Blyth Pier \"litter\"

[alan]

Same auld story.
Fished Blyth Pier on Sunday evening and the amount of litter that was lying there was terrible,beer tins,old bait,food,plastic bags you name it it was there.There was a group of four lads fishing between the bend and the end who litterally picked there gear up and left all there crap lying there,at first i thought they had left some of there kit so walked up to see what it was and you would think they had tipped a wheelie bin over.We normally hear this story during the summer when we blame the \"summer\" fishermen Mackerel bashing !!! As it happens i had walked along on the Saturday to see what the sea was like and it was minging then as well.
Please pick your \"CRAP\" up there\'s a bin at the car park or chuck it in the sea if its to much trouble for you\'s
Hope you\'s are looking in

[mark]

or chuck it in the sea if its to much trouble for you\'s

oooh controversial!

[alan]

lol
they\'ll probably take the easy option Mark

[willywetegg]

yes alan it was still exactly the same tonight, we were commenting on it ourselves. some people just don\"t give a damn.

[ollie]

tell you what fellas ,this is why i fish beach and rock marks more ,seems theres always some mindless moron who ****s it up for the rest of us or casts over your line every five minuites ,trys to cadge bait and fags ,or play friggin radios
end up coming home ready to rip the head off anyone that says summat to ya
only takes the council to take a look at the state they leave it for them to close another good venue
thats better calmed down now and had my say

[peter.m]

Partly agree Ollie but it\'s only cos they\'re accessible. Go to some popular rock marks and you get some of the same. Newspaper from worms discarded , bits of old line and wrappings from frozen crab, there are some who are fishing well but not taking heed.

[willywetegg]

The piers are definately worse than the rock and beach marks but just a few years ago fished with a certain cockney chap (hope he\"s looking in) when he left he threw his worms all over the beach, also his sandwiches, still in plastic bags. Well needless to say he was told about it and he hasn\"t fished with me any more. Don\"t mind taking me own rubbish home but object having to search the beach for things that some dickhead has deliberately thrown away.

[mark]

you\'ll be hard pressed to find a pier anywhere without the same problems, which sometimes makes me think the minority might not be that minor after all. Bits of card board from daylites etc and bits of paper, well I supposes they are biodegradable after not too long, but its the miles of mono that does my head in.

I\'ve seen em walk on to shields pier with a git big shakespeare tackle box and leave masses of sh it behinfd em when they leave. I mean its not as if they have got nowhere to put it with suh a big box on their back. Worse still in summer are the mackeral remains. There was quite a heated debate on the subject last summer on here.

As for blyth pier, imagine how much worse it would be if there was a solid walkway. there must be tons of rubbish underneath the pier that has dropped through the gaps.

Last time I tried to make one of these fu ckwits see the error of their ways I got a mouthfull of abuse. Is there a solution?? probably not. Charge to use the pier maybe, the funds raised employing someone to keep an eye on things, but what power would they have against some abusive tosser destined to live his life as best his pea sized brain will allow.

I am begiining to think that it is we, who actually care, that are the minority

[Edited on 14/12/2003 by mark]

[TC]

Alan, Jim, Ollie and anybody else who’s interested……..

I think most (if not, all) popular and easily accessible fishing venues suffer from the same problem.

Last year, I was so sickened at the state of the pier at South Shields and was fearful that the Port of Tyne would respond by closing the pier to fishing, that I organised a pier clean up campaign.

Several of the lads on NESA gave up a Sunday morning and turned out to physically sweep the pier. It took a while to organise, had the backing of both the Port of Tyne and South Tyneside Council (who’d provided us with brushes, gloves, black bags and a van) and was promoted in the Shields Gazette. Unfortunately, come the day of the clean-up, there were gale force winds and the sea was coming over the pier wall. Consequently, the pier watchman said that he couldn’t allow us on the pier beyond the gate, for our own safety.

Prior to the clean-up attempt, I had printed, laminated and mounted on boards, posters asking anglers to take their litter home. These posters (after obtaining consent from the Port of Tyne), were erected at several prominent points along the pier in the hope that they would have some effect.
However, the posters didn’t last long and were torn down / replaced several times.

It seems that you just can’t get through to some people.

If there’s anybody who’d like to put some of the posters up on Blyth pier, I can certainly e-mail the poster to you. Remember though, you’d need to get permission from the pier owners BEFORE you put them up.

These are the pieces which went in the Shields Gazette....





And the poster.....

[willywetegg]

got to be honest mark have dropped quite a bit of stuff through the gaps on blyth pier (unintentionally) lol. that is why i always have at least two spools of bait elastic. was pulling threads off me cloth that night lol.

[willywetegg]

Good idea Tony i didn\"t think of that. I will enquire next time i\"m on there. No need to send it though have saved it in favourites.

[TC]

Jim, that\'s only a small, low res. version and I doubt if it will print up to any size, m8.

Let\'s know if you want to (or are allowed to) go ahead with it, and I\'ll send you a larger version.

NOTE: I\'ll remove the \"supported by\" bit on the bottom as neither So. Tyneside Council nor the Port of Tyne have owt to do with Blyth Pier.
Oh....and the \"South Shields Pier\" bit....lol


[Edited on 14/12/2003 by TC]

[willywetegg]

Ok Tony no probs mate.

[mark]

got to be honest mark have dropped quite a bit of stuff through the gaps on blyth pier (unintentionally) lol. that is why i always have at least two spools of bait elastic. was pulling threads off me cloth that night lol.

your not alone there, I lost 35 quid on shields pier the night of the RNLI comp! Put my hand in my pocket for my lighter and dragged the cash with it and watch it float away, and I too have lost a few bits through the boards on blyth pier - including the tip section of the bairns spinning rod last year! That worked out great though. As hers was one of my old ones, I gave her mine and gained an excuse to by myself a new one. But I do feel its a bit of a lost cause. We do our bit and can sleep easy, but one day, the piers will start to close to anglers nationwide.

Having just typed that, It has just dawned on me that this could be an issue for the angling press (you watching alan?) TSF, Sea Angler etc.

Every pier I have been on from the breakwaters at penzance and newlyn to here has exhibited similar symptoms.

I was tempted last summer, whilst this debate raged to post some photographs. Not of litter but of a couple of individuals I saw on shields pier emptying a multiplier spool after a birds nest and then leavinf it there. Thought it might have been a tad too provocative at the time though. Name and shame the bug gers I say. And then dip them in jam and make em eat school dinners for a week

[willywetegg]

Sorry to hear about the money Mark real bummer that. Naming and shaming is not a bad idea, especially as i always have me digi cam with me lol. Unfortunately the law looks at things differently. I suppose taking a pic of me mate with them in the background would probably be ok though.