Can commercial fishermen and sea anglers work together?

[Guest challenge]

Perhaps you should have sought the advice of binatone in your recent field study. He was an old school commercial fisherman who used to frequent this forum just before you arrived. He mentions your operation - chieftain charters by name in a claim to wsf that anglers are damaging fish stocks. Perhaps he thinks your a joke too ? or Perhaps he thinks charter angling should be banned and you should be out of a job.

 

http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/show...1979&page=3

Is that the bloke that you have been accusing John and Michele of being for the last six months?

Strange them trying to discredit there own business?

[Guest challenge]

Of course they can. But first you have to sort in genuine sea anglers and non-sea anglers. In this regard at these five pages I find it difficult to grasp if Mr. challenge should be counted as a sea angler even if he should be seen with a rod and line occasionally. He has another agenda serving other interests imo.

Why has everybody, who puts there views on here, have got to have a hidden agenda?

Good god man, I have just spent the last 36 hours working with RSA, am home for two hours and away for another 48 hour trip, hopefully I will get some time to fish myself.

Does this not qualify me to make a comment on an angler’s forum?

[Guest challenge]

'Everybody' where did that come from? Not me.

The question was not what qualifies to post here. You'll see several commercial fishermen posting (some would say its not several but some of the same with new names but that's another story, which I'm not clever enough to figure out).

The question was who really speaks in favour of their own interests as sea anglers and who's not. Sorry but I cannot see you are doing much good to sea angling so far. But let's try again:

 

Overfishing or not:

In general terms do the waters around the UK hold a fair amount of fish, which sea anglers should be satisfied with? Or are there too few fish and too few big fish? If yes to the last one, what do we do then?

 

Is there any idea in developing sea angling, bringing more people into the sport and to increase the amount and size of fish? If so how do we do that?

 

You have said that RSA should have some other people to represent them? Who? What should qualify? What objectives should they pursue if any?

 

Should RSA cooperate with the commercial sector only by leaning back and do nothing? If this is not the case what should RSA do then?

 

Does RSA have too little, enough, too much influence in fisheries management?

 

I think this should do for now.

Sorry fishing fine but I will have a discussion with you later as at present have just returned from sea only to have a couple of hours at home and back again.

I will be encouraging new anglers and old again this trip. What I will say is that in the four years and thousands of anglers I have sailed with in that time I have never heard one say that the sport is finished? Strange that don’t you think? Are they satisfied with what they are catching?

Anyway sorry not got the time fishing fine, have to go and welcome another 12 anglers who have travelled from all over the country to fish with us.

O and bye the way it was lovely to see the pontoons where the charter boats lay all vacant again this afternoon when we came in. looks as if they have returning anglers who are satisfied with what they are catching.

Regards.

[Guest challenge]

Hi Challenge

 

So do you consider that the, and i quote from a previous post "thousand of anglers you take out each year" are representative of sea anglers in general.

 

Your mate Binotone posted that you land thousands of stone of fillets each year, That's hardly Recreational angling so I guess you will have no complaints if you get "quoted" with commercial fisherman as I am sure many commercial fisherman would like to land thousands of stones of fillets

If the anglers that we take out are not recreational anglers, recreationally fishing, then what are they and what are they doing?

Do you mean that if anglers are not successful at catching fish they are recreational but if they are successful there not?

We don’t land any fish in the commercial term. Anglers take there fish home, I can only imagine for there own or there friends and family’s own personnel consumption.

[wurzel]

'Everybody' where did that come from? Not me.

The question was not what qualifies to post here. You'll see several commercial fishermen posting (some would say its not several but some of the same with new names but that's another story, which I'm not clever enough to figure out).

The question was who really speaks in favour of their own interests as sea anglers and who's not. Sorry but I cannot see you are doing much good to sea angling so far. But let's try again:

 

Overfishing or not:

In general terms do the waters around the UK hold a fair amount of fish, which sea anglers should be satisfied with? Or are there too few fish and too few big fish? If yes to the last one, what do we do then?

 

Ingeneral terms there are no shortage of fish around the UK, defiantly a no to the last one.

