Sea Fishing Licence - would you pay?

[barry luxton]

Hi Barry,

 

That and much else has been covered in the proposals at:

 

http://www.sacn.org.uk/Articles/The_Golden_Mile.html

 

Thanks for that, i've never bothered to read it before.

[Leon Roskilly]

Thanks for that, i've never bothered to read it before.

 

Hi Barry,

 

You'd be surprised at how few have, even though they have strong opinions and reckon that they know all about it!

[wurzel]

The photos highlight marine habitats containing diverse epifaunal communities of sponges, tunicates, hydroids and bryozoans and corals; all part of a complex food web.

These communities are wrecked by dredges and trawls on a huge scale, such that researchers cannot easily find 'control areas' of sea bed near to these fishing areas which have not been recently dredged/trawled.

My nearby Hayling Bay used to be rich in small areas of rough ground comprising chalk and clay and shale outcrops covered in kelp, mollusc beds and crustacea. That

has been turned by inshore trawlers into 'desert' right up to the end of the groynes.

I refer the honorable gentleman to the answer I gave previously (post #91)

 

The first two pictures are taken on a scallop bed, Isle of Man (undredged - top; dredged- bottom)

The second two pictures show shallow (20m) maerl beds off W coast of Scotland (undamaged- top; trawled-bottom).

 

 

Hello Mr Angry

 

I think Steve G works around the Hayling Bay area perhaps he could confirm that it is a trawler induced desert, it would be a first that I know off if it is.

 

So your before and after photos were a bit miss leading then, why did you not say a trawled area and a non trawled area in the first place?

 

So I ask again what’s your answer to the perceived problem?

You want a ban on all towed fishing gear that comes into contact with the sea bed!!!! ?

[Cranfield]

One of the nursery areas is the power station outfalls, years ago we used to have fun catching the little bass and letting them go, I would imagine that it would be quite easy to see if someone was fishing in that area, if so something should be done about it. Leon has mentioned previously that the commerical fishing in the medway is controlled on a differant basis?

 

As you are seeing discard from the nets, what size mesh is being used as you say that undersized fish are obviously being caught?

 

The netting takes place in the area of Damhead Creek and the old Berry Wiggins jetty which is by the outfalls and also in the area near the coal jetties, where the water inflow points are.

Both areas are open to observation, but nobody is doing the observing, especially at night.

 

The mesh you commonly see being pegged on the beaches, is rarely more than 1" square and very light orange nylon.

Sometimes if they are a bit slow getting out of the Pub, the gulls draw your attention to where the nets are.

[steve good]

Hello Mr Angry

 

I think Steve G works around the Hayling Bay area perhaps he could confirm that it is a trawler induced desert, it would be a first that I know off if it is.

 

So your before and after photos were a bit miss leading then, why did you not say a trawled area and a non trawled area in the first place?

 

So I ask again what’s your answer to the perceived problem?

You want a ban on all towed fishing gear that comes into contact with the sea bed!!!! ?

 

Hi Peter

 

I am one of afew trawlers left in this area I know of on one that trawls that close in to Hayling beach in fact when they dumped rocks in there so as to protect the beach they made it immposable to trawl that close in so maybe H.A can enlight us to whom is trawling over all these rocks

 

steve

[H.A.]

So I ask again what’s your answer to the perceived problem?

You want a ban on all towed fishing gear that comes into contact with the sea bed!!!! ? - Wurzel

 

Wurzel, if you're still not sure of my stance regarding commercial netting of any sort close to shores around the UK, then you just ain't bin payin' attention!

 

[steve good]

It's not often that I agree with Jaffa, but I think he's spot on in with this post. People need to start looking at how this proposed measure would affect them, if it ever happened. Will it improve your fishing? To get an idea, ask yourself these questions. How much commercial fishing goes on within a mile of where you fish? How much damage is any fishing that does take place actually doing? Is it small time effort by part time and hobby netters? If so, how much fish do they catch? Are those gill net markers close to the beach actually pot markers?

 

I'm all for sensible measures that will improve my fishing and fish stocks, but I hate the use of spin and deception to push hidden agendas. As far as I'm concerned, the golden mile is a red herring, (no pun intended). It's being used as a carrot to lure us into accepting the RSA strategy, but would soon turn into the stick if it ever happened. The whole idea was badly thought out, and now it is being sold as the holy grail to all sea anglers. Just hearing the phrase, "golden mile", and thinking of all the rubbish behind it, winds me up these days.

 

There may be one or two areas where it might provide some benefits. If you fish somewhere like that, you'll probably want to support the golden mile. That's fine, of course, but please look a bit further than the hype and spin. Are you sure you'll still be able to fish there if it becomes what will effectively be a Marine Protected Area? If you are allowed to fish there, what restrictions will be placed on you? Will you be able to take fish home to eat, if so, what will the bag limit be? Will you be able to use lead weights, or will it be fly only? These are the questions people should be asking now. I haven't got a clue what the answers might be, but then again, nor has anyone else. So how, then, can they be asking all sea anglers to "enthusiastically back" the proposal?

 

I'll be joining Jaffa in his enthusiastic opposition to it.

 

Hi Steve

 

Nice to hear from you

 

I agree with your post commen sense point of veiw

 

The promlem is as I see it under present law anglers, commerical fishermen and non boat owning fishermen have a right to fish the waters on and close to the beach, with rods, longlines and nets. The problem is whow to justify excluding certain poeple and what affect they have for the benifit of others so as to give exclusive rights to some.

 

It is a problem that needs sorting out but whow to achieve it will be hard with out confrontation

 

steve

[wurzel]

Wurzel, if you're still not sure of my stance regarding commercial netting of any sort close to shores around the UK, then you just ain't bin payin' attention!

 

 

I had not noticed that you differentiate between inshore or offshore at all.

What do you perceive to be close to shore?

[wurzel]

Hi Peter

 

I am one of afew trawlers left in this area I know of on one that trawls that close in to Hayling beach in fact when they dumped rocks in there so as to protect the beach they made it immposable to trawl that close in so maybe H.A can enlight us to whom is trawling over all these rocks

 

steve

 

As I thought Steve another persieved Inaccuracy.

[wurzel]

The netting takes place in the area of Damhead Creek and the old Berry Wiggins jetty which is by the outfalls and also in the area near the coal jetties, where the water inflow points are.

Both areas are open to observation, but nobody is doing the observing, especially at night.

 

The mesh you commonly see being pegged on the beaches, is rarely more than 1" square and very light orange nylon.

Sometimes if they are a bit slow getting out of the Pub, the gulls draw your attention to where the nets are.

 

Hello Cranfield

 

 

I think what you are seeing are the leaders to an eel flyke, I can't think of any other reason a mesh size of an inch could be used for other than a feed of sprats maybe.

Eel fishing is strictly regulated and licensed by the EA you could check with them.

I'm not even sure you are allowed to use eel flykes as a hobby fisherman.