RSPB Survey

[Bob Roberts]

Continued?

As for the number of anglers/ customers out there, license sales are the acid test not one or two successful pub teams. License sales are hardly setting the world alight and show no dramatic upturn. Associations like Birmingham used to count memberships in the tens of thousands, ran a 4,000 pegger match. Strongholds like Sheffield & District, Rotherham UAF, Worksop, Doncaster, Barnsley, etc., shrink each year. The once mighty Sheffield Amalgamated folded. The NFA had five divisions not very long ago. What's left now?

Commercials don't have a problem with cormorants? Don't you believe it. Only law breaking protects them. The new fishery owners (or should I say farmers?) might not be so cute, or, they will be so flagrant as to draw attention to what goes on.

If we systematically eradicated each and every cormorant in the UK today they wouldn't become extinct because we'd see numbers arriving from across the channel in no time.

Right, time for a coffee...

 

[Terry Comerford]

Matt, I don't know of any specimen angler who is 'campaigning' for venues to be more balanced.
Could you put me in touch with a few?

On the other hand I know hundreds who go nuts if a fish is under a certain average weight when they capture it.

Does any one know of a commercial fishery that's gone bust in the last 10 years?
Three have just been sold for over a million pounds each.

I can't see how we can target individual problems, until we have a credible angling body that gets things done as well as the RSPB.

 

[Wolfman Woody]

On the subject of recruitment alone you could fill a book with reasons. I have no idea what the actual figures are as we do not have a base from which to work from, but if you were to say that 20 years ago it took 2000 roach eggs to make one x 1lb roach, now it could take 20,000 and even that's doubtful.

That's just an idea, like I say, no evidence, but those fry have to run many gauntlets before reaching maturity. First is having the food available in both algae forms and phytoplankton. Next is surviving floods and then prey fish, pike and perch (and cursed zander in some waters). Even then, when they get to sprat stage the cormorants get them and it's at that stage where it's most important to keep them protected.

You can start with breeding grounds, on the Thames these were all the creeks and drainage ditches, some of which were watering holes for cattle. They're all silted over now and fish can't get into them and they're important at times of flood.

Then there's abstraction where millions of fry are sucked into filtering meshes each and every year. There's 37 abstraction points on the Thames between Lechlade and Teddington and each time the water is used, it's cleaned up at STWs and put back into the river. The nutrient has been knocked out of it, it's like tap water.

Then, with the new clarity in the Thames, there's new weed growth not all of which is welcome. Willow weed for example is no good on the gravels where barbel would likely breed. And many of the streamer weed beds that have grown up are of no use to many silver fish like dace, roach and even perch.

The research would likely cost millions and the remedy perhaps billions, but a shotgun cartridge isn't that much and it might resolve one small problem. )

 

[Matt Brown]

Terry,

Ian Welch is your example of a specialist angler actively campaigning as part of the Kennet Action Committee (not sure it's called that).

I admit that most specialist anglers will moan and talk about various problems without actually doing anything. I'm one of them.

I would happily pay ?5 extra per year on my licence if the fee was to go to a unified body that campaigned on my behalf.

No I don't know of any commercial fisheries that have gone bust. I wouldn't really know as I only fish them as a last resort in the close season.

There are only so many anglers and the more commercial waters are created the more pegs there are to fill. Unless there's a corresponding recruitment of new anglers (there isn't) then there will be more empty pegs.

Where I live we have around 15 commercial fisheries (within 10 miles or so). Hayfield must be making a bomb as they're absolutely packed everyday during summer and still do pretty well at the weekend.

I have fished plenty of the other waters early in the close season in the past and they are often totally empty during the week until it warms up. Even then they aren't as full as Hayfield.

If somebody creates a great new fishery and it becomes popular those anglers have to have been loss to another fishery.

 

[Matt Brown]

Last sentence should have said;
"If somebody creates a great new fishery and it becomes popular those anglers have to have been a loss to another fishery."

 

[Ian "snotman" Foden]

On wednesday night on the Ribble...21 cormorants roosting in the tree to my left,...and no gun! No wonder this previously very productive stretch produced nothing in 4 hours on the stick and maggot in good conditions! only bigger fish left now.

However, this must be due to other environmental factors, more research probably needed to confirm, maybe the RSPB can help?? what do you think?