Northumberland Beaches Come out TOP..

[davem2005]

for at least one thing..

Extract from the minutes of the meeting of the European Marine Site Steering Group held on Dec 18th at the council chamber Berwick On Tweed.

Extract specifically from a report on a Beach Litter Monitoring Project.

The report is of intrest to any concerned with the local marine enviroment and a copy has been forwarded to the committee's ( NSFC) office. Of note is that , while the local beaches are cleaner than the national average, the quantity of fishing related material found on the beaches is higher than average, particularly that from recreational fishing. It was felt by those present at the meeting it would be worthwhile targeting anglers to raise awareness of litter related issues.

Any comments guys?

I will contact the author of that report and ensure she receives a link to this thread.

Cheers
Dave

[mark]

I wouldn't disagree necessarily. when out with the kids on the beach, at the back of cambois especially, there's always masses of line bundled up around lumps of seaweed. I don't think this is 'litter' though, a lot of it will be the result of snapped off snags which ultimately find their way ashore So a tricky one to call.


looked at a different way perhaps might be a weight for weight comparison with some of the other plastic detritus that comes ashore, or even just the rope/net fragments that come ashore from commercial boats.

not saying that anglers are whiter than white, they're not, there's plenty of ****wits out here that will leave all there rubbish behind no matter where they are, but I don't the majority of line etc found on the beaches has just been dumped

[Charlton]

is the amount of anglers discarded gear taken on a percentage of the anglers fishing or just a total amount. If you get an average of 100 anglers fishing a good spot for a year and only average ten fishing another spot then there will differences in the amount of tackel left. No excuse, we all have to take our rubbish home. Going on from what mark said, i am regularly down on Tynemouth beach and when the sea comes away it leaves loads of weed on the beach, this inavariably has bits of line etc in, but how far has this weed travelled.

[SCOTSLAD]

This is a country wide problem with all major fishing venues being left littered with rubbish of some form after anglers have left their favourite fishing marks. There are neumerous threads on all angling sites highlighting this problem but it is aproblem that will never go away. Most anglers including myself will as a matter of course clean up there favourite mark prior to leaving including line bait wrappers etc that others have left behind. I am a member of the Armed Forces and all of our anglers are warned prior to any event about littering that will lead to disqualification and future exclusion from the team selections. Some of the mess left after major comps in the UK is beyond belief !
Northumberland has some of the most beautiful beaches and rugged rock marks in the country, as anglers, we certainly do not wish to draw any more negative press especially for leaving fishing debris and rubbish !

[davem2005]

Thanks for the replies so far. I am not in a position to post anymore on this as I am a boat angler and as such have no real experience of beach fishing in the region that the report refers to, and the circumstances that could lead to this report.

If a moderator thinks its worth stickying for a few days as the matters in the report are to be discussed on tuesday please feel free to do so. I posted because I have no answers to give...help me out here

Any other comments would be welcome...but please keep them polite as they will be taken up at the Sea Fisheries committee on tuesday.

Cheers
dave

[Charlton]

Dave
it could be that some of the bits of tackle that get washd up could well have come from gear lost by boat anglers, i.e. the bits of tackle in the weed that is washed up

[Neil]

Dave
it could be that some of the bits of tackle that get washd up could well have come from gear lost by boat anglers, i.e. the bits of tackle in the weed that is washed up

Alan,

Most of the fishing related debris washed up on the Northumberland beaches is from boat anglers. Just take a walk around the North beach on Lindisfarne. I would argue that the highest percentage of rubish is RSA related as well. Mostly plastic bottles and 25 ltr oil drums from coasters and trawlers. A lot of the angling debris has muppets and hokki's hanging from the traces, not commonly used by shore anglers.

Neil.

[davem2005]

I would agree that some must come from boat anglers, however I would have thought that for every boat angler there would be 50 people fishing the shore.

Add to that the probability of tackle lost a few miles out to sea actually making it to a beach and I would have thought it far more probable that tackle lost on the beach would be more likely to be the culprit. Most charter boats I have been on provide a rubbish bag for empty rig packets and bait rubbish

Neil,
I have no idea as to the proportions of each type of rubbish but commercial fishing waste does get a mention. I would fully endorse the armed forces policy regarding a clean up of the area your fishing, however this may not be practical when you finish a winter league match at 10pm in the pitch black.

