I am writing this post in reply to a comment posted by Weller of the Yard. He states:
“Looks like angling unity have their first fight and it is for Sea Anglers S47 EU Common Fisheries Policy.”
I looked this up on Google because I know little about sea fishing but I could find no references to the exact wording of this section and Les and I both know how important the exact wording of such sections in law can be!
Today I was watching Countryfile on BBC1 and this very thing was the subject of a part of the program. It seems that the EU want to include the catches of recreational anglers in their country’s catch quotas and anglers are worried that if the quota is exceeded then they will not be allowed to fish. This apparently will not apply to shore anglers (at the moment!).
Firstly we must worry about the definition of “recreational anglers”, since apparently in some parts of Europe this covers more than a couple of lads, in a boat they normally keep in their garage, going out to sea and catching a few fish for their dinner with rod and line. This pursuit can hardly be a threat to fish stocks to any extent but it looks like the EU is trying to formulate a very broad piece of legislation to cover everything with the aim of only enforcing part of it as it suits them. This could be a very dangerous precedent and infringe on all sorts of personal freedoms, such as telling you when and where you can fish and what you can fish for.
It seems that the target of this is fishermen who catch fish under the umbrella of recreational angling but sell the fish once ashore in greater quantities than would be normal for the aforementioned two lads. This may well reflect on our commercial charter skippers who I have heard sometimes keep the majority of the fish caught by their customers to sell for themselves. The skipper featured in the Countryfile episode caught a small cod on camera and threw it into a bucket to suffocate and instead of saying it was for his dinner he said it was for the dinner of one of his crew - with the current price of cod in the shops, the cynical old ex-copper in me would not be surprised if this fish ended up on a fishmonger’s slab. A small point I know but we anglers must think more about our public image, we cannot fight this sort of thing without the public on our side. This of course may have been the way the piece was edited and we must be careful about this too, but if you fish for commercial gain then you must expect to be subject to the current commercial restrictions.
As for the definintion of recreational angler, how about: an angler who fishes with no more than six hooks and only keeps fish for his own non commercial use. This could then enable us to claim an exemption from inclusion in catch quotas.
See SACN for more details
One of the great weaknesses of any argument that sea anglers can offer must be that they seem only to be taking from the environment and making very little contribution in return. Now I know that I am being controversial and I admit that I know very little about sea angling but I am looking at this from the same point of view as any other member of the public. Freshwater anglers are seen to pay for the creation of fisheries, the maintenance of the fish stocks and general management of these same fisheries by their day tickets, club or syndicate membership fees. Their National Rod Licence fees fund the Environment Agency who manage the rivers and provide many other services for angling in general and some of us belong to other agencies such as the ACA now called Fishlegal (part of the Angling Trust) and fishery consultative bodies. On top of this we make every effort to return the fish we catch alive and healthy.
This is not meant as a critiscism of sea anglers because I cannot see how any worthwhile contribution could be made to an environment as vast as the oceans whilst they are being raped by the international fleets of commercial netsmen, I am merely pointing out the weakness of your case.
Before my fellow freshwater anglers start to feel superior, just think where all the fishmeal comes from that goes into your groundbait and pellets - it comes mostly from a small sea fish called the capelin which once was a major part of the marine food chain. Salmon parr and trout in fish farms are fed this pellet too!
The one thing you could all do is to join the Angling Trust as an individual member even though you probably already belong to what was the NFSA (if not, why not?) which is now part of the Angling Trust. The more members they speak for the louder their (our!) voices will ring in the corridors of power. The Angling Trust is already fighting against this piece of legislation on our behalf, you can give them more power to make our voices heard in Europe.
How many bird watchers do you know? Would it surprise you to hear that the RSPB is the most powerful conservation group in Europe? This is because bird watchers are not afraid to put their hands in their pockets every now and then to support their hobby and this gives the RSPB power to protect their interests.
If the Chief Executive of the Angling Trust, in the near future, could say to Government that he represented two million anglers his voice would carry more weight and our wishes would be taken into account, because what political party could ignore two million potential votes. It really is up to you, all of you, coarse, sea and game anglers alike, to join the Angling Trust - get your voice heard or stop complaining and watch our sport die!
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