Mullet

[captain cojones]

[quote

I think it is for the record committee to decide in any event.

 

i agree with you barry, thats their job, whatever happens it was a great fish, congratulations to matt.

[barry luxton]

Mind you i see some rather large mullet in brixham harbour this week, but they was surrounded by rather posh boats, do you think we aught to.......... get the bread bag out.

[captain cojones]

Mind you i see some rather large mullet in brixham harbour this week, but they was surrounded by rather posh boats, do you think we aught to.......... get the bread bag out.

definatly!!

[DaveRigden]

I did ask them and they said that lots of their members fish in, quote : 'grey areas'.

So it seems to me that they do condone fishing in no fishing areas.

 

Here's the full text I sent Muttley on behalf of NMC since he has chosen to quote very selectively ...

 

Without raking through the embers of Matt Baldwin's case, the general principles are:

 

1. Lots of mullet anglers fish in "grey areas" as regards access - tidal rivers where you may or may not need a permit, private land where anglers may or may not be tolerated. As we have no way of knowing the detail in all the places our members (nationally!) may fish, and no way of enforcement, we don't have a rule on this. I am not condoning it but as a matter of law, it is not "illegal" (as you put it) to fish in a marina with "No Fishing" signs - you are breaking the marina rules but not the law of the land. This would be true even if somebody was trespassing in the marina grounds because trespass is not a criminal offence under English Law unless the owner has obtained a court injunction to keep them out or in specific cases such as MoD.

 

2. We accept our members' word on trust as regard weight of fish and fairness of capture unless there emerges evidence (not rumour, hearsay or deliberate muck-raking) to the contrary. This is a conservation measure aimed at avoiding the need for witnesses which might result in large, slow-growing mullet being killed or unnecessarily stressed. Yes, as a system it is open to abuse but we don't think it is abused very often and anyway, most NMC members see the trophies as a very peripheral aspect of the Club and take the view that if somebody wants to cheat, they are really only cheating themselves.

 

Frankly, it is our business who we award our trophies to, not yours but since there is the best part of five months of the year still to run I don't think anyone is assuming that Matt Baldwin has won anything yet.

 

The national record (boat caught) is nothing to do with us.

 

Regards.

 

David Rigden

Chair, NMC

 

and here's what he replied to me...

 

Fair enough Dave...Maybe illegal was too strong a phrase to use. I stand by what I said that if he won anything with a fish caught... (lets call it)...out of bounds would be unfair to all the anglers that do stick to the rules. I live in bradwell-on-sea and know of somewhere that fish aproaching that weight can be caught on a semi regular basis (and are). I choose not to do so because it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. I prefer to have a challenge with my fishing. But then again that is just me and my own opinion. I am not too stupid to re alise that it takes all sorts in this world.

Maybe i'll have a chat with Leon about this at the next DEFRA meeting.

 

(I'm not sure what he thinks Leon can do about it.)

 

Regards, David

[Cranfield]

Does it make any difference that Gillingham Marina is a "locked" marina, rather than an open one ?

[thedogs]

I wish to take nothing away from Matts catch, I would have fished if I thought I could get away with it. I just feel for the NMC to give Mat a "shed load of tropyies is to condone angling in none angling zone and give out the wrong signals.

 

I think the angling press would love this story and would be interested on how the NMC handles this.

[thedogs]

Fwd: Matt baldwin's mullet.‎

From: ***********

Sent: 11 August 2007 17:49:07

To: real-security

 

--Forwarded Message Attachment--

From: David Rigden

Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:23:34 -0400

Subject: Re: Matt baldwin's mullet.

To: **********

 

 

****

 

Without raking through the embers of Matt Baldwin's case, the general principles are:

 

1. Lots of mullet anglers fish in "grey areas" as regards access - tidal rivers where you may or may not need a permit, private land where anglers may or may not be tolerated. As we have no way of knowing the detail in all the places our members (nationally!) may fish, and no way of enforcement, we don't have a rule on this. I am not condoning it but as a matter of law, it is not "illegal" (as you put it) to fish in a marina with "No Fishing" signs - you are breaking the marina rules but not the law of the land. This would be true even if somebody was trespassing in the marina grounds because trespass is not a criminal offence under English Law unless the owner has obtained a court injunction to keep them out or in specific cases such as MoD.

 

2. We accept our members' word on trust as regard weight of fish and fairness of capture unless there emerges evidence (not rumour, hearsay or deliberate muck-raking) to the contrary. This is a conservation measure aimed at avoiding the need for witnesses which might result in large, slow-growing mullet being killed or unnecessarily stressed. Yes, as a system it is open to abuse but we don't think it is abused very often and anyway, most NMC members see the trophies as a very peripheral aspect of the Club and take the view that if somebody wants to cheat, they are really only cheating themselves.

 

Frankly, it is our business who we award our trophies to, not yours but since there is the best part of five months of the year still to run I don't think anyone is assuming that Matt Baldwin has won anything yet.

 

The national record (boat caught) is nothing to do with us.

 

Regards.

 

David Rigden

Chair, NMC

 

 

In a message dated 11/08/2007 13:59:37 GMT Standard Time

 

**Edited By Gaffer: Email Addresses Removed**

[Andrew Boyd]

Hi Matt

 

Just returned from 2 weeks away to find all this fuss. Sorry to see this has turned into a bun fight.

 

Knowing Matts dad, and having met and spoken to him within a couple of hours of the capture, I am confidant that the fish was taken by rod and line. I once again say jolly well done on catching a fantastic fish.

[DaveRigden]

I think the angling press would love this story and would be interested on how the NMC handles this.

 

I guess you would know if "the angling press" would be interested but sorry, we are not biting today, or any day soon. I have tried to outline some of the issues in general terms above, but NMC has a fee paying membership to consider, and we will conduct our business through a properly constituted AGM for their benefit, not through an internet forum or "the angling press". The AGM date (usually in February) is announced publicly and we issue a press release after it; usually the AGM is held in open-session and "the angling press" is welcome to attend and report on events, but I cannot guarantee this would be the case throughout the meeting particularly if we happened to be discussing individual members, as I'm sure you'd understand. So, it's wait till February till you find out who's won our trophies and whether this particular case has raised any issues that our membership considers worth discussing further.

[thedogs]

The issue is not whether Matt Baldwin caught a mullet of a lifetime, or even whether he is a honourable fellow.

 

I can only judge Mats character from his posts and the few e-mails we have exchanged.

 

Mat seems like an honest sort of chap who I doubt would cheat his way to a record or any other awards come to that.

 

The issues are the location of the catch, and whether or not the marina allows anglers to fish there. The biggest issue to my mind has to be whether the National Mullet Club intends to reward Matt Baldwin a “van load of trophies “even if the marina was a no fishing area. If the NMC decide to award the “van load of trophies “ then it equates to condoning fishing in no fishing areas. This surely would be giving out the wrong signal to the mullet clubs younger members.

 

David Rigden, I am sorry to say your reply of wait until February stinks of ducking the issue!

 

Do you, and does the National Mullet Club condone angler fishing in no fishing areas ?