To check tyres or not to check tyres....that is the question

[Dandin1o]

Hi,

I am wondering what the rules are regarding tyres. I genuinley don't know being fairly new to sea fishing, and am just after some clarity regarding the issue as so to not get myself into any bother. Is it simply:

a) Don't check them if they are not yours, leave well alone....

or

b) If there is no one at the location checking them at the same time as you, go ahead and check them and if the owner then turns up leave the rest alone for them to the do?

I can undertand the owners of tyres mostly saying a) but if an owner isn't there to check them would it cause a lot of bother if someone resorted to b) and what are the reasons why.

I am only looking to collect enough fresh crabs for a session here and there in the quickest possible time and am not looking to be greedy collecting far more than I would ever use. Up to now I look under rocks and in rock pools but like I say was just wondering about the tyre situation.

Dandin1o.

[clarky]

I was on roker talkn to a couple of lads from hartlepool and they have quite a few tyres ova that way, they said they dont mind someone getting some of their's for the odd session as long as their was some left for them.
But I would think lads like these are far and few between as most av spoke to ova the years have said if they'd caught anyone taking theirs they wouldnt be back a second time put it that way.
Unless anyone on here says different i'd be carefull mate.

[northeast1]

Guess you never been to the middens of late, if your taken from peoples tyres bring a hard hat..by the way i dotn have tyres so dont care either way but meet the wrong person and your in for a fight i would think.

[codseeker]

another can of wormz opened

[northeast1]

Are brains depending on who you meet this is one of them topics that pops up every year and ends up in 5 pages or more of heated opinions.

In short some think its ok to check tryes and some say its hard work setting and cleaning them so they are theres....i would just not do other peoples and then no issues.

[eddie t]

If ya raid someones tyre ya more than likely get a clip lads are very protective about there tyre and the crab thats in them.

I dont have tyres my self i sometimes just go down the river and turn a few rocks and look under seaweed and i get enough to last me though the winter.

[super-MAGuire]

The crabs on the foreshore belong to nobody until they are collected, fair game.

The people who dump tyres on the foreshore are littering and causing damage to the environment.


(I never go crabbing so my thoughts never get put into practice)

or, creating an "intertidal artificial reef" and adding to the ecology and habitat diversity of the local environment while remaining easy harvesting

[Charlton]

[QUOTE=dumbledore;265096]The crabs on the foreshore belong to nobody until they are collected, fair game.

The people who dump tyres on the foreshore are littering and causing damage to the environment.

right on the first count

wrong on the second as a recent court case proved

[Mad as a fish]

[QUOTE=Dandin1o To check tyres or not to check tyres....that is the question[/QUOTE]
If you do you could suffer the slings and arrows of misfortune, like some one has said take a hard hat with you.

[fish fingers]

also just because no 1 has turned up they could be leaving them to let the crab build up 4 a few days i would leave well alone plus these people where are you when they need cleaning out and reseting bloody back breaking

[Bushwhacker]

The crabs on the foreshore belong to nobody until they are collected, fair game.

The people who dump tyres on the foreshore are littering and causing damage to the environment.


(I never go crabbing so my thoughts never get put into practice)

For a start,the tyres are not just "Dumped on the foreshore".
They have to be dug in or they will just be washed away by the tide.
Anyone who has traps will tell you that it takes a lot of time and effort to set them up and keep them cleaned out.
Every spring they have to be cleaned out and some uncovered from the mud.
99% of the peeler that are sold in local tackle shops come from "Tyres".
So if it wasn,t for lads putting the hard work in doing there traps,a lot of anglers wouldn,t be able to get crab.

Theres an unwritten law when it comes to someone elses traps that a lot of lads go by,......"Leave them alone".........

[clarky]

lol thought you might get this sort of response bud.

My personal opinion is that quite a lot of the tyres you see have probably been put there by the lads who sell to the shops on the fiddle and thats why they'll not be happy, as your doin them out of their fiddle money and they wont be able to fish the west coast every weekend and sit in the pub most afternoons while most get a proper job.

