poison in your mind. Sort yourself out.

 

You're winding me up now so it's best I don't respond to any more of your posts.

[big_cod]

Sandtiger well said, i find this term of bag limits an absolute joke i worked on the fish quey when i left school and lumped many thousands of boxes of cod onto wagons .

What the whole of the anglers take throughout the uk wont harm any cod recovery plan stop trawling at herring spawn time now that might make an impact but picking on anglers my god just what has this whole thing come to bag limits i am in the process of imforming all the charterboats along the east coast of just what the hell is going on and belive me there is some very very unhappy chappies nfsa dear me.

Edited May 29, 2006 by big_cod

[SandTiger]

You are wrong.

 

You haven't understood anything I've said and have twisted things to suit your own ideas of what is going on. The fact that you think I'm in any position to interfere with anything anyone else does proves that you haven't got a clue. What do you think I am? What influence do you think I've got? Whatever it may be is in your imagination only, get a grip. This is an internet forum for gods sake, it's where people post their own views on things. As for you thinking I'm out to make a name for myself, again it proves that you haven't got a clue. There is poison in your mind. Sort yourself out.

 

You're winding me up now so it's best I don't respond to any more of your posts.

 

Yep, and if your feeling wound up by this then you need to go and change your medication mate - BTW the words I used were "attempting to interfere" - the emphises being on the attempting bit in my sentence.

[Sharkbyte]

Why are bag limits such a scary thought in Whitby? I have asked what a reasonable bag limit on Cod would be but nobody will comit to giving an answer. I can only guess it would have to be in excess of 1000lbs+/boat/day judging by Big Cods, Sea Angler adverts.

 

 

I think the arguement should be turned around. Why should any of the Sea Anglers actively promoting conservation measures, whether that be the Leons, Steves and Toms working hard on SFC's, SACN and the like, Charter skippers returning all their Smoothound and Tope and many Roker, right through to the guys on the beach taking a few for the pot and releasing the rest.........listen to those who take hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of the most threatened stocks in the North Sea.

[Jaffa]

Sandtiger well said, i find this term of bag limits an absolute joke i worked on the fish quey when i left school and lumped many thousands of boxes of cod onto wagons .

What the whole of the anglers take throughout the uk wont harm any cod recovery plan stop trawling at herring spawn time now that might make an impact but picking on anglers my god just what has this whole thing come to bag limits i am in the process of imforming all the charterboats along the east coast of just what the hell is going on and belive me there is some very very unhappy chappies nfsa dear me.

 

 

Hi BC,

 

For once I agree with Glen, and the charter boys really do need to get organised and get some political lobbying done. Putting aside the bag limit arguments in this thread, unless uk/eu politics change a lot , IMHO there is going to be an onslaught of legislation that could hurt you. A couple of local boats had to give up when the council stopped them beaching their boats to clean/antifoul them (though no doubt to the RSA lobby there loss will be put down to the lack of fish.. ). Apparently it turned out the council had no choice as it was due to new EU legislation . I doubt they had a clue it was coming.

 

How much does all the endless "safety" stuff cost you? and how much notice/input did you get before it arrived?

 

Then there is the "environmental" lobby, the "animal welfare" lobby, both of whom seem to have a disproportionate amount of influence with the London media and goverment .

 

ON the cod issue i think you are totally wrong. Who cares what has gone before? Fact is cod have been declared to be in trouble, a lot of commercials have had to suffer because of that , yet we are now at the situation where a charter can take whatever it wants, while a small commercial could not land the same?

 

To compound things, in some areas, all the commercils take is small stuff as bycatch while anglers take the important mature stock off the wrecks! I don't know who is right or wrong on that one but theres a debate there for sure and its going to get very political IMHO.

 

Whatever, hope you have a fine summer season

 

Chris

Edited May 29, 2006 by Jaffa

[zziplexboy]

This is about three things in my mind,

 

1. A culture that has been developed over many many years in the Northeast Ports in particular where anglers feel a good days fishing is represented by a good box of fish to take home and share amongst the family & friends. I remember when I was a kid in the fifties three or 4 blokes in our street would give out many stones of fish to neighbours. Further back than this men would take a day off work and recoup the cost by selling the fish. This was in the days of handlines and crude tackle and more importantly more fish than the boat could sometimes carry safely. This culture is still there in some form and whilst I do not entirely agree with it in that for me sport and specimens comes first I must admit a good box of fish is a satisfying feeling.

 

2. The charter boats have of course had to follow this culture and the mark of a good boat is its ability to put you over good fish and plenty of it. Bag limits would threaten a skippers livlihood and I do understand how that one feels. They are only following the market and supplying what the customer wants. is there anything wrong with that?

