Trawlermen BBC NEW PROGRAME STARTS 18 JUNE

[barry luxton]

So are you saying that those Tate brothers have been up in court for exceeding there quota then? If they have when? Or are you finding them guilty by association? Them being associated to fishermen and them being fishermen themselves must mean that they are all guilty? Bit like saying that because the west midlands special crime squad was corrupt and guilty (proven in court) and later dispended. Then all police in this country at least must be corrupt? Or at least as corrupt and guilty as they where?

regards.

Not saying that at all Challenge. Don't import words into one of my posts that are not there. I have said that the altaire has been caught fishing outside of quota as we are all aware. In addition i ask how many other times have they got away with it because of weak management.

Edited June 21, 2007 by barry luxton

[Guest challenge]

You are talking about one big factory ship here Challenge. It is too big for our waters and also our stock. We do not have the stock to supply a world wide demand. Carry on like this and there will be a big dent in the food chain. They use a suction because there are too many fish in the net to haul it. You are correct in saying it is not for the uk market, all we see on the superstores are mackerel that have been frozen for weeks and look like sh...t.

These ships (and there are plenty of them) are built on the strength of the fishery they are designed to catch. They are given a quota (agreed on scientific advice) and go out and catch that quota. If they where not catching it then somebody else would be in a much less, lets say user friendly methods.

I understand what you are saying in respect of a few boats catching one hell of a lot of fish. But that’s life. In the world of commercial fishing you to have to be aggressive in your competition to survive. The Tate family have been pioneers through the decades of pelagic fishing. Investing heavily in larger and larger boats.

The one thing that I (personally don’t agree with) is that small inshore commercial cod fishermen have had there quotas slashed so that there cod could be used in exchange for mackerel quota for these large vessels.

Speculating on corruption by assuming that they have been caught and therefore must be heavy offenders isn’t healthy in any debate on catching methods (in my opinion) regardless on how you want to word it.

Regards.

[barry luxton]

These ships (and there are plenty of them) are built on the strength of the fishery they are designed to catch. They are given a quota (agreed on scientific advice) and go out and catch that quota. If they where not catching it then somebody else would be in a much less, lets say user friendly methods.

I understand what you are saying in respect of a few boats catching one hell of a lot of fish. But that’s life. In the world of commercial fishing you to have to be aggressive in your competition to survive. The Tate family have been pioneers through the decades of pelagic fishing. Investing heavily in larger and larger boats.

The one thing that I (personally don’t agree with) is that small inshore commercial cod fishermen have had there quotas slashed so that there cod could be used in exchange for mackerel quota for these large vessels.

Speculating on corruption by assuming that they have been caught and therefore must be heavy offenders isn’t healthy in any debate on catching methods (in my opinion) regardless on how you want to word it.

Regards.

We are now talking about two seperate subjects here Challenge. First of all i do not believe for one minute that the uk have caught all of the people who have lied and cheated in the fishing industry, so to say that i am speculating is not really viable, you would have to agree on that. As i understand it the cod quota has already been used this year that is why there is none or a small amount of bycatch left. I appreciate that the codling and cod are showing at present, again we must assume that our weak management system, defra wishes to keep them in the water at present. I do not like quota, i think there is a better method. I do not like the larger ships having all the quota and leaving the crumbs for the rest, i agree it's crap mate.

Edited June 21, 2007 by barry luxton

[Colin Brett]

Well I don't know much of the rules and regulations regarding the commercial fishing industry, but I was appalled to see 500 tons of Mackerel wiped out in one foul swoop!

 

No doubt the Spanish and the other EU countries are raping the seas in a similar way?

 

No doubt I'm being naive about the quota system, that I assume allows X number of a certain species of fish to be caught. Once up to that limit I then assume if anymore are caught they are tipped back DEAD? :angry:

 

What a way to run fisheries!! It's OBSCENE!!

 

I'm really pleased I only eat a very few of what I catch on rod and line.

 

Colin.

[Jaffa]

I was shocked to see that haul, some big ones in there as well. How can you justify sustainable when an entire shoal is being removed in one sweep? What is done with 500ton of mackerel? the prcessing maching was topping and tailing them all (not very closely either) so they can't be for humans to buy off the shelf, is it all turing into fertiliser etc?

 

Was a "whole shoal" removed in one "sweep" ? Im not sure many anglers have any idea of the sheer size of pelagic shoals in a good year: IMHO think the indian subcontinent pushing up the Himalayas type scale.

 

Fishmeal plants take heads and tails as its all the same to them : So the odds of spending cash and going to the effort and expense of topping and taililng f sh before sending them to the fishmeal plant are?

 

OTOH these boats have a huge catching capacity and need to be watched. The Altaire shows that clear enough, and IMHO if they did it then many others did too.

