bbc the trawlermen

[Norm B]

your a very compasionate man arent you! not.

I think "pragmatic" is more the word than "compassionate."

[Bennythe BAITfish]

I think that in his case the sea bed did more tearing up of his net than his net did the sea bed.

 

On this occasion, perhaps

 

By the looks of his catch there was not much there to leave in the first place.

 

If they keep raking over the seabed like that, one day there'll be nothing left

[JB]

I certainly do think he tried to put things into layman's terms - and in doing so, he described trawl tearing up a 360ft wide strip along the seabed, leaving nothing much as it was in it's wake

 

I realise that I may be leaving myself open to abuse by the self-proclaimed trawling experts on this forum, when I put out that not all trawling seriously damages the sea bed. A lot of the sea bed is sand or mud and could be compared to a desert, with little or no sea bed plant life growing on it. So towing a large net, chains and trawl doors over it would have very little effect on it. It would soon resume its original state much the same way as a busy beach does when the tide flows and then ebbs.

 

Most prawns caught in a trawl are found on this type of bottom, and most prawn trawls are rigged with light ground ropes, small disks, or hoppers. Consequently, most skippers try to stick to sandy or muddy ground because it is better to get all your hauls home, and clear of net damage (“A little bit and often!”, as most skippers describe it), rather than risk towing close to a bit of hard ground for a possible good haul and badly tearing your net and ending up with nothing. (But I presume “a little bit and often” makes poor viewing as far as the BBC is concerned)

 

Inevitably you do make mistakes; but in the case of fine ground trawling, generally the sea bed does more damage to you than you do to it.

 

On the other side of the coin, if you are rigged to tow over the hardest of ground, you can damage the sea bed.

 

There are many types and variations of commercial fishing. Unfortunately, successive UK governments and a few members of this forum are unable to judge each of them on their own merits.

 

JB

[sam-cox]

Holmesy Yesterday, 06:59 AM Post #7

 

 

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Cats are mean critters but they taste great, they're a shore caught species in Norway / Iceland where theres deep water close in.

 

Don't be fooled by the hard luck stories. As a kid in Grimsby, I saw so much fishing money "enjoyed" by the fishermen on shore, and if they didn't make a living they wouldn't do it would they? To be honest you've got to be tapped to go, you could probably earn as much a year stacking shelves for a fraction of the risk.

 

Personally I'd be happy if they don't make a living, I'd still be able to enjoy fish and chips knowing it was from a sustainable, well managed fishery.

 

 

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fair points I think.

[Guest challenge]

Holmesy Yesterday, 06:59 AM Post #7

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Group: Members

Posts: 100

Joined: 20-November 05

Member No.: 7,747

Cats are mean critters but they taste great, they're a shore caught species in Norway / Iceland where theres deep water close in.

 

Don't be fooled by the hard luck stories. As a kid in Grimsby, I saw so much fishing money "enjoyed" by the fishermen on shore, and if they didn't make a living they wouldn't do it would they? To be honest you've got to be tapped to go, you could probably earn as much a year stacking shelves for a fraction of the risk.

 

Personally I'd be happy if they don't make a living, I'd still be able to enjoy fish and chips knowing it was from a sustainable, well managed fishery.

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fair points I think.

And what fishery is that then? Nothing would change except that the fish and prawns would be caught by somebody else instead.

[bensrus]

whatever we think of the commercial sector,it makes interesting television instead of some of the recent rubbish thats been on

[sam-cox]

have to agree!

[A Norfolk Boy]

And what fishery is that then? Nothing would change except that the fish and prawns would be caught by somebody else instead.

 

And therein lies the problem.

 

Do you ever leave that large convenient car parking space for somebody who needs it? Few do, so why should we think trawlermen should act any different. If they don't get 'em somebody else will ...... unless the seas are policed properly, but when some countries openly flout the rules, then all trust goes and the system falls down.

Edited August 2, 2006 by A Norfolk Boy

[Steve Coppolo]

and the system falls down.

 

 

The system fell over a long time ago mate. The trouble is, they knew it had fell over but weren't willing to try to pick it up again. I know commercial fishermen have been the victims of p*** poor management, but surely if you can see your industry going down the tubes, you try to do something about it. Instead of addressing the problems when they had the chance, they just found ways to get around them by bending the rules. Because they could. Now, years and years later, the problems have compounded and the situation seems hopeless.

 

By bending the rules all they were doing was confusing the advice given to the managers by the scientists, which led to more p*** poor management, which led to more bending the rules, which led to more..............etc.