Plenty Of Fish But Quota's Are Way Way Too Low

[glennk]

Is the annual posturing for this years CFP fisheries summit starting early this year ? Theres plenty of fish but not enough quota so please give us some more.

 

The £55,000-valued catch smashed the old record for a single haul set several years ago of £37,000 and consisted of cod, coley, monkfish and ling.

 

The 41lb monster featured in Friday’s Whitby Gazette was also part of the catch.

 

Dave Winspear of Alliance Fish said it's a catch like this ‘gave heart to the industry’.

 

He said: “This was a great catch and it got an excellent market.

 

“Once again it shows there are fish out there but quotas are way, way, way too low so most of the vessels from Whitby are not out at the minute.

 

See

 

http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/Our-La...7000.3206898.jp

[Bob Jerunkel]

Of course records are being broken.

But its not because theres more fish about.

its because they have to declare more of it now because of the fish buyers and sellers.

The stricter the rules are enforced the more fish will appear.

You just watch.

[Leon Roskilly]

The small amount of quota for cod isn't because there isn't the number of fish on the grounds, it's because the Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) is too small for safety.

 

There may be plenty of codling around, but until a large proportion of them reach maturity, the stock overall is still at great risk.

 

(The spawning in 1996 produced a huge number of immature fish. If they had been left to grow, and to spawn themselves, we would probably not be having a problem with cod now. But the fleets moved in as soon as a proportion of them reached marketable size, discarding over 50%, and all but wiping out the year group before any of them had spawned themselves - or reached a decent size)

 

The measures in place now is designed to protect the large number of juvenile fish until they become part of the SSB, which should happen in 2010.

 

In the meantime, there is a lot of marketable fish out there, which if caught in the nets has to be discarded.

 

The alternative is to let the fleets at them, and risk this golden opportunity to rebuild the SSB of cod.

[clem]

Of course this boat is going to break some records its a state of the art , powerful catching machine with immense towing power but this does not mean there are suddenly more fish on the grounds Bobs got a point too the eyes of the industry are on this new boat.

I bet if a lesser ship towed the same route the catch would have been just routine and come on they (trawler owners) know full well this is the case. They are just courting the sympathy of the public and playing on nievity.

At the current fish prices a free for all on the cod would top the pentions of these guys right up and that would be it....Grand Banks.

[barry luxton]

Didn't the catching sector do very well with regard to the cod, at the beginng of the year they had a fantastic period were they caught all the cod requirement for this year in a short space of time. If so this new boat needs to go on guard duty until the next round is set.

[Toerag]

Of course this boat is going to break some records its a state of the art , powerful catching machine with immense towing power but this does not mean there are suddenly more fish on the grounds Bobs got a point too the eyes of the industry are on this new boat.

I bet if a lesser ship towed the same route the catch would have been just routine and come on they (trawler owners) know full well this is the case. They are just courting the sympathy of the public and playing on nievity.

At the current fish prices a free for all on the cod would top the pentions of these guys right up and that would be it....Grand Banks.

 

You are spot on - it's about 4 metres bigger than everything else in Whitby I think, so of course it's going to be towing a bigger trawl and able to cope with crappier weather.

As to the price - well fish prices have been higher this year so it's bound to gross a better sum. What would be a truer description would be to know if the tonnage is bigger than ever landed before.

I think Leon is also correct - we need to make sure that the current glut are allowed to grow up. If it means that the boats can go out once a month and catch their quota then brilliant - the crews can spend the other 3 weeks doing another job. Once this happens every year then the quotas can be increased.

[glennk]

The small amount of quota for cod isn't because there isn't the number of fish on the grounds, it's because the Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) is too small for safety.

 

There may be plenty of codling around, but until a large proportion of them reach maturity, the stock overall is still at great risk.

 

(The spawning in 1996 produced a huge number of immature fish. If they had been left to grow, and to spawn themselves, we would probably not be having a problem with cod now. But the fleets moved in as soon as a proportion of them reached marketable size, discarding over 50%, and all but wiping out the year group before any of them had spawned themselves - or reached a decent size)

 

The measures in place now is designed to protect the large number of juvenile fish until they become part of the SSB, which should happen in 2010.