 

Challenge makes a rational defence of the Tates but fwiw I don't believe it.

 

Thing is that, believe they are innocent or not, its proberly easier to envisage a situation in which you could control these bigger boats (that seem to shock some here by their very existance) than the smaller boats that we normally come into contact with. If thats the route we want to go down (observers etc, then it would be easy enough)........ IMO it means all "our" fish ends up in the hands of a foreign PLC and i really have no idea what that means in the long run.

 

Thing is that these pelagic boats, that for years have landed over quota (my opinion) have stocks in rude health.

 

Its a funny old world

[jaffa6938]

They are only allowed to catch what they are allowed to catch. They caught there quota in one haul. Where do you get this hover business from? They caught there fish in a net, they where fishing for pelagic fish there fore they where fishing mid water. There is no such thing as a hover or fishermen hovering up the sea bed as lots of you poorly informed critics like to think. They use a suction method to get the fish from the net into the boat. This makes easier work of handling the fish and keeps the fish in pristine condition. A condition that the massive world wide demand for mackerel insist on.

 

First of all challenge read the large letters it does say ONE TRAWEL OF THE NET

Regarding the hoovering if you had read the post as it was written it does not literally mean suck them from the sea using a suction device but

it does refer to the suction device used to remove the vast quantity of fish from the net to the hold

you also said in your reply they can only catch their quota and that they caught their quota in one haul

If that is the case What does this boat do the rest of the year ?

I take it this vessel is not laid up for the rest of the year therefore it must have quota for other species like cod, herring ect are they able to do the same with these species?

i take it that a boat of this size will have a large quota otherwise it would not be viable let alone profitable for the owners to continue to operate.

 

quota i believe is a portion of the total allowable catch for that year divided up between all commercial boats if that is the case then it is no wonder the commercial fleet has decreased with boats like this buying up the quota and fullfilling that quota with one haul at the ecpense of the smaller not so profitable operator who would be unable to afford the license

 

you yourself worked on a boat that had to travel further afield to obtain decent fishing for your customers i am one of those customers

therefore i am not a poorley informed critic i can see what is happening to our seas after being a RSA for OVER 40 years (as the Government would class me A stakeholder ) if i have to travel that far to get some decent fishing then there is something very wrong

 

And in my opinion seeing a boat take that amount is obcene the same was said about the sandeel as read in various publications

[wurzel]

Are Cod a endangered species?

Why are commercial fishermen and anglers catching so much cod?

Could the marine labs be wrong?

Is decommisioning of vessels working?

Should charter vessels have days at sea limits?

Should all cod be returned caught by chartered vessels?

 

Trawler men returns to our screens on the 18 JUNE and I recommend you watch it after talking to

skippers of Amity and Renown its going to be better viewing than the last time.

 

Hello Clicker

 

Getting back to your original question.

 

I don't think cod are endangered, never were never will be.

I doubt fishing effort has much effect on a species like cod, the TAC for UK is about the spawning potential of one large fish, natural elements have more effect on the fluctuations in stock levels.

There is a huge difference in uneconomical stock size and endangered.

 

Fisheries management has grown into a massive industry made up of EU Commission ,DEFRA (mfa) Scientists, Greens (NGO's) PO'S and independent quota traders even fishermen’s representatives such as the Regional Advisory Councils (RAC's), there are probably lots more I can't think of at the moment

all keeping the pot boiling to feather their own nest. It is a parasite industry that has grown twice the size of it's host the fishing industry but it is continuing to suck the life out of it , DEFRA know there is not much life left so are looking for a new host and have settled on the RSA and it won't be long before they start feeding.

 

 

I enjoy watching the Trawler men same as I do John Wilson or Matt Hayes.

 

The stars of the Trawler men are the elite, they are premier league, not only are they very good fishermen but even better business men, they are the ones who defra can't touch, probably already wealthy and able to add to considerable track records with quota bought from decommissioned boats,

they will survive no matter what and bloody good luck to them, but it's a different story for the rest of us.

[ColinW]

I don't think cod are endangered, never were never will be.

I doubt fishing effort has much effect on a species like cod...

 

Tell that to the former Canadian fishermen now manning call centres or picking up benefit cheques.

[wurzel]

Tell that to the former Canadian fishermen now manning call centres or picking up benefit cheques.

 

Hello Colin

 

Cod stocks at the Grand banks have crashed several times over the hundreds of years fishermen have been fishing there, this is the first time fishermen have been blamed.

[ColinW]

Hello Colin

 

Cod stocks at the Grand banks have crashed several times over the hundreds of years fishermen have been fishing there, this is the first time fishermen have been blamed.

 

I've looked around a few times and I can't find any reference to stock problems before the change from schooners to trawlers.