[Plaicehunter]

Isn't it time anglers mounted a big campaign to ban methods of commercial fishing which cause large-scale environmental destruction?
Beam trawlers and scallop dredgers smash up the sea bed, and the trawlers kill vast amounts of 'trash' marine life per box of saleable fish.
Sandeel netting for fishmeal and oil for power stations kills huge numbers of baby cod and whiting as well as removing a staple food from the bottom of the food chain, leading to seabird starvation.
Mono gill-netting indiscriminately kills seals, dolphins, sea birds and many kinds of fish.
Equivalent practices would not be tolerated on land, where they could be seen by the public.
While we are at it, could we not campaign for a 'golden mile' all around our coasts where no commercial fishing of any kind was permitted?
As well as creating a rich nursery area for marine wildlife, it would give shore and inshore boat anglers a fair chance of some sport, leaving the commercials most of the rest of the sea to fish in.
At present, sea anglers, who vastly outnumber the commercials and are just as much stakeholders as they are, are left fishing for scraps in an unnecessarily degraded marine environment.

 

[valleyboy]

Isn't it time anglers mounted a big campaign to ban methods of commercial fishing which cause large-scale environmental destruction?
Beam trawlers and scallop dredgers smash up the sea bed, and the trawlers kill vast amounts of 'trash' marine life per box of saleable fish.
Sandeel netting for fishmeal and oil for power stations kills huge numbers of baby cod and whiting as well as removing a staple food from the bottom of the food chain, leading to seabird starvation.
Mono gill-netting indiscriminately kills seals, dolphins, sea birds and many kinds of fish.
Equivalent practices would not be tolerated on land, where they could be seen by the public.
While we are at it, could we not campaign for a 'golden mile' all around our coasts where no commercial fishing of any kind was permitted?
As well as creating a rich nursery area for marine wildlife, it would give shore and inshore boat anglers a fair chance of some sport, leaving the commercials most of the rest of the sea to fish in.
At present, sea anglers, who vastly outnumber the commercials and are just as much stakeholders as they are, are left fishing for scraps in an unnecessarily degraded marine environment.

Equivalent practices do take place on land. Such as rainforest slash and burn and nothing gets done. Money talks louder than people protest

 

[Plaicehunter]

Equivalent practices do take place on land. Such as rainforest slash and burn and nothing gets done. Money talks louder than people protest

Yes but rainforest slash-and-burn takes place thousands of miles away, out of the sight of the British public. Most non-anglers don't think much about fish unless they are on a plate, but the sight of dolphins and seals drowned in gill nets is more likely to get them going.

 

[valleyboy]

Yes but rainforest slash-and-burn takes place thousands of miles away, out of the sight of the British public. Most non-anglers don't think much about fish unless they are on a plate, but the sight of dolphins and seals drowned in gill nets is more likely to get them going.

Nothing is out of sight and people profess to care but still nothing gets done. Money talks louder. So people start buying trendy dolphin friendly tuna which wipes out albatros and sharks. So what then? Money will always win one way or another. By all means try but.....

 

[Had1lost2]

I'd like to see a throwback to more smaller boats landing catches into local ports, providing more jobs to more people and also a less industrial scale to things . Factory processing ships have no place in an understocked sea.
Wishful thinking yes.

 

[Plaicehunter]

I'd like to see a throwback to more smaller boats landing catches into local ports, providing more jobs to more people and also a less industrial scale to things . Factory processing ships have no place in an understocked sea.
Wishful thinking yes.

We think we have it bad here, but off West Africa the Chinese and EU boats are hoovering up everything that swims (fishmeal for Chinese pig food) and local subsistence fishermen and fish processors who have lived there for centuries have hardly any fish left.
In our waters, I would like to see a lot of netting activity, which kills indiscriminately, replaced by long-living and handlining.

 

[Plaicehunter]

long-lining!

 

[skint]

Wouldnt be so easy this golden mile idea, A lot of small scale fishermen need the coast as wind breaks, And they need the inshore marks to get out of the run of tides.

 

[Banksea]

long-lining!

@Plaicehunter
I remember reading somewhere that long-lining isn’t as sustainable as you might think.
I think it might have been from a post by @Skegger sometime ago.

 

[essexkenny]

Wouldnt be so easy this golden mile idea, A lot of small scale fishermen need the coast as wind breaks, And they need the inshore marks to get out of the run of tides.

Well they can always find something else to do cant they

 

[REG PHILLIPS]

Isn't it time anglers mounted a big campaign to ban methods of commercial fishing which cause large-scale environmental destruction? Beam trawlers and scallop dredgers smash up the sea bed, and the trawlers kill vast amounts of 'trash' marine life per box of saleable fish. Sandeel netting for fishmeal and oil for power stations kills huge numbers of baby cod and whiting as well as removing a staple food from the bottom of the food chain, leading to seabird starvation. Mono gill-netting indiscriminately kills seals, dolphins, sea birds and many kinds of fish. Equivalent practices would not be tolerated on land, where they could be seen by the public. While we are at it, could we not campaign for a 'golden mile' all around our coasts where no commercial fishing of any kind was permitted? As well as creating a rich nursery area for marine wildlife, it would give shore and inshore boat anglers a fair chance of some sport, leaving the commercials most of the rest of the sea to fish in. At present, sea anglers, who vastly outnumber the commercials and are just as much stakeholders as they are, are left fishing for scraps in an unnecessarily degraded marine environment.