 

In the meantime, there is a lot of marketable fish out there, which if caught in the nets has to be discarded.

 

The alternative is to let the fleets at them, and risk this golden opportunity to rebuild the SSB of cod.

 

I've agreed twice with you now in 2 days Leon. Wonder how that will look in Proff Tench's report on me to the NFSA committee.

[H.A.]

The small amount of quota for cod isn't because there isn't the number of fish on the grounds, it's because the Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) is too small for safety.

There may be plenty of codling around, but until a large proportion of them reach maturity, the stock overall is still at great risk.

I only have figures to 2006 ....

 

NORTH SEA COD QUOTAS

 

2001: 48,600 tonnes

2002: 49,300

2003: 27,300

2004: 27,300

2005: 27,300

2006: 23,200

 

Source: ICES

 

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) says that 60% of available cod are still being removed from the North Sea every year, leaving too few behind for the stock to rebuild.

(This compares with an estimated 35% of stock in 1965)

 

And that's nothing to what the scientists fear is really happening -

 

In the North Sea and two other fishing zones (Skagerrak and the Eastern Channel), ICES estimates that 50,000 tonnes of cod was removed in 2005 - compared with an official quota of 29,000 tonnes.

 

The quotas are set despite the obvious: if we want to give stock the best chance of recovery, the best thing is to stop fishing. But that is in an ideal world, and because cod is found in many fisheries, it's not very realistic. That's why Ministers appear to 'wimp out' and set low quotas rather than a complete ban on cod fishing. In my opinion, the quotas are just not low enough to deter overall effort which results in 'fiddled' by-catch statistics.

 

The cod recovery plan has failed in its objectives because the reductions in catch and effort were smaller than those required for recovery.

Who said that?????

The EU's own Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries!

 

[JB]

There seems to be many opinions on this topic. Has anyone considered what area this fish was taken from? I could be wrong, but I believe it was caught in the Norwegian sector.

 

JB

[wurzel]

The small amount of quota for cod isn't because there isn't the number of fish on the grounds, it's because the Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) is too small for safety.

 

There may be plenty of codling around, but until a large proportion of them reach maturity, the stock overall is still at great risk.

 

(The spawning in 1996 produced a huge number of immature fish. If they had been left to grow, and to spawn themselves, we would probably not be having a problem with cod now. But the fleets moved in as soon as a proportion of them reached marketable size, discarding over 50%, and all but wiping out the year group before any of them had spawned themselves - or reached a decent size)

 

The measures in place now is designed to protect the large number of juvenile fish until they become part of the SSB, which should happen in 2010.

 

In the meantime, there is a lot of marketable fish out there, which if caught in the nets has to be discarded.

 

The alternative is to let the fleets at them, and risk this golden opportunity to rebuild the SSB of cod.

 

Ok Leon you seem to be well informed on the theory of rebuilding cod stocks and no doubt take what you read as gospel, after all it's exactly what Ices advice the EU commission.

Please answer a simple question for me.

 

If the SSB was big enough to produce a huge number of immature fish in 1996 why did it not in 95, 97,98 or any other year since for that matter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The small amount of quota for cod isn't because there isn't the number of fish on the grounds, it's because the Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) is too small for safety.

 

There may be plenty of codling around, but until a large proportion of them reach maturity, the stock overall is still at great risk.

 

(The spawning in 1996 produced a huge number of immature fish. If they had been left to grow, and to spawn themselves, we would probably not be having a problem with cod now. But the fleets moved in as soon as a proportion of them reached marketable size, discarding over 50%, and all but wiping out the year group before any of them had spawned themselves - or reached a decent size)

 

The measures in place now is designed to protect the large number of juvenile fish until they become part of the SSB, which should happen in 2010.

 

In the meantime, there is a lot of marketable fish out there, which if caught in the nets has to be discarded.

 

The alternative is to let the fleets at them, and risk this golden opportunity to rebuild the SSB of cod.

 

Ok Leon you seem to be well informed on the theory of rebuilding cod stocks and no doubt take what you read as gospel, after all it's exactly what Ices advice the EU commission.

Please answer a simple question for me.

 

If the SSB was big enough to produce a huge number of immature fish in 1996 why did it not in 95, 97,98 or any other year since for that matter?