Why not net the real culprits

Wednesday 3rd June 2009, 3:00PM BST.

From Peter Double.
I READ Ramsay Cudlipp’s report (JEP, 30 May), ‘Anglers face big fines under new law’, and thought I’d make a comment or two.

The difference between ‘anglers’ and ‘amateur fishermen’ needs to be understood. Either they are anglers, or they are amateur fishermen; they are very different animals. It’s hard to find an example of a professional angler, other than angling charter skippers, but there are only two or three in Jersey so we can’t blame them for unsustainable fishing or endangering the livelihoods of the commercial lads.

Part-time amateur fishermen, or weekend professionals, the ones who hunt for bass with fishing rods using the skills they learnt as anglers, and who sell their catch at the back doors of pubs, restaurants and hotels without a commercial licence should certainly be taken to task.

The bass they catch and sell pay for the boat, the gear, the fuel, the insurance and, probably, the mooring fees, too, and the whole business is mostly tax-free. Suggesting that the whole angling community be penalised for these tax and licence dodgers is, well, quite frankly outrageous.

I certainly believe that leisure craft should have some kind of limit on their catch. They can get out and fish bass habitat for a whole tide well off shore and catch the sandeels they need to attract the bass. In my experience, the catch rate from boats is far higher than that of shore anglers. Perhaps an increase in the size limit for boat-caught fish might be a better idea than a bag limit.

Regarding the size of the fine and the five bass bag limit, I think local anglers will agree that there are shore anglers here in Jersey who would happily pay £20,000 for the privilege of catching five bass in one day.

Deputy Higgins quotes ‘that he has heard that there are trawlers going up-Channel scooping up five tons of bass’. He should know that catches from the wintering stocks off Guernsey have produced twenty-five tons of bass per boat per night and said the bass brought tears to the eyes of the Jersey marine biologist who watched them being landed in the UK.

Both the article and the Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel advertisement imply that anglers could be adversely affecting the commercial fisherman’s livelihood. Are we suggesting here that anglers, you know, the chaps with a fishing rod and a couple of hooks, are contributing to the international crash in fish stocks caused by unsustainable commercial fishing?

I don’t think so! Over fishing in Scotland caused commercial fishermen to blame someone or something other than their own unsustainable methods. They chose grey seals!

A Japanese oceanic fishing boat was arrested and escorted into Roscoff after drifting into French territorial waters some years ago and on board she had 72 kilometres of drift nets. The more modern craft carry twice as much. Sort of makes our fishing rod and fish hooks pale into insignificance, don’t you think?

Just prior to writing this, I was buying fish at the La Collette fish van where I was told that wild bass were almost unobtainable and at a premium. A friend also told me that he took 20 bass from a kayak two weeks ago and not one fish was over two pounds in weight. All the fish were returned.

I wonder if the Guernsey bass fishery is Channel Islands stock and whether this is affecting local catches? I suggest it’s more likely to be the case than me and my grandson float fishing at St Catherine’s Breakwater.

I shall be e-mailing the Economic Affairs Scrutiny Panel in due course on a rather more formal basis.
The Old Coach House,
La Ruelle,
St Lawrence.

1
Ben

June 3, 2009 at 3:45 pm

I totally agree. well said.

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2
PJG

June 4, 2009 at 8:15 am

We live on an island surrounded by the sea. Its always been the prerogative of the islanders to supplement their income with a bit of part time fishing. When I retire I was looking forward to doing a few hours a week floating around in a small boat doing a few pots laying a few lines, nothing too strenuous but enough added to the State pension to make ends meet, and for a couple of pints at the pub.
Looks like the only way I will be able to do that now is to buy a commercial licence off someone and have to fish from a big boat 6 days a week to make it pay, that’s my retirement up the shoot. Not much good for the fish stocks either

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3
Buster Gut

June 4, 2009 at 10:12 am

There should be a £20,000 reward for any shore angler who could bag 5 bass in a day!!

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4
JP

June 4, 2009 at 5:23 pm

I have to agree with the other comments, I go fishing fairly regularly and never keep the fish that i deem to be to small even when they are above the size limit. Then I go into the fish market and see loads of them for sale smaller than what i carefully returned.

Blaming the anglers is an utter joke which fortunately many people can see right through. Yes there are a few oout there who will catch and eat anything regardless of size but compared to trawling up anything and then throwing back the undersize once they are already dead or dying is by far the real culprit.

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5
Adrian

June 6, 2009 at 2:47 pm

You need to limit the big guys first.

When one new trawler with CCTV on its nets can land 500 tonnes of Mackerel in one go and not leave one single fish escape a shoal you know you are storing up problems for the future.

Also the stupidity of the EU catch quotas means tonnes and tonnes of fish is dumped every year back into the sea. Nothing wrong with it but the fishermen would be fined if they landed above their quotas wouldn’t they?

Pair trawling should be banned with immediate effect it is ruining the fish stocks and damaging the sea beds.

Image running massive nets through every inche of the Amazon rainforest to pick coconuts. You are then told you have gone above your quota so dump maybe half of them to rot!! There would be international outrage. However what you don’t see doesn’t hurt you does it?

Until the world as a whole takes fish stocks seriously we are in serious danager of ecological collapse. Jersey is just as bad as it allows others to come into its water to deplete its ever dwinderling stocks because it can’t say no.

The main I question about this is how on earth are fisheries going to police this? They have enough trouble keeping an eye on others coming into our waters to fish. Also fishing occurs 24/7, does fisheries patrol around the island and its territorial waters 24/7?

I would expect fisheries will need dozens of extra staff to police this properly. Is there a cat in hell’s chance of this? I’d have to say no at present.

Yes I think all fishing from boats should be monitored as JY boats at present can fish an unlimited number of pots for example and don’t need to keep records of their catches unlike the J fishing boats. They have pot limits and need to declare all their catches. This would help give an idea of what is being landed each day around the year in Jersey waters.

If J regs have to log all their catches and have limits to their fishing effort then surely the JY boats should have limits as well and also record their catches?

As per rod fishing I think this is unefforcible without a massive build up in the fisheries efforts at policing our shores. I would make sure if this law is brought in that it can be enforced, or else what is the point?

A way to do this would be to have anyone fishing in Jersey waters needing a licence, even if they were issued for nominal cost. Fisheries would know who was fishing, and an idea what they were taking to help keep an eye on what is going on. Any returns could then go into expanding the number of fisheries officers who would then be able to do a better job at conserving fish stocks for future generations, which is after all what all this is about.

I sadly have to say this is the only way forward because as we all now there are always those who will abuse the system out there.

Yes as others have already said the big boys need more limits on them than at present and I think it would be quicker and easier to start there, before working their way down to the more occasional fishermen. So start at the top monitor results and if needed move down the line until fishing becomes sustainable again.

An important point for all fisherpersons!!!!

PLEASE COULD ALL THOSE CATCHING MACKEREL AND RETURING THEM TO THE SEA (FOR WHATEVER REASON) NOT TOUCH THEM WITH YOUR BARE HANDS. EITHER FLICK THEM OFF YOUR HOOKS BACK INTO THE WATER OR HANDLE WITH GLOVES ON.

The reason for this is that mackerel have very sensitive skin and handling them actually burns them. Natural chemicals on our hands act rather like acid on their skins. This means most if not all will invarible die very shortly after being returned to the sea.

This was noticed after research was carried out in the UK.

Thanks.

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