In support of the close season.
For as long as I can remember I have never lived more than ten minutes from my beautiful river. Even when not fishing I am drawn to its banks to share time with its scaly inhabitants and the changing moods characteristic of this little winding lowland river.
In summer it is typically heavily weeded and difficult to fish due to lack of flow and excessive weed growth, but with patience it is possible to unlock its secrets. When the autumn and winter floods come it transforms into a white water rafters paradise, at times unfishable due to vast volumes of dirty water draining from the surrounding meadows.
What I live for each year are the last few months of the ‘back-end’ of the season. Typically the temperatures start to rise, the flow is good and there is an emerald green tinge to the water. I am incredibly obsessive during this time of the year and take every opportunity to harvest the river’s rich bounty of chub, roach and pike – all in peak condition as if they adorned in their finest courting cloth. My fishing reaches an almost fever pitch as I capitalise on the last weeks, counting down like the sands of time until when I wake on March the 15th, my spirits crash.
Reasons why the close season is important.
At this time of year I reflect on the close season and feel satisfied that on balance, a three month lay-off is fully justified and rather than simply drifting away from the river, my heart and soul is if anything, drawn closer to it. The close season gives me time to reflect on the nine months river fishing I have devoted much of my piscatorial life to, a time to celebrate the numerous successes; chub to 6lb 4oz chub, roach to 1lb 14oz and pike of 17lb and 19lb 4oz. This in itself is no reason to impose what is viewed as a traditionalist standpoint on others. It does perhaps allow those on the opposing side of the argument a window into my own personal position. Anyway, here goes; Reasons for keeping the existing close season:
Spawning fish.
One of the key arguments cited in favour of the close season is the issue of catching fish in spawn. The reproductive cycle in course fish is considerably longer than that of mammals. Typically, by winter time the eggs in female fish consist of 10% of fish weight so it is not possible to justify the close season simply on the basis that fish carry spawn otherwise the close season would be nine months long. However, just prior to spawning, the eggs take on huge amounts of fluid. This extra bulk must cause some discomfort and may even cause some females to stop feeding briefly. But I would hate to think of anyone targeting fish in this delicate condition when there is potentially so much to lose. I can think of a pike I caught in January, a particularly lean 19lb 4oz fish that if caught later in the season would have easily cleared the magical 20lb barrier.
Roach spawning in a river
The act of spawning is highly energetic and for some species causes damage e.g. scales as they dislodge against gravel. In my experience fish appear to be in pretty poor condition just after spawning. It is not uncommon to see fish with regions of white fungus growing on their bodies. Given that we know fish are preparing to deal with a stressful experience I feel it is fair to give them the best preparation possible. A three month layoff is a sporting gesture to allow fish time to gain important condition to allow fish a good breeding season.
Migration prior to spawning.
Heavily pressured stretches of river do benefit from a rest. We are in effect simulating a type of predation on fish and they begin to behave in such a way – except they are returned and learn from the experience. In the absence of human interference they will begin to move around the river and behave differently. Fish revert to eating a natural diet which must be better than the diet of high energy fishmeal pellets some anglers feel their existence depends on. Additionally, it must be nice to eat without having to worry about what each mouthful may lead to. That’s why the big bait approach is effective at the start of the season and then sees the angler fining down and refining tactics as the summer progresses.
Fish are constantly moving around the river and this may be affected by food, oxygen levels, predation or in-deed spawning. As fish prepare to spawn, they will be compelled to congregate en mass in preparation for and during spawning. This takes place over a number of weeks and I feel this makes them particularly vulnerable to fishing pressure. There are anglers that sadly lack the levels of restraint to observe that fish have grouped together in preparation for an activity that will ensure the healthy future of the river. This can be borne out with evidence as it is not uncommon to see huge catches of fish displayed just after the end of the close season of hundreds of pounds of fish – obviously kept in a net! Yes, some fish spawn outside the recognised close season.
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| Restocking stillwaters |
Are Rivers different to still waters?
