so would licencing stop this??

[davem2005]

the whole policy is bonkers. As another example there's a currently a boat from grimsby, the Appollo, an ultra efficient massive longliner, which is raping the sound of mull, loch etive and loch sunart. these are probably some of the most important locations in britain for spurdogs to pup, and at this time of year these slow growing and slow maturing fish are seeking out these areas to breed.

there's no quotas on spurdogs so the appollo is basically wiping out and entire generation of these fish, perfectly legally according to the rules. obviously theres a by catch of anything that feeds on the bottom, so by the time I get up there next month there'll not be much left for me or anyone else for that matter. To the skipper it doesn't matter that in a couple of years there'll be virtual no spurs left at all, right now he can make a pot of cash

when they've all gone what next, well whats left?? It'll be the Pollock, give it 2 or 3 years and they'll be slaughtering the pollock population around scotland so whilst at the moment the sport is good, its going to go the way of everything else, at which point there'll be virtually nothing left

Mark.
Conservational minded anglers are fighting the government to get some protection for the limited numbers of spurdog left along with the tope and skate are they are just as much an endangered species due to thier slow reproduction and growth rate. see www.save-our-sharks.org for more details

Something to point out here is that every supermarket has it within thier trading policy to not sell product that is not harvested sustainably. So if you see skate or spurdog for sale in your local supermarket you would be totally within your rights to bring the fact that these two species are being fished on a totally unsustainable basis.

ICES have been warning that the current level of cod fishing is unsustainable for several years but despite these warnings the people setting the catch limits for commercials have taken no notice. This is most likely because the people setting those limits are predominantly only intrested in how much the commercials can catch. This is one of the major benifits of the proposals in the marine bill white paper in that anglers are being finally recognised as actually being worth more to the uk economy than commercial fishermen and so will be allowed to have a say in setting catch quota's in the future.

Not wanting to be alarmist but I read a report in sept last year saying that if things dont change the north sea would not contain any fish species in any sufficient numbers to actually allow them to sustain their own numbers within 47 years. I dont know where they comeup with that number but thats basically what it said in anglers terms ...food for thought there.

Cheers
DAve

[mick dunn]

Over fishing.

I find it all very disheartening.
I returned to sea fishing last year and did not know what to expect.
I have been very disappointed by the fishing i have seen.
I have seen guys using the best bait in the world. Juicy black runny,big peeler you name it. Conditions have been perfect. Northely winds and a lovely swell. And nothing exept the odd whitey to show.
I have seen only about three decent cod caught last season

I have now had a go at fly fishing and it makes a nice change going home with a bag of nice rainbows.

This fishing is based on a restocking policy. There is a chart in the wiegh room at Derwent - What goes in and what goes out. Simple and effective.A limit of 8 fish per person more than enough for anybody.

The same also applys to other stocked fishing areas such as Waskerly however these have smaller take home quotas such as two fish. Catch and release great fun and sport.

[davem2005]

Mark,

It is very disheartening but hopefully things are changing for the better. the marine white paper is potentially the best thing that could happen for recreational sea anglers, yes there are downsides in the proposal to introduce a license but if we stick together and ensure that we see improvements first it could be the start of a major turn around in fishing in this region.

There is not just anglers who are not happy with the current situation there are many other groups who are also concerned about the management of our seas. I am about to start another thread on exactly this subject which may be worth a read.

Cheers
Dave.