Netsmen get a hammering

As a former sea angler who packed it in because it got so hard, I must say I'm pleased Europe is finally cutting back the fishing effort for cod and haddock. At the same time, commercial fishermen have my sympathy; they were just doing a dangerous job, and didn't need this Christmas present. They say that there are still plenty of cod to be caught; I say that they've got such sophisticated gear, they're just getting more efficient at catching the last few. Do they want another Grand Banks out there? The Canadian fishery has been closed for ten years, but the damage was so severe, the cod still haven't returned - and that was the biggest cod fishery in the world. Maybe you have other thoughts?

Totally agree mate-haven't done much sea fishing for a couple of years-it just seems like a waste of time fishing for 8oz puting with 15lb line, 6oz leads etc.
look at the bass - they were nearly wiped out, but by protecting the spawning grounds, and putting a size limit on them, they are starting to recover
got to feel sorry for the fishermen though, maybe the first to go should be the "flag of convinience" boats?....

I found it amazing when a fisherman was talking about this issue. He admitted the cod stocks were really low, if non-existant, but that they should be allowed to fish the same areas as there were still haddock and whiting to catch.

So just how are the stocks going to re-generate?? I didn't think nets were discriminatory.

As far as I am concerned, there is no easy and simple answer, and our fisherman are just going to have to face facts in that there is bound to be a decline in their numbers.

Indeed, I would hope that our Government would find a way of easing the burden, however that may be done, and come out of this position with a better regulated and monitored industry that does not let it get into this position again.

There again, I look at our health, education, transport and criminal justice systems and think "nah, not a chance"......

Like you Mark, I packed up sea fishing because the results didn't warrant the time and effort and catching 8oz pout on 15lb line etc is pointless.

I blame Ted Heath for taking us into the Common Market, this is what really started the sharp decline in fish numbers around our coastline.

If only we could get out of the EU, stand alone again as the proud nation we once were, it might be possible to restore the damage.

It's make or break time for the sea but the worst of it is the continentals can still plunder the North Sea and Biscay, even though they've just about agreed the death knell for our own fleet.

What's left of our guys will just end up selling their quotas, mothballing their boats and the cod will end up in Spain instead of Grimsby and Lowestoft.

Sea fishing is depressingly grim, I don't know if the extra protection (in theory) for the cod will be enough to save them.

Bass are better protected, in theory, but the pair trawlers are still hammering their wintering grounds and those that live long enough to maake it around to this part of the coast have stake nets to contend with.

I live right next to what used to be a reasonable beach until the 70s. I caan count the number of people I've seen fishing on one hand.

Hi everybody I hope you will forgive a smelly old coarse fisherman popping in for a visit. A very good book you may want to look at if you havent seen it already is Cod: A biography of the fish that changed the world, by Mark Kurlansky, its absolutely fascinating stuff detailing not only the tragedy of the way that stocks have been decimated but also some very interesting information on the contribution of the Cod to social and economic history and an very entertaining read.

Richard the other thing that happened in the 1970s other than Britain joining the EU was that lots of people began to be able to afford freezers to put all those fish fingers in.

Cheers

Bill

This is an excellent book...

The fundamental problem with the EU is not that it exists - you can not expect one nation to organise and police fishing unilaterally - but rather the systems for measuring catches introduced, as far back as the 1970s. People were dumping black fish on docks for decades and fishing with illegally sized nets for decades and nothing other than lip service was paid to well known and documented problems. As the technology improved it was only a question of time before the key commercial species neared commercial extinction. The new round of negotiations, just passed, (and I could be mistaken) are said to be the rules for the next twenty years, particularly in relation to national quotas, yet clearly flags of convenience make notions of national quotas ridiculous. What was needed was a brand new approach, based on individual ships rather than some antiquated notion of national waters (do the fish recognise borders?) with the focus on renewable stock management, such as Iceland has practiced for ... there's that word again, decades.

The systems clearly do exist, but there is not the political will to introduce them. If the EU has erred in the draconian cuts it has made, it has probably erred in not making the mechanism for implementing and monitoring the cuts effective. Limiting the number of days a boat can put to sea only endangers fishermens' lives by asking them to put to sea in conditions which in any other circumstances would see them tied up in port. The mechanisms are the problem.