In my opinion, still waters are managed in a completely different way to rivers. Some clubs or landowners still impose a close season on still waters and I respect this. There does seem to be some anomalies to the current situation with canals running into rivers and having apparently completely contradictory byelaws – but this is down to a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the close season. I am sure there is an alternative to the current close situation but I fear it would be too convoluted and is just abolition of a close season through the back door. The Royalty fishery imposes a no pike fishing rule during the summer months – so alternatives to preserving/protecting fish stocks can exist but only on managed stretches. Free stretches lack the protection offered by a club bailiff. I think a lot of confusion over the closed season exists already without further complicating it. I remember trying to explain to some Eastern European anglers that they can fish the Lake (clearly visible from the river bank – with anglers in plain view fishing), but rivers were different.
Summary.
On reflection, I can see how it is easy to become dogmatic about this emotive subject without considering the facts in an impartial way. To be fair, both sides of the argument lack a body of published evidence – only observations viewed from equally entrenched positions. The close season is something that sets us apart from other activities and acts as a reminder that we are accessing a natural resource that many feel benefits from the respect a close season offers. June 16th has become part of our angling heritage and as such for many is a significant feature in itself. What is wrong with frothing at the mouth watching shoals of apparently catchable fish darting around – even flirting with the river angler? Give it a few weeks after having a few of them being caught and they will have all disappeared – back to hiding away and avoiding us.
There will always be a minority of so called anglers determined to break rules and restrictions. Catch an 18lb Barbel or 3lb roach outside the recognised river season and few will be celebrating with you! They rarely reach such epic proportions without considerable amounts of spawn.
As fry recruitment is a naturally occurring process it should take place without human interference. However, in my opinion arguments such as disturbance of other wildlife, and damage to bank side vegetation comes equally high on my list of priorities. Perhaps we should be asking for canoeists and dog walkers and other country side users to consider their impact on the country side to give this argument more credibility.
I have always felt that fishing improves as the fish’s behaviour becomes more ‘normal’. As soon as you start catching again after June 16th, you may notice a change in behaviour as they regain caution and avoid easily accessible areas for the angler. Well there you go, that is my personal standpoint based on some very shaky assumptions and observations. Just remember, if you have an opposing standpoint you won’t be standing on anything grander!!!
Christian Barker
A case to change the close season.
Some want to call this debate the “silly season” and it is a subject that comes up every year at this time; naturally, who’d bring it up in the full season when everyone is out fishing on the rivers?
Fact is that not everyone agrees with it and by debating it, we might just happen on a solution that will please all, or almost all. If you are a ‘supporter’ of the close season, then all is fine as it is, but if you’re an abolitionist, then you are not a happy chappy and believe the law needs amending. However, it is not right in a democracy to have 50% (if that’s what it is) of the anglers upset, but how do we find an alternative and is there one?
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| The grass recovers, then the boats arrive! |
Fact is, no one has a 100% convincing argument on either side to either keep it or abandon it completely. If you pin down the supporters of it, getting rid of the silly points like “it helps bankside vegetation to recover”, which is an absolute nonsense, even they will admit that the dates set for the present close season are wildly inaccurate and do not cover every situation on every river throughout England and Wales. To see why the dates were set so you’d have to read up on the original Mundella Act and the splits between the London and Sheffield anglers who couldn’t agree the months and so split March and June to settle the matter. A compromise.
At that time with the practice that all fishing was in matches and all fish caught were killed for weighing and with the limited knowledge of fish behaviour and movement, it was certain that it would save some of the fry for future recruitment. These days we have so much more information to hand, we have fully trained and equipped fisheries officers at the Environment Agency to help us take care of our fish stocks better and don’t forget, the weather patterns of Britain have changed vastly since the late Victorian period and these will have had an impact on breeding times. It surely cannot be right for the same dates to apply in Kent as they do in Cumberland?
So whether you are a supporter of the close season or not, you must at least agree that the period of closure (the ‘fence’ as it is known) must be reviewed and perhaps altered for different regions. Don’t please say it cannot be done, that anglers are too simple to understand, for it was like that not long ago with Yorkshire opening on the 1st of June and people got used to it. If you really do care about your fish then a change of the fence is the very least you should be fighting for, unless it’s just that it’s a tradition with you and you’re stuck in a rut.