I bet the tax man would have a field day watching them collect hundreds of crab and seln them on the fiddle

[loopy]

Court case

"Please point me in the direction of the court case you quote?"

I hope this helps
Les

A FISHERMAN has made legal history after a fly-tipping charge against him was cast out of court when he proved he was using old tyres to catch crabs.


For more than 60 years the fishing fraternity has been using rubber tyres as a traditional method of trapping crabs to use as bait, which is not illegal.

But when Gavin Hall was spotted by an off-duty policeman placing tyres in Jarrow's River Don, on April 1 this year – he found himself hauled before South Tyneside Magistrates' Court charged with fly-tipping and littering.

The 22-year-old's case attracted interest from fishing enthusiasts nationwide – as it would have had made the age-old tradition illegal, had he been found guilty.

But following a day-long trial, Mr Hall was cleared of all charges after magistrates ruled he did nothing wrong.

"I'm so relieved because it would have had severe consequences for our sport," said Mr Hall, from Waverdale Way, South Shields, speaking after the case.

"It should never have been brought to court."

The court heard how Pc Mark Furlong, who was off-duty at the time, was walking a police dog near Jarrow Slake when he saw Mr Hall unloading 12 tyres from a van near the riverside.

But despite Mr Hall telling Pc Furlong he was putting the tyres out to catch crabs, the officer told the fisherman to stop what he was doing and called for back-up.

Charlton James Carr, defending, told the court how Mr Hall was summoned to appear at court following a review by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), who ruled the case "was in the public interest".

Mr Hall told magistrates: "I was just putting the tyres out so I could catch crabs to use as bait for fishing.

"All the anglers in the country do it. If you look at the riverside you will see thousands of tyres."

Mr Hall, a joiner, said he picked up the old tyres from a local garage.
Sarah Guest, prosecuting, claimed Mr Hall was "dumping" the tyres on the garage's behalf.

Fishing enthusiast Les Weller, secretary of Amble Sea Angling Club, told magistrates it is "common practice" for fishermen to use tyres to catch crabs.

He said: "It is a fisherman's right to collect crabs from the sea, you don't need permission.

"Using tyres and pipes has been common practise for as long as I can remember. It is not unusual for a fisherman to have 50 tyres out at one time.

"Using tyres to catch crabs is no different than using a lobster pot."
Speaking after the case, Mr Weller said: "This decision is a victory for common sense.

"The whole fishing community, from Newcastle to Devon, was amazed that anybody had actually been taken to court for this.

"I have no criticism of the police because they just saw someone throwing tyres in the river, but my criticism is the prosecution, who decided that this should be brought to court.

"Now the public purse has to pay for the legal costs. But at least now we have some case law for other fisherman to use as a defence for littering and fly-tipping. This decision will be welcomed nationally by the angling community."

Mr Carr, of Graeme Cook Solicitors, added: "The magistrates have made an utterly sensible decision.

"The ramifications for the amateur fishing community would have been tragic. It would've effectively ruined the largest participation sport in the country.

[loopy]

Crab Shelters

For your information on a legal point it was all about the word abandonment, as you can see folk return to the crab shelters (they do not trap) so they do not abandon them.

[mulletthead12321]

to clarky
for your information not every one who puts tyres in for peelers are on the fiddle, i put mine in as i cannot afford the price you have to pay in shops, i also fish at least 3 comps a week and use at least 25 -30 crab a comp which would be
£80.00 a week, plus comp fees 3x10 = 30 .00 + 80.00 = £110.00
so if you can afford to pay this then well done to ya i cant.
so there is no way i going to go in the river in april when its still cold clean and reset my tyres for someone to come along and reep the rewards of my hard work
every crab i take from my tyres gets used by me or froze down for the winter, so please dont post comments like all us crabbers are on the fiddle . some maybe not all thankyou
dave