 

Is there any idea in developing sea angling, bringing more people into the sport and to increase the amount and size of fish? If so how do we do that?

 

you could try fishing in the right places, or fish aboard the Chieftain,

 

You have said that RSA should have some other people to represent them? Who? What should qualify? What objectives should they pursue if any?

 

Reality would be a good objective.

 

Should RSA cooperate with the commercial sector only by leaning back and do nothing? If this is not the case what should RSA do then?

 

the RSA should cooperate with the commercial sector by trying to understand it better.

 

Does RSA have too little, enough, too much influence in fisheries management?

 

Commercial fishermen have very little influence in fisheries management, so what hope have RSA got of influencing anything .

 

I think this should do for now.

[wurzel]

Have read all through this thread again and come back to the original question, only this time I've come up with a slightly different answer.

 

Can commercial fishermen and sea anglers work together?

 

I have to now ask, work together for what?

 

Do we really want the same things? The more I read, the more I realise that we don't. Commercial fishermen and sea anglers are as far apart now as they ever were, if not more. Proposed conservation measures have really driven the wedge in there, and that in itself proves that we are miles apart when it comes to what we want from the fishery.

 

Can we work together? No we can't, and why should we?

 

 

Hello Steve

 

Is there realy a need too? If you realy think about it, in your experence and with what little I've shown you over the past couple of years,what commercial activity in your area are you most worried about.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

According to this site first posted by Glennk RSAs and commercials are working together

 

http://www.defra.gov.uk/fish/pdf/fishfocus-issue3.pdf

 

Looks like we've not only missed the boat but are arguing over nothing

[Steve Coppolo]

Hello Steve

 

Is there realy a need too? If you realy think about it, in your experence and with what little I've shown you over the past couple of years,what commercial activity in your area are you most worried about.

 

Hello Peter

The only thing I'm worried about in our area is commercial gill netting within estuaries.

 

As you know there are some very localised populations of bass in the rivers, not just the Stour but the Orwell, Blackwater, Crouch, Colne, Deben, Alde, Orr, etc, etc. They can't sustain the efforts of a full time commercial fisherman. It wouldn't be worth your while doing, say, the Crouch would it? One or two days work would be the most you could hope for. But a part time netter can keep skimming off the cream time and time again. It doesn't matter to a part timer that he's only earning £50 a time, he's got another job, (or two). But the effect he's having on these small, localised, populations of bass, (and mullet), is devastating to local anglers.

 

So that's it in a nutshell really Peter. I've nailed my colours to the mast. Although there are other important issues going on around the rest of the UK, my main concern around here is gill netting in the rivers.

Edited July 28, 2006 by Steve Coppolo

[wurzel]

Hello Peter

The only thing I'm worried about in our area is commercial gill netting within estuaries.

 

As you know there are some very localised populations of bass in the rivers, not just the Stour but the Orwell, Blackwater, Crouch, Colne, Deben, Alde, Orr, etc, etc. They can't sustain the efforts of a full time commercial fisherman. It wouldn't be worth your while doing, say, the Crouch would it? One or two days work would be the most you could hope for. But a part time netter can keep skimming off the cream time and time again. It doesn't matter to a part timer that he's only earning £50 a time, he's got another job, (or two). But the effect he's having on these small, localised, populations of bass, (and mullet), is devastating to local anglers.

 

So that's it in a nutshell really Peter. I've nailed my colours to the mast. Although there are other important issues going on around the rest of the UK, my main concern around here is gill netting in the rivers.

 

Hello Steve

 

Acording to my fish merchant he had to buy small bass in from Cornwall this week (mine being to big) because there is nobody bass fishing inshore, I am not sure about the part timers or hobby fishermen but there is very little commercial netting being done these days.

[Steve Coppolo]

Hello Steve

 

Acording to my fish merchant he had to buy small bass in from Cornwall this week (mine being to big) because there is nobody bass fishing inshore, I am not sure about the part timers or hobby fishermen but there is very little commercial netting being done these days.

 

I'd imagine those that are doing it are not selling to fish merchants but local pubs and restaurants. I know it's small time, but the effect is still bad news for anglers.