Getting back to local policies
Let me bend this a little by asking all you supporters of the close season if you are happy with the European Union dictating what laws and enforcements we should have in this country?
(No, the EU are not involved in the close season. Well, not as yet, that is.)
The point I am making is: whether or not you are an EU supporter, you cannot be happy that some M.E.P. from Naples is making decisions on a law that will affect someone living in …. Nottingham say. Of course not, and I say that being a supporter of the EU. What it boils down to, is a body of completely disengaged people telling you what you should or shouldn’t do who have no idea about what the conditions are at a local level.
Now forget the EU, look at our own Government. How happy are you with our own national Government telling us what we can and cannot do at a local level, I’m not talking criminal laws and such, but decisions that should be taken by our local authorities? It’s wrong, is it not?
Yet, here we are, a body (about 1 million) of anglers armed with a fairly decent state education (some even more) accepting not only our Government laying down a national law, but a law that is now 130 years old and very much out of date. That’s a period in which almost every other law of the land has either been reviewed and modified or abolished because it was inappropriate, unworkable, and most of all, almost impossible to enforce. Yet, this law on the coarse fish close season remains unchanged.
(Note: the fact that we can fish on lakes and canals does not mean the law has been altered, it only means that the laws appertaining to these fisheries has been relaxed and is no longer supported.)
Different horses for different courses
We know that the present dates no longer fit; dace, perch and pike will often breed before the close season commences, and barbel, carp, and tench may still be breeding well after the season reopens. So why not allow land owners and clubs (oh yes, by democracy – dirty word, isn’t it?) decide when their waters should be closed or if indeed they should be closed at all. This may apply to stillwaters too!
The fish can’t handle modern angling pressure on rivers (?)
To give you two examples, the main River Thames, I cannot see why this should be closed at all unless a club/land owner has a particular portion that is a known breeding area where the presence of anglers would upset that balance of peace. I can’t think of one in our area of the middle Thames. Conversely, St Patricks Stream is an area where I would support a closure, but not the present 15th-15th, instead – all of May and all of June at the very least since here we are concerned mostly with chub, tench and barbel. The only difficulty is, that each bank of St Patricks Stream is controlled separately by two clubs, but surely in this day and age, they can come to some agreement, just as the London and Sheffield anglers did?
Now if you accept that, you are taking decisions at a local level – where YOU know what’s best for your waters, not Mr Geen, Mr Mundella, Mr Bonvoisin, Mr Lander, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, who, it happens, are all long dead now anyway as this Act should be.
That is handing the power back to you. Here’s the payback though, it would then be up to you to enforce it by regular bailiffing, getting off your backsides and walking the banks every so often and reporting any offences to the committee. Offenders could be barred from the club or charged with theft under the Theft Act of 1968, which I believe is still in operation (although I am willing to be corrected by our learned friends on this one.)
However you think of it, any close season should be a local decision and entirely down to you, your clubs, or landowners. If you care for the fish, that is, and not just a pair silly, meaningless dates.
It Almost Happened
Yes, we were within a whisker of ridding ourselves of the close season back in 2000 when the Environment Agency published their Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review. A section of it was dedicated to “Recommendations for change” and in section 3.17 is read “Evidence in relation to coarse fish in rivers is less conclusive (re: having a fence). … we were still struck with the lack of evidence in support of a close season for the conservation of coarse fish. As with canals, we think that there will be relatively few situations in which a close season will be beneficial.”
Later – “Byelaws should be introduced to abolish the close season for coarse fish …. except where its retention is necessary to avert serious risk of damage to fish stocks. (Recommendation 25)”
That was from the EA and it was opposed by two main angling groups (who shall remain nameless) that together represented less than ½% of the coarse angling population of England and Wales.
The recommendations for abolition were later reversed in the Government’s response that quoted this (amongst others) reason – “A large number of comments on these recommendations were received from boating and canoeing interests, who were concerned that ending the coarse fish close season on rivers would reduce their opportunities to practice their sport.”
And you thought it was all about giving fish some peace and quiet. It’s a joke!
Jeff Woodhouse
