Labour wins again - future of our seas now????

[sam-cox]

Ive fished gold hanger for 25 years and Wurzels right, mainly small bass with odd biger one to 4lb.

[stavey]

what is needed is some" or more mediation between the two ie, some general meetings without heated arguments just so we can here both sides opinions, and maybe we can work some things out. i know steve,tom,leon, etc have been to many already but i think maybe under the circumstances like wurzel said they felt threatened and just closed ranks.i think principles play an important role and this can be undermined very easily, part time,full time, or beer money fishermen will object strongly to any restrictions imposed on them from what after all they have been doing without any" since they where born. as an angler i do get pi**ed off with the miles of nets strung along the beaches and beamers ripping up the inshore waters where i live but i guess that if some of these guys have to pay a mortgage and feed the sprogs, and its all they know then what do we expect. so what can be done? well i dont know for sure but i do know that this is not gonna be solved by pointing fingers and accusing each other of this and that. we could ignore it all and wait for commercials like wurzel to die off along with the industry eventually, which would be a shame as there would be little fish stocks left for us anglers or commercials. if we can agree to some extent, then this would be a start in the right direction, then maybe we can both pull together and pressure the government on the six miles beyond are sfc's control and sort these large french and ever expanding spanish fleets out. question for wurzel, [sorry mate as you seem to be the only commercial boy on here] if our fishermen had total control and not the eu out to twelve miles, would you cut us some slack and stop all netting from within a mile of the beach?.....

[Guest stevie cop]

That's a good question Stavey, I'll be interested in seeing the answer.

 

Apologies Peter, I've just read your comment about the few hours leisure again and admit that I read it wrong the first time. Been on nights the last two nights, so I'm not too bright at the moment and very grumpy! As for the shallow grave under the bushes, my ancestors are experts at it. Maybe I should make the ESFJC an offer they can't refuse?

 

Just to touch on the old ground, if we could agree to put a stop to all unlicenced gill netting, and increase the mesh size within a mile of the shore for licenced fishermen, we would be almost there. Of course we would also want to see anglers stopped from selling their catch.

 

If it was just you and me Peter, who had the job of managing the inshore fishery, I'm sure we would be able to work something out within a few weeks. The frustrating thing is the current management system isn't geared up towards achieving a solution.

[wurzel]

Stavey

Would I stop all netting within a mile of the beach?

 

I don't think so, It's hard to comment on other areas. as far as I am aware there is very limmited amount of netting done within a mile of the Essex/suffolk coast, and if the nets were moved just a mile a way it would not make much diference in the amount of fish available to anglers on the beach. Nets that are set in a manner to cause obstuctions for anglers, I have heard of nets being set within casting range of popular angling spots, and one of an idiot setting nets a few yards from a dingie launch ramp, shallow enough to foul the propellers,

I don't like the idea of nets set close to rocks for wrasse and other pot bait speices, chances are they are left several days unatended.

More policeing of unlicenced netting.

These sort of things can be sorted out by the SFC's.

With a decent landing size and mesh increase, it should not be nessecery to ban anyone.

Did you know that if I target cod the legal net I have to use is 5.1/2 inch? you catch very few cod under 5lb with it,the legal landing size is less than a 1lb,it should match the mesh size. work towards something similar with all fish.

 

Each area is different and the fishermens needs are different.

 

What area are you Stavey ? what are the local fishermen targeting?How many of them? what sort of nets are they using? Are they there 24.7 52 weeks of the year? Or only on a few days over neap tides,at a certain time of year. Have you spoken to any of them? Ask them why the nets are were they are and not further out.find out the facts,

[stavey]

Ok wurzel thanks for the reply to the question. i dont think so must mean no" then and if the nets were moved a mile away it would make no difference to the amount of fish available to anglers on the beach, so your saying that there is no difference in the amount of sizable fish from the beach out to a mile? so why do fishermen net the beach in the first place, surely not to save on fuel? or they cant be to ar*ed to set them at a mile or so atleast? what i am saying is why cant we make a compromise here nationaly for instance and work together on the bigger picture that effects us both ie, the french,spanish,dutch,and any other foreign pirates and get our twelve mile area back from the corrupt eu for instance. or are you quite happy with this situation and its ok to let them take what is yours and ours...

[Guest stevie cop]

With a decent landing size and a mesh increase it shouldn't be necessary to ban anybody. How very true. Unfortunately the resistance put up by most commercial fishermen to any such suggestions make it highly unlikely that we will ever get it. Hence the drastic measures recommended by Ben Bradshaw recently.

 

Compromise is a two way street.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Always a little befuddled about legal nets as a term.

 

If I set one of the beach at low tide no boat involved and I don't sell the fish as I understand it that is legal.

 

The same applies if I row out and set a net and I do not need a licence.

 

I know of three people who do this on a causual basis on Cyfen Sidan and they go away with some quite tidy hauls.

 

Everyone knows that these fish are going onto the black market, if not they must have freezer sheds like Iceland.

 

My question is where do these people fit into the scheme of things.

[Guest stevie cop]

Sadly Ken, they dont! It's only anglers who see these people as a problem. Everyone else seems to think that they are harmless and not doing any damage.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

I would have thought Wurzel and the rest of his merry men would have been just as keen to see this errosion of their income stopped.

[wurzel]

We are Ken, have you reported these unlicenced netters or just moaned about them to every body other than the authoritys, This is were your SFC rep should be able to do something and get the backing of the commercial sector.

When I mentioned legal nets I was reffering to the size of the meshes and what I am allowed to fish for, most anglers have no idea of the rules.

For example if I fish for cod I must use 5.1/2 inch mesh.I can use 3.1/2 inch nets for bass or sole but if I land more than 20% cod or other fish I am brakeing the law, so if I have a box of bass I am only allowed to land a couple of decent cod as a bycatch.Last year I kept a box of spotty dogs for a mates whelk bait, we got borded by DEFRA fishery officer and he threatend to report me for haveing more than 20% of the target speices that I was allowed for the net I was useing.

 

Stavey,

I know nothing about your area, but there will be a reason why they fish close to the shore. Like I said ask them, find out the true facts, then you will know if they are just being bloody minded.

 

I hate every thing about the EU and most of all the Common fishery policy, You find somebody that can do anything about it,not just talk about it, and I'll back them all the way.