Ban inshore lobster pots?

[charles_reed]

Support the sentiment

But you're not totally correct.

I've quite frequantly come across pot-buoys in >80m of water - admittedly off the Spanish/Portuguese coasts.

The assumption is quite dangerous - you might omit to keep a look out for them.

One thing of which you can be sure, they're not to be found off the continental shelf.

 

[charles_reed]

Surely you have means of controlling your boat

Like a rudder?

They can be a slight embarrassment after dark, but your demand smacks more of the kindergarten than the playground.

 

[charles_reed]

Cutting pot-lines

I've only twice had to cut pot-lines to get free and both times I've retied them before going on my way.
Additionally I sail single-handed.

The gear for each pot is about £35, cutting it free and leaving it is on par with the shabby habit some have of denting someone else's car in a park and slinking off.

 

[zefender]

Re: looking and steering advice

Thank you c_r for reminding about about the steering wheel and what it is connected to! I never realised that it helped to turn the aboat and avoid poorly marked pots. Presumably, your post suggests that on 2-3 occasions in the past you haven't been using yours?! Thanks to to Mirelle for explaining that I should be able to see in front of me to help avoid them! Sound advice I'm sure, but not of much help in a swell on a grey day off a headland when trying to spot a black 5lt can on the water.

In response to an earlier post, I'm not a powerboater. I'm not even obsessional about the pots (promise!). I don't advocate cutting them loose. Just like it is illegal to park a car on a junction or a blind bend, or carry no lights on a motorway, I can't see what wrong with banning lobster pots in silly places or leaving them unmarked. They can be a darned nuisance. Or they can simply be dangerous in certain conditions. If common sense and self-regulation don't prevail, then the law is the only alternative.

 

[ccscott49]

Re: looking and steering advice

For goodness sake Zefender, don't you think we have enough laws, regulations etc.

 

[zefender]

Re: looking and steering advice

Obviously not - one more won't hurt. I think we need a government think tank, followed by a policy unit, then a regulator, then a Railtrack of the sea, dividing it up in strips of water - pots or pot free.

 

[ccscott49]

Re: looking and steering advice

Good on yer' bruv' That should raise the thread again!

 

[oldharry]

Re: Making a living - at who\'s expense?

But Humperdinck- its not the inshore potters that are creating a fish free zone - chance would be a fine thing! They are nowadays so restricted by quotas etc, that they are catching relatively very little.

The culprits are the big offshore 'factory ship' fleets who just trawl up every living thing in a half mile swathe - 24 hours a day seven days a week etc in huge numbers - and offshore where there is no regulation. They get everything - Dolphins and all! These are the true cuplrits of over fishing - not the people who are leaving lines all over the place to foul our props inside the 50m contour.

The inshore fleet is merely picking at the scraps left over by the offshore merchants.

 

[Twister_Ken]

The Pot Bobber Act (2001) sponsored by Z.E. Fender (MP)

"Fishermen and fisherwomen shall ensure than all pots and nets laid for catching any form of marine life (or for any other purpose) shall be attached to a marker by a non-buoyant line. The marker shall be coloured to British Standard Dayglo Orange, shall be sufficiently buoyant not to be towed under in tides of up to 3 knots, shall carry a pole or post coated in a retroflective material and projecting at least 3 feet above the sea surface, such post being capped by a spherical top mark coloured in British Standard Dayglo Yellow of not less than 300mm diameter. All such markers must be clearly marked with the registration number of the fisherperson's vessel.

HM Coastguard and other competent authorities such as marine police and harbourmasters or harbourmistresses shall have the right to lift pots and nets laid in positions deemed to be dangerous to other vessels moving in recognised fairways and channels, and shall notify the registered vesel that such pots have been removed and can be collected from the nearest harbourperson's office on payment of a fine of £25 per item, the level of such fine to be reviewed from time to time.

Failure to comply with the above provisions will lead to confiscation of the said fishing gear with gear and contents being auctioned to help defray enforcement costs which will otherwise be met by a levy on recreational craft owners."

Now, quick, anyone fancy setting up a pot-bobber manufacturing and marketing operation, before MDL get in on the Act?


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Twister_Ken on Mon Dec 3 12:18:25 2001 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[ccscott49]

Re: The Pot Bobber Act (2001) sponsored by Z.E. Fender (MP)

Suppose we could clamp them aswell!

 

[zefender]

Re: The Pot Bobber Act (2001) sponsored by Z.E. Fender (MP)

Perfect draft legislation wording, though I think it would be good to paint two yellow lines on the water concerned, just to forewarn them. Glad to read that Cscott49 is coming round to my thinking. The Denver boot could become known as the Denver Boat and attached to offending propellors.

 

[ccscott49]

Re: The Pot Bobber Act (2001) sponsored by Z.E. Fender (MP)

Careful, dont get me wrong I totally disagree with everyword you have said in this matter! Not other ones I admit, but this one!

 

[zefender]

Re: So, CCScott49 doesn\'t agree eh?

Come the revolution brother you will be required to wear a black 5lt can on your head until you are deemed to be fully educated in the way of the new order. Agreement with previous correspondance, whilst held in mitigation, will not hold much sway.

 

[Guest]

I stand corrected!

If the local lobsterman is indeed NOT over harvesting, then I was too judgemental. I just get so angry at how the fishermen have complained for so long while doing nothing but making matters worse. Now everyone has lost out. I also feel it's unfair to blame the Spanish and Japanese + big ships: there's just too many people catching too many fish.

As to lobstermen, have you sailed in Ireland? They will FILL an anchorage with pots - Dunmore East for example.

 

[Guest]

Re: The Pot Bobber Act (2001) sponsored by Z.E. Fender (MP)

Ken, I've seen yotties bounce off Cardinal marks before now. Something 3 foot high aint gonna crack it<s>

 

[charles_reed]

To correct you all

Just announced - world fishing catches have been dropping for the last 25 years - only China had been so grossly inflating their figures that the UN thought the drop had only occured in the last 10 years.

That's what happens when you performance relate statisticians' pay.

 

[zefender]

Re: I stand corrected!

I'm Hump on this one - but that will surprise few!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Cardinal sins

> Ken, I've seen yotties bounce off Cardinal marks before now<

Well, it guess it just proves how accurate those GPS waymarks are!

An old fellow I knew had been an RASC officer in Palestine during WW2, running some sort of depot in the desert. Near the depot there was one tree, surrounded by a flat plain which, everywhere, was capable of being driven over in an army lorry quite comfortably. That didn't stop drivers regularly crashing into the tree though. In the end, he had it cut down to save HMG a fortune in banged-up trucks.