Bass & Dolphins on Countryfile

[Leon Roskilly]

Have a look at the Countryfile programme on BBC1 tomorrow (Sunday 9/3/03) at 11:30 am.

 

It's about the pair trawlers targeting the spawning bass and mackerel and the terrible damage that is doing to the Atlantic dolphin populations when they are suffocated in the huge nets used.

 

Having watched/recorded the programme, take a little time to write to your MP, MEP, Elliot Morley (the UK fishing Minister) and Franz Fischler (the EU commissioner for fisheries).

 

Ask them to bring a stop to this fishing method, if not for the dolphins' sake, for the sake of the Bass sports fishing industry, which the governments own research values at many more times the value of the landed bass catch. (CEFAS report in the late '80s valued the commercial catch at £3million, sports angling for bass at £19million).

 

Time to bring an end to the unsustainable madness.

 

(see: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/authors/leon19.htm

 

Tight Lines - Leon Roskilly

Sea Anglers Conservation Network (SACN)

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/sacn

 

[ 08. March 2003, 04:15 PM: Message edited by: Leon Roskilly ]

[fishy1]

Leon, on humberside radio this morning a report that the spaniards are to be allowed to fish in the north sea again. the goverment say's they will not be allowed legally to catch any white fish,cod excetera,how in gods name will they stop them?????.how can they ban our fishermen for most of the month, then throw it open to these JACKALS??. has our M.P's or MEP's gone mad????tight lines fishy1

[Steve B]

There is only one group of people we can blame for the killing of dolphins, the decrease stocks of BASS and Cod plus other sea fish, and that is the goverment. They have no back bone, they would rather let all the boats from other countrys to fish our waters as they can not stand up to the French, Spanish, ect, because they dont know what to say. If we had our own goverment on our side, it would make the job of protecting our seas a dame site easier.

[Steve B]

Sorry about the dame

[craig mason]

i blame the french

[phil dean]

The problem is money, these people see this as a viable way of keeping their families as other species are in decline, to them this is a rescource, available to those with the financial backing to get into pair trawling.

 

As to the Spaniards, I seem to remember that it was English Fishermen who sold their licences to the spaniards for....guess what...easy money.

 

We were as bad, the icelandic cod wars resulted in the Icelandics being able to manage their own waters and as a result good stocks have been maintained, if we'd got away with what we tried, they would be saying the same about us as we do the spanish and french.

 

As to it being the governments fault, banning fishermen from going out will lose any government votes if the people do not believe that there is a real need to do something to stop the fishing, most people just see the end result of people out of work.

 

Initially what is needed are is more information in the public domain about what the problems are, it's only a shame that the issues of the Bass pair trawling only got a few minutes on countryfile, I missed it as I was fishing................how much better if this was the main story on the 6 o'clock news. The only way that happens is when people get upset enough about the death of dolphins, their deaths are emotive and may make people listen. Unfortuntly most people couldn't care less about fish and just take them for granted, that's why stocks have been allowed to get so low, their maintenance is not a vote winner. Mind you maybe this is the government to make a difference, after all it looks like we're going into a war which will lose the government many votes (in fact it could put them out of business), its only a shame that George Bush isn't an Angler, and then Tony may have done something..........oops sorry, got a little political there.

 

The answer is education as a starting point but my belief is, that if dolphons weren't being killed, the pair trawling issue wouldn't even make the back page of my local free paper. The Catchean bycatch has been mentioned before, I remember discussion on here last year, but I'm sure some people reading this will not have heard of it until reading this thread, it's a shame that the weeklies aren't covering it and, as I said above, it's a shame that it can't make the national news, but until this Iraq situation is sorted, I don't think it will.

[SandTiger]

Thanks for taking the time to post the info on this proggy Leon, because I for one would have missed a very hard hitting documentary had you not. Just kicking myself for not videoing for a lot of ppl who missed it or who I didn't contact in time. Thanks again.

[Leon Roskilly]

Apparently there is going to be a piece on dolphin bycatch again on BBC Countryfile, this coming Sunday. 23 March.

 

Regards, Leon Roskilly

Sea Anglers' Conservation Network(SACN)

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/sacn