Yesterdays MCZ Netgain meeting

[Stores]

NetGain were at the North East Sea Angling and Boat Show today and they will be there tomorrow with map and charts and everything, so why not go along and ask them to explain it all in plain english?

I had quite a lengthy chat with them at the show. They also found navigating around the information but as their maps were A3 size at least the eyes got a rest!!
They assured me that there was no intention to restrict shore angling from area NG 2.19 although they could not find it in writing. They also confirmed that there would be no restrictions on fixed commercial boat fishing (pots).
They didn't get a hard time from anglers though................there were hardly any there lol.

Thanks for your reply Les. I'll keep my eye on the thread and their website.

[loopy]

Ok I have attended the last round of hub meetings at South Shields . Once again I will try and be brief. We will probably have 5 MCZ in our region, all north of the Tyne with 3, possibly 4 reference site's (no human activity whatsoever) 4 of the MCZ are out in the North North Sea from around the Farne Deeps and east out to the limit these will include 3 reference zones and will effect commercial fishermen to some degree. Regarding shore anglers the MCZ that is likely to occur will run South from Alnmouth to just past St Marys lighthouse and will not at this time include the River estuaries up to the tidal limit, having fought that one off for the time being but the EA are determined to get them in so we live to fight another day. Regarding the reference area they wanted to put around St Marys lighthouse again I believe we have been successful and have managed to get that somewhere else, this is to be confirmed at the next round but I have put up a sound argument that met with support by many at the meeting. The River Aln Estury is also likely to become an MCZ but with an overriding caveat that RSA activity is allowed to continue again this was agreed.
Any one wanting more detail please PM me. The consultation has been given a time extension so I will probably attend 2 more rounds of meetings the next being the most important as it is on management tools regarding the above.
Incidentley we managed to greatly reduce this size of the MCZ on this round.
Still lots to fight for but so far so good.

[tonyfromalnwick]

Thanks for that Les.

See you tomorrow ?

[Red5]

Cheers Les....Well done for all your efforts!

Am very surprised that there are not more comments on here from anglers....At the end of the day this affects us all!

Am sure there'd be a bit of a stink if people could not fish for flounders in the estuary at Alnmouth over the warmer months!

BTW....If you haven't already emailed me the full report, could you please do so.

Rory

[Stores]

Thanks from me as well Les.

Is the report the same as the e-mail I got from the Marine Conservation Society? If not can you send me a copy but I think they are one and the same - I get up dated as I filled in their initial questionairre. At least there's some consistency with what I heard at the Angling show - that RSAs weren't to be witch hunted.........well not yet anyway.....perhaps the Government have found a way of getting more out of us by taxation.

[loopy]

Sores you have a PM

[Stores]

Who told you about the sores?

[loopy]

to much

[The Great Wallsendo]

been reading this with half an eye but when single paragraphs get more than 10 lines deep I start to go cross eyed..

If I am to understand this correctly then - there are to be MCZs introduced with finite boundaries...at present the one that would affect me in the main would be one that stretches from just south of St Marys up to Newbiggin'ish...

Am I correct to assume that that the RSAs interests as yet have not been safeguarded? So it is possible that if these MCZs are enforced then RSAs (you and me) could in theory be disallowed to fish these areas from shore and boat?

How far do they stretch out to sea?

[g-force]

Likewise Tony, keeping an eye on things also with regard to bait collecting; thanks to those who are doing their best to keep us all informed and cut through the bullplop. Other eye is doing it's best to find those elusive codlings....

Gary

[Charlton]

Likewise Tony, keeping an eye on things also with regard to bait collecting; thanks to those who are doing their best to keep us all informed and cut through the bullplop. Other eye is doing it's best to find those elusive codlings....

Gary

If you don't read these threads and do something it might not matter if there are plenty codling.

[loopy]

Guys, I try my best, if you get cross eyed after ten lines how do you think I feel after 18 months and all the self learning I have done just to attempt to understand the process I would rather be fishing. From the time of the Newbiggin meeting when I told you all that it was more than just the license issue to the Marine Act and MCZ will be raising its head it the next two years. Regarding the license, most European countries are going down the license route to for fill the obligation made in Europe for different directives. This is the latest idea from Italy and this would not surprise me if it was implemented here. Please PM me, as trying to explain it all on forums does not work as it cannot be done in ten lines or less. I gave a presentation to the Northern Fed the other night in Ryhope so if any of you guys want something similar let me know, it would be better after the May round of meetings as we will have a very good idea how things are by then.
Quote from the Angling Trust article

AT THE latest meeting of the Angling Trust's marine committee, it was decided to redefine the regions to coincide with the county boundaries.

Elsewhere, I see all Italian recreational sea anglers will be registered this spring.

The Italian authorities want to get a better insight into the number of recreational sea fishers and the kind of fishing they perform.

This will enable them to be more able to meet data collection requirements from EU legislation and to collect some basic information for figuring out what additional information and measures might be needed for Italian sea fisheries management.

At present, recreational sea fishermen in Italy don't need a licence.

The present initiative is not introducing licences — instead it will be free of charge mandatory registration scheme and the registered sea fisher gets a certificate as proof of registration.

It is free of charge for those who register on time. However, if the fisherman is caught after May 1 without having registered then he/she will have ten days to register in order to avoid penalties.

I know many UK anglers who would object to something like this in this country.

They might not know that this data collection system may well be introduced Europe-wide as part of the Water Framework Directive, and possibly the Habitat Directive.

It could well be to the recreational angler's advantage.

[Charlton]

can somebody tell me the differenec between a licence (which could be free) and a mandatory regostration scheme with a certificate (licence to me)

[The Great Wallsendo]

Loopy I respect what your doing because as is often the case in these situations it's a case of "any volunteers?" *everyone bar one person takes a step back*

I agree with Alans last comment - there's a hurdle straight away as people will see it in exactly that way...especially round these parts

[Stores]

can somebody tell me the differenec between a licence (which could be free) and a mandatory regostration scheme with a certificate (licence to me)

I suspect it makes no difference what it's called. What matters more might be the reasons behind it. If it's a fact finding exercise to answer (however ludicrous and unecessary) EU directives that's one thing. If, in the future, the list of voluntary signatures is used as the basis for a paid license data base then you can understand a reluctance to sign up.

Reading the South Devon article that Les attached implies that County boundaries are the basis for administrative issues. Does that mean MCZs, no take zones etc will follow 'cos it doesn't look like the two are compatible (or is it two different systems altogether?)