KAM
Well-Known Member
What is the legal position if I get tangled in a badly laid or marked lobster pot and my boat is damaged.
Lobster pot liability
- Thread starter KAM
- Start date
europe172
Well-Known Member
1,find the owner.
2, claim against them in court.
3,convince a judge that the pot was badly marked.
1 and 3 difficult
2, claim against them in court.
3,convince a judge that the pot was badly marked.
1 and 3 difficult
Poignard
Well-Known Member
If you can prove negligence you could be awarded damages.
westhinder
Well-Known Member
Would putting a well marked pot bang on the leading line qualify for negligence? This was the case going into the Holy Island anchorage last saturday. Why would anyone do such a thing?
Scillypete
Well-Known Member
what is negligent about a 'well marked pot', perhaps it was a good catching spot. It all comes down to keeping a good lookout. Fishing pots and floats have been the tried and tested fishing method for shellfish and netting for fish for centuries, yachts with pointy keels and vulnerable rudders and exposed props are relatively recent on the scene in the scheme of things and also are not engaged (usually) in any kind of commercial activity just out for pleasure.
Touchpaper lit . . . . . now to retire to a safe distance
sailorman
Well-Known Member
Wanna buy some clear washing-up liquid containers for your day job
Scillypete
Well-Known Member
I'm not a fisherman but thanks for the offer
pathfinderstu
Well-Known Member
If it was not well marked maybe you would not have seen it and got tangled with it, then you would have a better claim for negligence
Poignard
Well-Known Member
You would have to establish that
a) the fisherman owed you a duty of care
b) he breached that duty
c) you suffered damage as aresult
d) the damage was not too remote from his action.
If you are lucky you will get a judge who sails.
But the average inshore fisherman is probably 'a man of straw' with no money (the nautical equialent of white-van-man) so you might be wasting your time.
Maybe he's a knob-head who doesnt care about anyone except himself,
or maybe
he has a chip on his shoulder and hates anyone with a yacht (compare with white-van-man's hatred of expensive cars)
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
Or maybe it is where the lobsters are and he thinks that people can just go round his marker...
Poignard
Well-Known Member
A trawl on the internet shows that harbour authorities prohibit fishing and laying pots in fairways. I don't think they do that to spoil people's fun or to deprive them of a living.
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
I didn't see any mention of fairways...
fishermantwo
Well-Known Member
In this country you would be fined for damaging the gear. The fisherman, presuming he is a professional pays annual fees which enables him to set this gear, he rents the spot if you like. He has to mark it clearly and you have to keep away! If your an amateur you can also set a limited amount of gear, clearly marked. In your case its probably free because the fee is paid by the community or in other words the professional is paying yours as well.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
Quote from an online dictionary: Fairway = the channel customarily navigated by vessels in (a harbour).
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
Didn't see mention of a harbour either...
Poignard
Well-Known Member
Harbour = a place of refuge or safety
Why don't you buy a dictionary? It's way past my bedtime and I'm not going to sit here all night giving you definitions of words that you're quite capable of looking up for yourself.
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
So do anchorages have an anchorage authority then? (You are taking this all a bit seriously aren't you?) I think you will find the place described was neither a harbour (with a harbour authority) or at the end of a fairway (subject to harbour authority rules).
Clearly the OP was able to safely navigate around the marker as he didn't suggest that he got caught up in it or had to turn around and head off in another direction.
What's the big deal and why do so many of the sailors on this forum seem to think that they should have exclusive use of the waters around them? They are destined to lives of discontent and endless disappointment unless they go out and buy a private lake for their sole use...
prv
Well-Known Member
So does that mean he also has to keep his gear within his rented area?
The situation is very different here. The sea is free for passage by all, so the fisherman lays his gear more or less wherever he likes without having to pay anybody for the privilege, and the yachtsman can sail more or less wherever he likes as well. I prefer it this way; everything I hear about Australia leads me to believe that they regulate the sea as if it were a council-run boating lake in the municipal park.
In theory, the fisherman would mark his gear adequately, and also avoid places where there is heavy traffic because the harbourmaster says that he must. Many fishermen do, and I'm quite happy to keep up my side of the bargain by keeping a good lookout for this marked gear. On the central South Coast, though, we do have a bit of a problem with small-time fishermen hanging their gear from old oil cans etc, and that's where the friction arises.
Pete
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I don't see any reason why those exploiting a common good for financial gain should get extra-favourable treatment.
prv
Well-Known Member
+1
It's a form of arrogance that I'm unhappy at being involuntarily associated with.
Crab pots were out there long before yachts. By all means grumble at the tiny grey bleach bottle on a dozen yards of floating polyprop, but if it's got a flag on top then it has every right to be there.
Pete
