regional differences

[Guest challenge]

There seams to be massive regional differences witnessed by users of this forum.

Besides the obvious what and where we catch fish, there is also our experiences with commercial fishermen.

Bass fishermen seam to have a problem with netters (am I correct?) our Scottish friends don’t seam to get on with clammers (again am I correct) what I am trying to say is not all anglers have the same experiences (if any) with commercial fishermen.

Therefore I would like to know your views and experiences with commercial fishermen.

The boat I work on steamed somewhere in the region of 10000 miles last year with anglers. Clear of Danish industrial trawlers I think we saw about 5 or 6 commercial fishing boats.

It just seams to me as if it’s a massive ocean out there with very few people on it.

Regards.

[Leon Roskilly]

Shore anglers will have problems with close inshore trawling and nets set close in, especially in estuaries and particularly where this kind of fishing occurs.

 

Not all of it is down to licensed fishermen, indeed many of the nets they will come across belong to unlicensed fishermen who may or may not be selling fish, legally or illegally.

 

Anglers fishing wrecks will have problems being driven off wrecks by commercial boats, or find wrecks heavily netted.

 

(In some instances, in some areas, old damaged nets are dropped onto wrecks, then torn off again hoping to come up with a decent catch of lobsters, with a high likelihood that some of the netting will stay on the wreck)

 

Where inshore fish stocks have noticeably declined, again anglers will probably blame commercial fishing activity, particularly if they often see boats working in the area.

 

Sometimes what they see as 'nets' are marker buoys for windsurfing competitions etc., divers markers or pot ,markers.

 

Sometimes close to shore trawling is after shellfish or shrimp, and the disturbance will actually draw fin fish close to the beach for a feed.

 

Lack of fish may not have a great deal to do with current fishing activity, but then again ...........

 

The problem is that anglers will often blame licensed fishermen for all the ills, but then again licensed fishermen will never accept that they are ever causing a problem so their protestations are disregarded by anglers.

 

When there was plenty of fish for everyone, there was never a problem, and I guess that in certain areas there may still be plenty of fish, so no problem in those areas.

 

Again boat/charter anglers, able to get out to good fishing still, and find the places where there is still reasonable catches to be had, won't have a problem, whereas areas where charter catches have significantly declined, or where anglers are limited to the shore will.

[Guest challenge]

Thanks Leon for your reply, it just seams odd to me that we cover such a vast area in our season (taking anglers fishing in the north sea) and yet we come across so few (if any) commercial fishing boats.

I believe you could be correct with your assumptions that it could be (certainly in the area that you fish) none commercial fishermen that are causing a lot of the problems.

That is of course like you suggest there is a problem?

We are just about to sail again on a 70 hour trip could cover about 400 miles of the north sea this trip. Will keep a good look out and report back any commercial activity that we come across when we return.

Regards.

[Leon Roskilly]

When I was a young Merchant Seaman, I was awed by just how much sea there was, and imagined it all full of fish.

 

Only later did I learn that most of the deep sea is a practically lifeless desert, with most fish stocks clustered close to continental shelves.

 

I think that it was on the CEFAS site that I came across a map that showed fishing activity in the North Sea, and again I was surprised at how much it was concentrated on certain areas, at certain times of the year, with many areas relatively unfished.

 

It all dependes where you steam as you go out to your fishing grounds challenge.

 

If your route is through grounds with relatively few fish, and mostly unfished, you will see very little fishing activity.

 

If however you come across one of the hotspots, you might be surprised to find a number of boats in view, miles away from anything.

[Guest challenge]

When I was a young Merchant Seaman, I was awed by just how much sea there was, and imagined it all full of fish.

 

Only later did I learn that most of the deep sea is a practically lifeless desert, with most fish stocks clustered close to continental shelves.

 

I think that it was on the CEFAS site that I came across a map that showed fishing activity in the North Sea, and again I was surprised at how much it was concentrated on certain areas, at certain times of the year, with many areas relatively unfished.