Yes it is time and yes it is possible, why won't it happen? Because we will not stand as one and until we do there is no hope. Via the SxIFCA we managed to push the demersal bottom trawling out 2.1 miles from our open beaches in west Sussex to save the nearshore spawning grounds and juvenile recruitment areas, proof it can be done. However, to do something like a golden mile or similar, like shared/segregated grounds we would have to stand shoulder to shoulder and dip our hands in our pockets to have that national voice. We won't do that because we don't care enough.

Wouldnt be so easy this golden mile idea, A lot of small scale fishermen need the coast as wind breaks, And they need the inshore marks to get out of the run of tides.

Anything is possible if you want it bad enough, do we all want a Golden Mile, or shared/segregated grounds where CF and RSA can work alongside each other? Yes I think we do and our sustainable open boat beach CF would be open to such agreements if they have the same attitudes nationally as our U10 Sussex open beach CF.

 

[Had1lost2]

Well they can always find something else to do cant they

Yes as my uncle did after 40 years of being a commercial fisherman ... started a logging firm .
To many of them seem to think it's some god given right to keep killing marine life as a job just because it was cosy for years. Welcome to the real world .

 

[skint]

Well they can always find something else to do cant they

And im sure their answer would be so can we.

 

[skint]

Yes as my uncle did after 40 years of being a commercial fisherman ... started a logging firm .
To many of them seem to think it's some god given right to keep killing marine life as a job just because it was cosy for years. Welcome to the real world .

What just like your uncle did for 40 years

 

[skint]

Yes it is time and yes it is possible, why won't it happen? Because we will not stand as one and until we do there is no hope. Via the SxIFCA we managed to push the demersal bottom trawling out 2.1 miles from our open beaches in west Sussex to save the nearshore spawning grounds and juvenile recruitment areas, proof it can be done. However, to do something like a golden mile or similar, like shared/segregated grounds we would have to stand shoulder to shoulder and dip our hands in our pockets to have that national voice. We won't do that because we don't care enough. Anything is possible if you want it bad enough, do we all want a Golden Mile, or shared/segregated grounds where CF and RSA can work alongside each other? Yes I think we do and our sustainable open boat beach CF would be open to such agreements if they have the same attitudes nationally as our U10 Sussex open beach CF.

Shared/ segregated grounds makes sense all for it, Golden mile not a hope, why should working class people have to travel so far to earn a living putting their lives more at risk than it already is.

 

[skint]

Yes it is time and yes it is possible, why won't it happen? Because we will not stand as one and until we do there is no hope. Via the SxIFCA we managed to push the demersal bottom trawling out 2.1 miles from our open beaches in west Sussex to save the nearshore spawning grounds and juvenile recruitment areas, proof it can be done. However, to do something like a golden mile or similar, like shared/segregated grounds we would have to stand shoulder to shoulder and dip our hands in our pockets to have that national voice. We won't do that because we don't care enough. Anything is possible if you want it bad enough, do we all want a Golden Mile, or shared/segregated grounds where CF and RSA can work alongside each other? Yes I think we do and our sustainable open boat beach CF would be open to such agreements if they have the same attitudes nationally as our U10 Sussex open beach CF.

Question, Do the U10 Sussex open beach CF have to travel a mile out to sea before they can fish, I genuinely dont know the answer, maybe you can tell me.

 

[smart201]

Working class or not, doesn't matter one bit in my eyes....
Local u10 commercial fishing sustainably and responsibly and non destructively are not only safeguarding their own future, but that of other stakeholders also....perhaps they should be the only comms allowed and encouraged in the golden Mile?
Currently, commercial fishing is bringing itself into disrepute in some areas. Particularly with Bass in the south west currently....same old same old, with a LOT of spawnladen bass being landed as bycatch, with nothing else in the nets ffs...catches being shared between boats before being landed, and then sold for rock bottom prices.
With fishery policy like that, a major overhaul is well overdue....
The old excuse we been doing that for years just doesn't cut it nowadays....
Mart.

 

[REG PHILLIPS]

Question, Do the U10 Sussex open beach CF have to travel a mile out to sea before they can fish, I genuinely dont know the answer, maybe you can tell me.

Some choose to but none are forced to, few open boat beach fishermen currently do that. Some also travel 5 miles west and east to fish their chosen grounds. I don't think a golden mile is workable all around the country, however, after regularly speaking with some U10 CF in Sussex I do believe we can work alongside each other to agree shared ground and segregated ground where both can prosper and respect each other.

 

[REG PHILLIPS]

Shared/ segregated grounds makes sense all for it, Golden mile not a hope, why should working class people have to travel so far to earn a living putting their lives more at risk than it already is.

Every industry has to work with health and safety standards, should there not be a standard for commercial vessels suitable to travel past 1 mile out to sea to harvest and distribute seafood to market? You cannot distribute goods to factories and retailers unless your vehicles meet a certain road safety standard that can handle such volumes of goods and your driver qualified to drive that vehicle. As for a mile out to sea, that is no different to a mile west or east or north or south from your home port or mooring. Yet some open boat beach fishermen travel more than 1 mile in these directions to reach their chosen grounds.

 

[Hydeaway1]

Every industry has to work with health and safety standards, should there not be a standard for commercial vessels suitable to travel past 1 mile out to sea to harvest and distribute seafood to market? You cannot distribute goods to factories and retailers unless your vehicles meet a certain road safety standard that can handle such volumes of goods and your driver qualified to drive that vehicle. As for a mile out to sea, that is no different to a mile west or east or north or south from your home port or mooring. Yet some open boat beach fishermen travel more than 1 mile in these directions to reach their chosen grounds.

You might find this of interest -

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m Length Overall

www.gov.uk