For those of you who fish in the Essex Suffolk area you will be aware that the poor old Flounder has almost vanished from the Stour and Orwell.I brought this to the attention of firstly the Suffolk Coasts team who are responsible for the management plan in these two river systems and more besides.Who were kind enough to point me in the direction of someone who could have possibly given me some answers.The Professor who i spoke to about my concerns said he had no answers but he informed me that a study was being carried out to try and find out the reasons,oh surprise they had noticed the same as us!!Two years later i received a copy of the document.Some of the information collected by the Harwich Haven Authority went quite away back,it only refered to juvenile Flounder,reading the file right through could replace sleeping tablets.It does not point the finger at any one thing but links the Dredging and keeping of these none commercial fish from the trawl for pot bait.We as anglers do not get off scott free and i agree there were many flounder killed in the Matches on those venues.I have gone back to these people and explained that most matches that are held now, have conservation in mind (measure and return)most do survive the ordeal, some don't but, It is better than the mass kills that i have seen in the past
.I am to attend another E.I.F.C.A meeting in August I have requested this item be put on their agenda for discussion and hopefully there will be a solution.Its interesting to note that the new measure that was proudly handed to myself at the last meeting, had none of the fish we catch around here (legal size limits for landing fish),it makes you think if they are trying to make most of our coastline Marine Conservation Zones why are there no size limits for all fish.My hope is that the population will increase because they have a commercial value for us.Its important to note that there is more money to be had from recreational angling than commercial so it may be in their interest to help restore the fishery we hope.
Natural England will also be involved when i can get this electronic wizardry to work properly
Regards to all fellow Sea Anglers
Keep the faith Cadius.

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