 

It all dependes where you steam as you go out to your fishing grounds challenge.

 

If your route is through grounds with relatively few fish, and mostly unfished, you will see very little fishing activity.

 

If however you come across one of the hotspots, you might be surprised to find a number of boats in view, miles away from anything.

Leon. The skipper and I have about 60 years of experience in commercially fishing the North Sea between us. I respect and understand what you are saying. But the areas that we steam through have always been commercial fishing area hot spots. Places where you always saw lots of fishing boats. We only fish wrecks but to get to those wrecks we steam through what where traditionally some of the best fishing grounds in Britain if not the world.

[sam-cox]

Commercial activity varies from area to area. Most estuaries have a small fleet of small boats (say from 18 to 30 feet in length) working the inner estuary. They could be potters, drift netters using standard 90mil gill nets for bass and mullet, or drifted trammel nets for bass, soles and rays, they could be tangle or ray nets used for rays, monk, anglerfish and large crab and lobster. Trawling is also has a lot of different methods of which I’m not that familiar, but they pair trawl sometimes inshore for eels, sprats and offshore for bass. A lot of the inshore trawling activities in the spring will be for soles. All of them have a curtain amount of buy catch, and all will have an effect on stocks if only at a local level.

Edited August 21, 2006 by sam-cox

[Steve Coppolo]

Leon. The skipper and I have about 60 years of experience in commercially fishing the North Sea between us. I respect and understand what you are saying. But the areas that we steam through have always been commercial fishing area hot spots. Places where you always saw lots of fishing boats. We only fish wrecks but to get to those wrecks we steam through what where traditionally some of the best fishing grounds in Britain if not the world.

 

Could it be that these areas are no longer worth fishing?

[Norm B]

There seams to be massive regional differences witnessed by users of this forum.

Besides the obvious what and where we catch fish, there is also our experiences with commercial fishermen.

Bass fishermen seam to have a problem with netters (am I correct?) our Scottish friends don’t seam to get on with clammers (again am I correct) what I am trying to say is not all anglers have the same experiences (if any) with commercial fishermen.

Therefore I would like to know your views and experiences with commercial fishermen.

The boat I work on steamed somewhere in the region of 10000 miles last year with anglers. Clear of Danish industrial trawlers I think we saw about 5 or 6 commercial fishing boats.

It just seams to me as if it’s a massive ocean out there with very few people on it.

Regards.

When fishing from the shore at night I've had my rods pulled from the rod rest by trawlers not showing the correct lights, why not show the correct lights if you are acting lawfully. In broad daylight, less than a mile from the shore in my 17ft boat I had my anchor picked up by a trawler and was towed for about 2 miles, depite calling him on ch. 16, he said he didn't realise he'd caught me. The truth is, I was fishing where he wanted to trawl and he didn't want to deviate from his set course. I've seen longliners pulling lines where they shouldn't early in the morning, obviously set under cover of darkness. I've seen trawlers working bass nursery areas etc. There is a 200 mile UK fishing area round our coasts but they all want to fish in the first mile. Give anglers the first mile and give the fish a chance.

Edited August 21, 2006 by Norm B

[sam-cox]

QUOTE:We only fish wrecks but to get to those wrecks we steam through what where traditionally some of the best fishing grounds in Britain if not the world.

 

Why do you only fish wrecks?

 

And why do you chose to steam past some of the best traditional fishing ground in Britain if not the world.

[Leon Roskilly]

How to find a hotspot these days:

 

http://www.seafish.org/sea/blog.asp

 

Got up at 7am. Still 30 miles to steam to the fishing grounds, weather very good, still flat calm. Would like to get the nets in the water but must be patient, will send some more telex’s to Fruitful Bough to get his overnight fishing news and where the other fishing boats are. Not all boats will speak to one another, so we use our radars and plotters to watch one another. Like big brother’s watching you, only without sound!

So we are right in the heart of the boats this time, hauling at 11pm so we get a better haul, hopefully about 15 boxes.