Lobster pot lines Warning

pot markers

Hi...If you think pot and net markers around the UK are bad...dont ever go to the Atlantic coast of Portugal,or the costa de luz in Andalucia!!!!The coast of Portugal from Cape St Vincent going north is a minefield..some markers I have seen are tennis ball sized corks...especially near harbours.And between Faro and Chipiona is bad too...
 
Quandary said:
......... lay a string of up to 100 creels marked by only a single buoy.
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The norm is to have a buoy at either end as this gives an option depending on wind and tide on where to start hauling; and also, if you have a fastener, you can cut and go to the other end.

I think at least some of us acknowledge that there are the occasional errant fishermen out there, just as there is a much higher frequency of utterly inept yachties; a bit of understanding across the board is what is required rather than squawking about legislation of which there exists a sufficiency.
 
I'd like to see

I'd like to see inshore routes with a clearly marked channel, which no one can lay pots or nets or of course anchor.
Erratic marking with no clear route through just isn't good enough
The worst area's I've seen are selsey bill southwold and any where near cromer. Cromer is a nightmare you'd not get through there at night without hitting em, it isn't that their not marked but there are just so many !
I'm not saying a wide channel, 60ft would be enough. I don't think its fair or even in some cases safe to say any one should take an offshore route.
As costs rise so does the need to try and place pots or nets as close to port as possible but there surely needs to be some sort of clear regulation simply because its not working.
I'm all for fishermen making a living and respect the hard work it takes them to make a wage

oh and as for razor blades stuck into ropes DO GET REAL ropes cost as do pots no fisherman would risk losing his gear by risking that

cheers
Mick
 
sundancer123 said:
Hi...If you think pot and net markers around the UK are bad...dont ever go to the Atlantic coast of Portugal,or the costa de luz in Andalucia!!!!The coast of Portugal from Cape St Vincent going north is a minefield..some markers I have seen are tennis ball sized corks...especially near harbours.And between Faro and Chipiona is bad too...
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On the other hand, the ones I have seen on the Spanish Med coast had a radar reflector about 2 feet above the water. Quite visible in daylight, and detectable at night too.
 
People in other than fishing boats are not 'idiots' if they snag on badly marked pot lines which are more like an exercise in camouflage than considerate seamanship !

Fishermen who do this sort of thing love to call themselves 'pro seamen' when the evidence shows they are anything but.

As stated several times, Wotayottie is reasonably sure the fisherman talking about razor blades was genuine.

It doesn't matter if yachts are being used for leisure, professional training, photography, whatever; they are not doing anything to endanger other seafarers, these fishermen are, and it equally doesn't matter if they are trying to make a living or going for the world record number of toy action men in a pot, irrelevant.

The poor marking and inconsiderate / dangerous positioning re other seafarers is what matters here.
 
afterpegassus said:
I think at least some of us acknowledge that there are the occasional errant fishermen out there, just as there is a much higher frequency of utterly inept yachties; a bit of understanding across the board is what is required rather than squawking about legislation of which there exists a sufficiency.
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I almost regret repeating what the fisherman said to me - the debate is creating altogether too much aggression and bile on both sides.

In terms of boat handling its a given that there are far more inept yachties about. Bound to be so when most of us sail for less than 30 full days per annum. But ineptitude is not the issue here.

Let me illustrate from a passage that I frequently do, from south wales to Padstow. Depending on the start point it a 100 mile passage that at 5 knots includes darkness. Has to be done with an ebbing tide under you from the start and with favourable weather since there are no real ports of refuge. Inevitably what means it sometimes has to be done to arrive in Padstow after dark. No option. And the narrow entrance channel to Padstow from both north and south is dotted with as many as 20 pot buoys. Some are well marked, others are not.

So you arrive there at 0200 as I did 2 years ago with a southerly 20 knots into your face and driving rain. It becomes a game of Russian roulette through the pots.

I could equally quote you the inshore passage round the longships - fewer pots but worse marking. Or the direct line passage from Padstow to Hartland point with pots that are miles offshore.

I like eating crab. No way do I want to make life any more difficult for the potters if it can be avoided. But putting pots right across the entrance to a well used port is simply dangerous.
 
Portsmouth dealt with this problem

Some time ago, badly marked pots were a problem outside Portsmouth so a new regulation was made which required pot buoys to have a flag on top. Any without a flag were removed. We are still encouraged to report the exact position of any buoys without flags. I wish Southampton would follow suit in The Solent. The spring tides force the buoys under water and it takes constant vigilance to avoid them
 
actionoptics said:
Some time ago, badly marked pots were a problem outside Portsmouth so a new regulation was made which required pot buoys to have a flag on top. Any without a flag were removed. We are still encouraged to report the exact position of any buoys without flags. I wish Southampton would follow suit in The Solent. The spring tides force the buoys under water and it takes constant vigilance to avoid them
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Pompey nis a military port. Lots of resources and spare bods aroung to do jobs like that. ABP could not care a toss.
 
I agree with those earlier posts which amount to "calm down dear" and "live and let live" . There have been lots of threads about pots over the years but I personally have never come across anyone who has suffered serious damage to a yacht from pot lines. I myself have got entwined 3 times after running over them when long floating lines and small buoys have conspired against me. In all cases I have managed to cut the pot end of the line with a bread knife and then pulled the line free from the buoy end before chucking it back in the sea. I suspect the loss of gear is as big a blow to the fisherman as the delay and stress has been to me.
I now have a stripper on the prop and make a point of motoring / motor sailing at night when I am in areas which are likely to have pots.
We need more rules and regulations like we need a hole in the head.
There is a 95% chance that anyone putting razor blades on his pot lines will end up cutting himself or his own gear rather than some innocent boater.
 
Me

Halo said:
I agree with those earlier posts which amount to "calm down dear" and "live and let live" . There have been lots of threads about pots over the years but I personally have never come across anyone who has suffered serious damage to a yacht from pot lines. I myself have got entwined 3 times after running over them when long floating lines and small buoys have conspired against me. In all cases I have managed to cut the pot end of the line with a bread knife and then pulled the line free from the buoy end before chucking it back in the sea. I suspect the loss of gear is as big a blow to the fisherman as the delay and stress has been to me.
I now have a stripper on the prop and make a point of motoring / motor sailing at night when I am in areas which are likely to have pots.
We need more rules and regulations like we need a hole in the head.
There is a 95% chance that anyone putting razor blades on his pot lines will end up cutting himself or his own gear rather than some innocent boater.
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I reckon they have cost me around £1,000 and ten weeks lost sailing time in my journey around the UK so far

not counting the petrol to and from the boat to do the repairs

of course we have never met so your original statement holds true

unless coming across some-one on the web counts as a fishing gear victim
 
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i fished for 14 years---hundreds of days and nights----thousands of miles covered and never got hooked up on any fishing gear so maybe i am a lucky boater and you are an unlucky one dylan-----small lie there--- i have got gear round the prop a couple of times----got it off without damage-----embarassingly it was my own----regards lenten
 
actionoptics said:
I wish Southampton would follow suit in The Solent. The spring tides force the buoys under water and it takes constant vigilance to avoid them
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They have moved them. Came in through the Needles channel at dawn a couple of weeks ago, probably took 5 years off my life trying to avoid all the man made **** that litters the narrow channel. Unlit bouys and pots all over the place.

Pete
 
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