 

3. Most definitly a North /South divide issue, different cultures collide. Speaking as a born and bred Northerner you dont mess with our culture unless you want trouble.

 

Me, well I see both sides, I suppose if stocks carry on falling and catches are low then the market will adapt but I can just picture the look on your average wrecker angler when the skipper says put em back ,you have reached your limit and its not a pretty picture.

 

With regard to interferance from would be politicians well I have a natural suspicion of this and suspect that their hidden motives are more to do with self importance and glory than my best interests.

[wurzel]

Why are bag limits such a scary thought in Whitby? I have asked what a reasonable bag limit on Cod would be but nobody will comit to giving an answer. I can only guess it would have to be in excess of 1000lbs+/boat/day judging by Big Cods, Sea Angler adverts.

I think the arguement should be turned around. Why should any of the Sea Anglers actively promoting conservation measures, whether that be the Leons, Steves and Toms working hard on SFC's, SACN and the like, Charter skippers returning all their Smoothound and Tope and many Roker, right through to the guys on the beach taking a few for the pot and releasing the rest.........listen to those who take hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of the most threatened stocks in the North Sea.

 

 

Hello Sharkbyte

 

Exactly, and my cod quota is 1000 kg per month ( two days angling with Big Cod )

[big_cod]

Hello Sharkbyte

 

Exactly, and my cod quota is 1000 kg per month ( two days angling with Big Cod )

 

 

Peter i really feel sorry for you because i know your quota is crazy, and anybody who has anything to do with commercial fishing knows its madness for under 10mtr sector you pose little threat to cod stocks.

 

Sharkbyte ,we dont catch smoothound at whitby thank god but if we did they would go straight back over the side.

As for the 1000lb thing if i could catch a 1000lb every day do you honestly think i would be taking anglers to sea.

What we do return is undersized codlings ALIVE back into the sea which we have had many this last week sometimes they have been coming up 2 at a time all returned ALIVE sounds very much like you dont have many cod where you live sharkbyte,it also looks like those south coast skippers are going to have a very funny time how do you return a pollock which has been brought up from deep water looks like jellying down there is going to be a thing of the past they are going to love that, anglers putting ideas into polititions heads which could threaten peoples lively hoods i could understand it from defra or europe but from anglers who really dont understand the whole picture and have this vision that bag limits on anglers will make everything right, catch and release is a good thing in some cases but not all.

Edited May 30, 2006 by big_cod

[glennk]

Hi BC,

 

For once I agree with Glen, and the charter boys really do need to get organised and get some political lobbying done. Putting aside the bag limit arguments in this thread, unless uk/eu politics change a lot , IMHO there is going to be an onslaught of legislation that could hurt you. A couple of local boats had to give up when the council stopped them beaching their boats to clean/antifoul them (though no doubt to the RSA lobby there loss will be put down to the lack of fish.. ). Apparently it turned out the council had no choice as it was due to new EU legislation . I doubt they had a clue it was coming.

 

Paul - Telling people you worked on the fish quoy when you were younger will not help your cause on this issue. It is irrelevent in the bag limit debate.

 

The question is will they organise themselves. DEFRA may move slow but they continue to move, all the while the clock is ticking. Failure to organise themselves now could mean it's too late when the crunch decision comes for Paul and all the charter skippers on the north east coast. They need to remember that if they dont represent themselves it will be people like Steve who are telling the governement where to set limits and instead of getting something halfway acceptable you will get a system based on fishing for striped in the USA.

 

Hi Sharky,

 

I had hoped Paul would be able to answer your questions. It's a very difficult one as I don't think anyone really even thought of it before. If I only fished from a boat once a month I would be happy to take away 6 fish. Whether other people would be happy with that I couldnt say. It really is like asking how long is a piece of string.

 

ZZippy,

 

Your right almost right,

 

Dont screw with our culture without even mentioning it to us. This whole thing is very underhand

 

Wurzel,

 

Youll get nowhere with that line m8. You know fine well we think your quota restrictions are bloody rediculous, we have told you enough times.

Edited May 30, 2006 by glennk

[wurzel]

Peter i really feel sorry for you because i know your quota is crazy, and anybody who has anything to do with commercial fishing knows its madness for under 10mtr sector you pose little threat to cod stocks.

 

 

Morning Big Cod

 

What sector does pose a threat to cod stocks these days?

 

It's about management, nothing to do with threats to fish stocks, you along with every body eles are to be managed whether you like it or not.

 

As you say our quota is ridicules, but every body knows cod are nearly extinct, so they can not possibly increase my quota, the only option they have is to cut yours.