Paranoid ?

[jason]

absolute fair comment - i have just watched a post on you tube called cod crusaders and there was an old commercial guy on there who really could not see the issue of what he saw as the good old days of catch what you like, land what you like and go where you like. I appreciate they are wanting to make a living but it is the miss management of the sea that is the real problem - just like a farmer planting the same crop in the same field every year without crop rotation and correct management the crop will eventually fail.

[davem2005]

The example of a farmer is almost right.

It just happens that this particular farmer does not plant any seed, does not fertilise his grounds or practice any kind of set aside or crop rotation....he just harvests whatever grows.

Oh and if the crop fails....thats not a problem ...we can get a subsidy to see us through till something grows again.

[mark]

Anyone who is of the opinion that ALL commercials are just there to rape the sea should take a trip out on one.

just been talking to a couple of my chums in scotland who have tied there boats up for a month or 2. why? because there's too much cod being caught.

the large commercials, with traded quota are hammering them, so there's plenty being landed so the price has dropped right back again - as low as £1.60 a kilo, thats 80p a pound, but it costs them nearly a grand a day in fuel, so they've tied up to save their quota, wait till the price recovers. They have also self imposed themselves bans on fishing in a couple of areas because they were seeing lots of juvenile fish. They have to log every trawl, catch, co-ordinates etc with the ministry. so what do the big internationals do?? pick up that information and steam straight out there and hoover everything up.

But it appears that the majority of anglers believe if you're a commercial fisherman you are automatically responsible for the state of fish stocks

quotas don't restrict what people can catch, just what they can land, that is the heart of the problem.

The large commercials (mainly international vessels) that have quota will
stay at sea for days on end, discarding tons of fish, so they can max out whatever it is they are targeting, and yet its the smaller and largely responsible boats that take the flak. If they are out there and start hitting larger numbers of a particular fish they pick up the phone and do some trading, buy extra quota and keep going till they've have made enough cash for the quota owner and themselves

[Oblickta]

The Chieftain report has only attracted three replies so far (AnglersNet), two from a "Chieftain regular" and the other is a negative, indicating that this kind of report, doesn't attract the back slapping that it used to. I'm not sure if this is due to changing attitudes of anglers or people dont bother anymore for fear of ridicule.

ScottyJim re post #27, this is a discussion mate, no need for sarcasm

Chieftain also provides 10, 12 and 18 hour trips and I cant recall a single report from one of these shorter inshore trips. It's only the long haul 70, 84 and 94 hour trips that yield these big catches because of the location of the wrecks and the cost of tending commercial nets that far offshore isn't worth the haul. During my 70 hour trip out there we seen only one commercial boat (French) which Michelle photographed because it was rare to see anyone else in those waters. Not one of the many wrecks we fished was netted. This is why the catches can be good and why Chieftain should not be classed as typical. I dont think even the hardest anti RSA or politician could disagree!

Chieftain has a lot of regulars who dont do any other kind of sea angling except for an annual or biannual trip away from our shores. Is it OK to go fishing inshore every week for 6 months and bring 5lbs of fillets each time as apposed to going fishing once or twice a year to more lucarative grounds and bringing back one or two good catches (not guaranteed)?

I return most of what I catch but if given the chance to fish aboard Chieftain again I would but I would limit what I took home to what would fit in my one freezer box.

[Red5]

Anyone who is of the opinion that ALL commercials are just there to rape the sea should take a trip out on one.

just been talking to a couple of my chums in scotland who have tied there boats up for a month or 2. why? because there's too much cod being caught.

the large commercials, with traded quota are hammering them, so there's plenty being landed so the price has dropped right back again - as low as £1.60 a kilo, thats 80p a pound, but it costs them nearly a grand a day in fuel, so they've tied up to save their quota, wait till the price recovers. They have also self imposed themselves bans on fishing in a couple of areas because they were seeing lots of juvenile fish. They have to log every trawl, catch, co-ordinates etc with the ministry. so what do the big internationals do?? pick up that information and steam straight out there and hoover everything up.

But it appears that the majority of anglers believe if you're a commercial fisherman you are automatically responsible for the state of fish stocks

quotas don't restrict what people can catch, just what they can land, that is the heart of the problem.

The large commercials (mainly international vessels) that have quota will
stay at sea for days on end, discarding tons of fish, so they can max out whatever it is they are targeting, and yet its the smaller and largely responsible boats that take the flak. If they are out there and start hitting larger numbers of a particular fish they pick up the phone and do some trading, buy extra quota and keep going till they've have made enough cash for the quota owner and themselves

Then you've got to remember Mark that it is the 'Smaller, responsible' boats that are fishing inside 6 miles and cleaning up the areas that hold the fish that most recreational anglers are finding are disappearing.It's not the big industrial ships we see off our shores 2-300yards in the winter months when they get wind of where the cod fishing is most productive.
If I had a quid for how many times in the past 10 years I've heard commercials say, aye there's plenty of cod and haddock going around, contrary to that ICES and WWF and tens of other environmental groups say the complete oppposite. I know who I believe.
If one commercial stood up and said " we are going to set a precedent and fish in a sustainable manner and only target the species that we intend to, instead of catching tens of tonnes of haddock, cod, coalfish, dogfish, smoothhound, crabs, starfish etc etc etcto chuck back , to land a couple of boxes of langoustines". Why can't they fish selectively? I think until they do so they will continue to be seen as the bad guys!