Pair Trawling in the Channel

[big_cod]

Leon i must agree with your stance on this matter, i have lived in small fishing town all my life and seen the stocks slowley vanish over the years and what is going on in the channel will no doubht bring the bass fisherie to its knees, pair trawling in any form for the good of any fisherie wants banning this may sound extreme but it will make things better in the long run for every body concerned even the pair teams

[Jaffa]

Big cod, "pair trawling in any form" ??? what on earth do pelagic pair teams after mackeral and herring have to do with the demersal pair trawling that went on in your area?

 

How will the removal of boats that take almost no bycatch or discards and do no damage to the seabed improve things?!

 

Ian, thanks for your understanding but all this seems a world away and i'm not even a commercial fisherman!

[Guest stevie cop]

Ian.

I agree with most of what you say. However, it isn't as simple as that. The problem goes much deeper and will take a lot more working out.

 

I was one of those who worked on the proposed recreational fishery on the Stour and Orwell estuaries. I did my homework and I met and spoke to commercial fishermen because I believed that the way forward was to work together. From what I learned, I gathered that a recreational fishery would have had very little, if any, effect on the local commercial fishermen. (I must at this point say that the commercial fishermen that I have spoken to have all been nice people and I've built valued friendships with them). I would not have been happy campaigning for anything that would have caused suffering to anyone.

 

But that didn't count for anything. At the last SFC meeting, the commercial fishermen, and the SFC who represent them, (and only them), closed ranks and put up that brick wall that Wurzel spoke of. Right, wrong and fair didn't come into it. The simple fact was that the SFC and the commercial fishermen coudn't stand the thought that they might be told there was something that they couldn't do! Even if they never did it anyway!

 

Working together IS the way forward, I'm still convinced of that, but it means both sides being honest and straight with each other. We also need to be able to give and take a little. Totally opposite views and ideals will only result in conflict, and there is always at least one loser in any conflict. If we screw our loaves, we could all end up winners. Truthfully, I can't see it happening in my lifetime. Too many people set in their ways and not willing to give a little.

 

By the way Ian, your parting shot about Dolphins ruined what was, up until then, a sensible post.

[Ian Burrett]

Hi Steve

I appreciate you had a rough deal at the Stour and Orwell SFC and i guess there will be a few more major setbacks in the near future, but we have to keep on trying, and we will get there.

 

Regards the dolphin parting shot, I did say i was ending on an ironic note, but it's true though isn't it?

[Guest stevie cop]

There is a big two page spread in todays Daily mail all about pair trawling and Dolphin deaths. Colour photos, the lot! Say what you want about Greenpeace but they do manage to get things in the headlines, which is what we want.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Hi Ian,

 

I guess they were feeding on the bass!!

 

From what I have read the gape on the pair net is large enough to encompass everything in it's path without either fish or dophins realising the danger they are in.

 

You say we get angry and your right, if it was just down to pair trawling for bass you would probably be right in making your statement. But unfortunately that is just one of many examples where commercial fishing is currently working within the so called rules and causing damage not only to fish stocks but the whole marine inviroment.

 

The scallop dredging is nothing short of carnage and it just goes to show how little concern these people have for the enviroment they gain a living from.

 

I blame the white collar ghost who allow this to go on, but I also blame the fishermen who carry out these moral crimes. If they don't realise the damage they are doing then they are not fit to put to sea. If they do realise the damage they are doing then the same applies.

 

I do not deny them a living, but if I was drilling for oil in the channel and contaminating all and sundry I am sure you would kick up a fuss and quite rightly.

 

What happened to Steve was a disgusting insult and this is just one recent situation, it occurs on a regular basis.

 

Sorry to go on, but I sincerely want to be able to pass onto my grand children a living marine enviroment.

[Leon Roskilly]

Ken Davison South Wales:

Hi Ian,

 

I guess they were feeding on the bass!!

I always assumed that, but in the Daily Mail article it says:

 

"They won't eat the bass themselves, but the smaller species, such as mackerel, that the bass feed on. They are probably also attracted to the nets by the noise and the activity"

 

But then the Mail also says that the dolphins drown "it is the most horrible death imaginable".

 

In fact dolphins cannot drown, they are denied the quick end that we would eventually bring upon ourselves by filling our lungs with water. Instead they must continue to suffer until they eventually suffocate (not drown).

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Jaffa]

In fact "drowning" is death by asphyxia while submereged, regardless of whether or not fluid has entered the lungs.

 

Contrary to popular myth human lungs do not tend to fill with water.

[Jaffa]

quote:

---

The scallop dredging is nothing short of carnage and it just goes to show how little concern these people have for the enviroment they gain a living from.

---

Ken, Im no fan of either Scallop dreging or beaming but its not quite as simple as that.

 

Yes, when dredging first starts on area it destroys the original ecosystem. If that area continues to be dredged it will develop its own ecosystem with animals that can cope with constant disturance. In some areas this can lead to increased biomass! Bit like all the plant communities you get on land thats been cleared ready for building work I guess, or grassland closely cropped by livestock.

 

Not something you want to be widespread but if its in limited areas it may actually increase the biodiversity of our waters.

 

Trouble is that too much of it happens in areas that would be much richer with the original maerl or horse mussel beds.

[Guest stevie cop]

Actually, when we, (or any other mammal), drowns, our lungs do not fill with water until after we've become unconcious. What happens is that the throat, osoephagus, trachea, epiglotis or whatever else is down there, goes into spasm and constricts in order to prevent water entering the lungs. This is how we die. We actually suffocate ourselves! Then we die or become unconcious, the muscles sometimes relax and water can then enter the lungs. Sometimes, water in the lungs can indicate that a person died and was then thrown, or fell, into water afterwards.

 

Either way, it's not very nice.

 

[ 19. March 2005, 06:54 PM: Message edited by: Steve Coppolo ]