E U. Should we stay or should we leave.

[Sportsman]

In the 90s and noughties I ran STCW95 marine training courses in the nautical training colleges in Shetland, Orkney, Frazerburgh Peterhead and Aberdeen. Most of our customers were fishermen or ex fishermen and we had long and detailed discussions on the state of the fishing industry and how it happened. It was pretty much all anyone talked about.

I don't remember one of them blaming the EU. Oh, they hated the quotas and other restrictions, not because they didn't work but because they stopped them from making more money.

Overfishing and black fish being landed were the norm and TBH always had been. The fisherman's justification was "well, someones going to catch the last fish in the sea, so it might as well be me"

 

BC is absolutely right about the Grand Banks cod fishery. There was some discussion on another thread about passenger pigeons. Don't think it couldn't happen. If the post Bexit fishing industry has its way, there will be a free for all until there is nothing left.

[Ken L]

You're assuming that we can't regulate our own EEZ.

While it is certainly galling that Theresa May hasn't announced Brexit linked job creation by commissioning new fisheries protection vessels. there is no reason to believe that we can't protect our stocks better than the EU.

[Sportsman]

And given history there is no reason to believe that you can.

A Fisherman's adherence to the rules/law is directly proportional to the perceived risk of getting caught. They are doing it now. They will continue to do it for as long as they can get away with it.

BTW, the trawler skippers opinions of scallop dredgers would have echoed much of what BC has said as well.

[Ken L]

There are solutions.

[chesters1]

I have never understood why we chuck fish overboard then fish for small species of food fish (as in food for fish) to turn into fish meal .

I would ban chucking anything back and have the fish meal processors buy the discards.

 

As for fishermen they destroyed the herring industry long before the EU ,once we get control of our waters once its destroyed we can point our fingers at our fishermen for doing it.

 

I would also ban foreign owned british boats just compulsery purchase them and flog them to brits oor scrap them ,whats the point of fishing in british waters and landing it in europe for johny foreiner to eat ?

 

As for fish imports its fine i like tilapia and basa let johny foreigner make some cash but ensure its sustainable or they will be looking for handouts once its all gone

Edited March 14, 2018 by chesters1

[corydoras]

I have never understood why we chuck fish overboard then fish for small species of food fish (as in food for fish) to turn into fish meal .

I would ban chucking anything back and have the fish meal processors buy the discards.

 

As for fishermen they destroyed the herring industry long before the EU ,once we get control of our waters once its destroyed we can point our fingers at our fishermen for doing it.

 

I would also ban foreign owned british boats just compulsery purchase them and flog them to brits oor scrap them ,whats the point of fishing in british waters and landing it in europe for johny foreiner to eat ?

 

As for fish imports its fine i like tilapia and basa let johny foreigner make some cash but ensure its sustainable or they will be looking for handouts once its all gone

chesters, when I was a wee boy, long before we joined the Common Market we used to spread fish meal on the fields as fertilizer or feed it to pigs,

 

The point of fishing in British waters and selling it to Europe or "selling" quota to European fishing boats is that there are many species of fish caught in our waters that we don't eat. How often have you seen John Dory in a fishmongers in the UK?

Edited March 14, 2018 by corydoras

[chesters1]

chesters, when I was a wee boy, long before we joined the Common Market we used to spread fish meal on the fields as fertilizer or feed it to pigs,

 

The point of fishing in British waters and selling it to Europe or "selling" it to Europe is that there are many species of fish caught in our waters that we won't eat. How often have you seen John Dory in a fishmongers in the UK?

Its all down to cost i think ,if we import strange fish from abroad and its cheap people will try it .

Most lobsters are flogged abroad but we import cheaper ones from canada ,perhaps its just greed from our fishermen (cant blame them for doing it in many cases) but i am sure if strange fish were cheap enough to try out people would try it out.

We tend to try 'exotic' food when its heavily reduced ,most of the time its not worth the little we paid for it but like tilapia and basa its ok so long as its cheap

 

Foreigners using british based boats and landing it abroad do nothing for our economy and most are scamming the system anyway ,get rid of them

Edited March 14, 2018 by chesters1

[Sportsman]

The problem is, if you let fisherman land fish he isn't supposed to land (discards) and offer him a price for them then guess what, he will fish for the fish he is not supposed to fish for, land them and claim that they are by catch and sell them.

With regard to conservation, most fishermen are their own worst enemy, and always have been.

Their attitude is " catch it while it's available, it might not be there tomorrow" He might be right.

[chesters1]

The problem is, if you let fisherman land fish he isn't supposed to land (discards) and offer him a price for them then guess what, he will fish for the fish he is not supposed to fish for, land them and claim that they are by catch and sell them.

With regard to conservation, most fishermen are their own worst enemy, and always have been.

Their attitude is " catch it while it's available, it might not be there tomorrow" He might be right.

He eventually will be when its gone by his attitude lol

 

Trouble is if fishermen could collapse the herring industry doing little more than watching seagulls think how much damage we are doing being able to catch an entire shoal and then catch their food right down to plancton ,unfortunately we are our worst enemy .

 

The whole system needs reform but even then foreigners will join us cheating it ,i posted about poundland fish and how small it was they certainly never got the oppertunity to breed they hardly were old enough to speak ,theres two many people ,to much choice and to much money to change it unfortunately

 

Perhaps whistle blowing should be rewarded highly by the government and those breaking the rules get lengthy jail terms and their boats given to more deserving people but even then the foreigners will break the rules ,its not easy

Edited March 14, 2018 by chesters1

[big_cod]

There are solutions.

 

Ken they allready have cameras on trawlers your miles behind now boats who have cameras on get extra quota but as I told you before cheating it goes on all the time the cameras dont catch everything and over the side the fish go big ones in the boxes the smaller ones over the side what happened off the Yorkshire coast now is transferred to the Shetlands it will go the same way its just a matter of time but the boats up there are twice as big as the boats that that fished off the Yorkshire coast and can catch massive amounts of fish .