Cheers
Dave

[mick]

Without being funny the report brought to our attention by davem is basically saying that there is an above average amount of 'angling rubbish' on our venues - the people who produced this report are not in the slightest bit bothered whether or not it is from boat/shore anglers, lost at sea or just discarded! Which sadly, whether you like it or not is probably nearer to the truth! Its quite simple really just pick your own crap up when you finish fishing, there is allways going to be others who dont, but hey we dont live in a perfect world.

[mark]

As alan C pointed out, and hadn't occurred to me, some of the bundled line could well be from boat anglers that have snagged/snapped then its found its way ashore. bit of a tough one for the 'offending' angler to recover

although, it'd be no great hardship for shore anglers to pick it up when they're out. I do.

The 'not my rubbish why should I pick it up' attitude of anglers as regards discarded/lost line doesn't wash with me

[Phantom of Hook House]

How could angling rubbish ashore have come from boat anglers!!! If you lose gear at sea from a boat it's almost always got a lead attached. There is no way in a trillion years a set of muppets and 8oz+ lead are going to find their way ashore through beds of kelp etc and turn up on a beach? (and before someone contradicts me...yes it probably has...but not often surely?!)

How can you lose a set of gear from a boat and not leave the lead attached ....unless your usind a boom and flowing trace type set up?

Some Anglers are messy, you should see dungeness any day of the year and you'd be embarassed. Agreed beach gear is different and lost gear regularly gets ashore, but litter is the bigger problem and we've all got to take responsibility and take it home, even if it's not your rubbish.

[SCOTSLAD]

I personally do not think it matters wether it is boat anglers or shore anglers who put the majority of discarded fishing debris on the beach, that is hardly the point and as already mentioned will not concern the council ! We are all anglers and we should all make every effort to clean up as we fish all marks. Wether walking along the pier to get on a boat or walking along the beach or over the cliff paths to fish your favourite mark I would think that most anglers would take the time to pick up any rubbish lying around. A lot of our Forces matches are fished in darkness, no excuse the rule is still heavily enforced, you are totally responsible for leaving your peg and surrounding area free of any litter. After all we nearly all use the latest high power headlights.

[mick]

For every bundle of line/gear washed up, there will be ten lots just chucked by nuggets, who gives a **** if its boat or shore, we all get tarred with the same brush! God help us if they go onto piers and jettys to do a report!

[stuartdv]

I personally do not think it matters wether it is boat anglers or shore anglers who put the majority of discarded fishing debris on the beach, that is hardly the point and as already mentioned will not concern the council ! We are all anglers and we should all make every effort to clean up as we fish all marks. Wether walking along the pier to get on a boat or walking along the beach or over the cliff paths to fish your favourite mark I would think that most anglers would take the time to pick up any rubbish lying around. A lot of our Forces matches are fished in darkness, no excuse the rule is still heavily enforced, you are totally responsible for leaving your peg and surrounding area free of any litter. After all we nearly all use the latest high power headlights.

down here in Essex and beyond we organise a beach clean of orford ness in cahoots with the Marine Conservation Society and the National Trust which owns the land around the ness but permits fishing from one of the best shore marks in the country for cod- we dont do it after matches in the dark - we organise an entire event three or four times a year which takes place through the day with some kind of fishing event taking place afterwards- we have had sponsorship in the form of barrels fo beer from the local Adnams brewery, bacon sarnies etc and the full support of the local council who were so happy they sent photographers and provided beer vouchers as well as the safety equipment. I would encourage any angling groups to do something similar if they feel strongly enough.

[davem2005]

There is no mention of the quantiies of litter involved, I can only assume it was a large quantity of nylon line.


This brought to mind a picture I took a little over a year ago whilst out on a boat.


We spotted the litter and went across to recover it.





Definately a large quantity of nylon line there!


What you can see is only a small proportion of it.


Now go back and have another closer look at the picture. You will notice a number of white patches in the litter.

Those are the skeletons of seabirds that have come to a sticky end. We stopped counting after about twenty.


I am not in any way condoning littering ....but it in my mind this does put it in perspective.

Cheers
Dave