BAG LIMITS BEING IMPOSED

[Simon Everett]

Had a letter from Leon today - DEFRA are looking at introducing bag limits to anglers and unlicensed boats - BUT WITH NO CAP ON LICENSED COMMERCIAL VESSELS.

 

What that means is that the nets can take as many as they like, but YOU will be limited to 2 fish per day - and you will have to stand and watch as a netsman scoops up hundreds of fish while you put them back.

 

WE NEED PEOPLE TO CONTINUE TO WRITE LETTERS. If you want to preserve your fishing you are going to have to fight hard for it. Don't give up, we have achieved a HUGE amount in the last 3 or 4 years. Politicians had never heard of RSA before - now it is a buzz word and the tide has turned - but as was to be expected, the commercials are trying to manipulate the policy to suit themselves.

 

PLEASE get writing to your own MP - even inland members - and Ben Bradshaw complaining about the inbalance of this policy. Point out that it will have NO conservation impact whatever because it is NOT reducing the take of fish, it is only changing who may take them.

 

If used as part of the overall BMP, then bag limits are a VERY GOOD THING - but they must be enforced on ALL taking sectors, not just anglers. If any restriction is to be imposed it should be on the very impactful, unlicensed commercial section first - what really needs to be done is for the existing Buyers & Sellers scheme to be RIGOUROUSLY ENFORCED. Anyone, regardless of how they catch the fish, is a commercial fisherman if they sell even a portion of their cacth.

 

Those are the main points to make - it will take you 5 minutes and cost you 40p. How much is that trip to the coast going to cost you - 40p doesn't go far in a car these days, it is less than half a litre of petrol - so it will get you about 5 miles. Think of the impact these letters will have compared to the cost to you. PLEASE WRITE for everyones sake. Go and show them who's boss

[YakDiver]

2 fish per day !!!

Hardly worth getting the kayak out if your going mackerel (bait) fishing

[chesters1]

TWO fish blimey i'l have to use more rods

[Leon Roskilly]

Much more background to the proposals available at:

 

http://www.sacn.org.uk/Conservation-and-Po...or_Anglers.html

 

Not sure where the 2 fish comes from Simon, the number that I've seen for one SFC proposal is a limit of 5 bass per angler per day (the current proposals are for bass bag limits only).

Edited January 15, 2007 by Leon Roskilly

[Simon Everett]

Sorry - going on the Irish model.

[YakDiver]

5 bass per angler per day

that is way too much

two bass yes I would go along with that.

[maidstonemike]

As usual, panic before correct information is available. If bag limits are imposed, who is going to look in my bag at 2.30 am on a freezing cold beach somewhere in the UK.? The police can't even police the streets, so how are fish bag inspectors going to police thousands of miles of coast 24 hours a day?

Another practicle joke I think. Unworkable, unenforceable, unlikely.

On top of that, if he did look in my bag, chances are it would be empty, as it is most of the time. What a ruddy joke,

Edited January 15, 2007 by maidstonemike

[maidstonemike]

TWO fish blimey i'l have to use more rods

As usual, the funniest post

[Simon Everett]

Maidstone Mike - you are perfectly correct in your assumption that it is unworkable in totality - but pity the poor chap who gets pulled and prosecuted while the localnetsman hauls out all the fish he has just put back.

 

It isn't the actuality that is so appalling - it is the whole spirit of it and the principle of the thing - this is coming in through the back door by getting SFCs to implement it, instead of implementing the proposals put forward to DEFRA - they are taking individual suggestions on their own - whereas they were supplied as a SET OF policies to work together, not pulled apart.

 

If you just throw up your hands and say I am not doing anything because they can't touch me - then anglng as a whole will be worse off - but you'll be alright Jack. This needs collective thinking,not individual thinking - I am up n arms about it and it is not even my patch - I am over 300 miles away adn it will have no efect on me as an individual, so why I am I writing letters and trying to generate support fighting for your corner when you won't yourself????

 

This is when the whole sea angling fraternity has to pull together - in unison. Not fractionalise and fight between ourselves. Just look how the comercials rallied round about the MLS - CRAB fishermen stood up for the bass fishermen. The fact they have missed the point is neither here not there - they pulled together as a whole. WE must do the same, or everyone will lose out.

[SeaDooDavid]

As usual, panic before correct information is available. If bag limits are imposed, who is going to look in my bag at 2.30 am on a freezing cold beach somewhere in the UK.? The police can't even police the streets, so how are fish bag inspectors going to police thousands of miles of coast 24 hours a day?

Another practicle joke I think. Unworkable, unenforceable, unlikely.

On top of that, if he did look in my bag, chances are it would be empty, as it is most of the time. What a ruddy joke,

 

Please don't knock Simon

 

Whether it is too early to start defending limits for anglers or not, it is "do'ers" like Simon who bring these things to everybody's attention and gets things moving when the rest of us sit back and "see what happens" The UK as a nation has a very bad habit of this and is perpetually pushed around by its government of the day due to apathy of its citizens. The Germans are different again and will not tolerate bullying by their leaders (historical exceptions accepted!!) and actively demonstrate against injustice! whether this is lessons learnt from there past, who knows?!.

 

I say good on yer Simon for even bringing the subject up! The government of the day do not like it when groups of like minded people stick together over unfair proposals (too many votes lost) and really it is the only way to get yourself heard these days!.

 

Nice one Simon

 

SDD~~~~~