Lobster pots

[Cerebus]

Found this PBO article online:

Why isn’t more being done about pot markers? Ask the experts

Lobster pots that are not marked well are a problem.

Why are they not marked properly? I am not a fisherman. Are they worried about losing lobsters?

It does cause a problem to leisure sailors. It could be life threatening if the sailor tried to extricate themselves and drowned or hit their head on the hull.

I don’t know what more to say; I find the situation odd to say the least.

Is there something I am not understanding? (quite possible for me these days).

 

[Halo]

You are more likely to get regulation by complaining about the wildlife damage done by lost pots than injury to people or boats

 

[ylop]

Fisherman are (or claim to be) poor/hard done by so will make out that tighter regulation harms them. They will, rightly, point out that unregulated leisure fisherfolk will still be able to leave yacht traps around, and that unscrupulous fisherfolk will just continue to do what the hell they like anyway so as with all such things the good guys pay whilst the chancers avoid it. Afterall there’s not an abundance of fishery protection folk to police it.

What surprises me is fishing gear is expensive, and even if they manage to recover it it must be a time waste and pain in the ass to repair so you would think it was simple economic sense to mark it properly.

But whilst it is a total PITA and if I was in power would require every pot to be far better marked and anyone not complying would be liable for vessel recovery/repair etc., it is possible to overstate the safety risk - yachtsmen dying as an indirect result of getting a got on a pot is incredibly rare.

 

[Cerebus]

You are more likely to get regulation by complaining about the wildlife damage done by lost pots than injury to people or boats

Such is life.

 

[Cerebus]

Fisherman are (or claim to be) poor/hard done by so will make out that tighter regulation harms them. They will, rightly, point out that unregulated leisure fisherfolk will still be able to leave yacht traps around, and that unscrupulous fisherfolk will just continue to do what the hell they like anyway so as with all such things the good guys pay whilst the chancers avoid it. Afterall there’s not an abundance of fishery protection folk to police it.

What surprises me is fishing gear is expensive, and even if they manage to recover it it must be a time waste and pain in the ass to repair so you would think it was simple economic sense to mark it properly.

But whilst it is a total PITA and if I was in power would require every pot to be far better marked and anyone not complying would be liable for vessel recovery/repair etc., it is possible to overstate the safety risk - yachtsmen dying as an indirect result of getting a got on a pot is incredibly rare.

Reading the PBO article addresses some of the points you make, such as fisherman having their equipment impounded.

 

[Cerebus]

Fisherman are (or claim to be) poor/hard done by so will make out that tighter regulation harms them. They will, rightly, point out that unregulated leisure fisherfolk will still be able to leave yacht traps around, and that unscrupulous fisherfolk will just continue to do what the hell they like anyway so as with all such things the good guys pay whilst the chancers avoid it. Afterall there’s not an abundance of fishery protection folk to police it.

What surprises me is fishing gear is expensive, and even if they manage to recover it it must be a time waste and pain in the ass to repair so you would think it was simple economic sense to mark it properly.

But whilst it is a total PITA and if I was in power would require every pot to be far better marked and anyone not complying would be liable for vessel recovery/repair etc., it is possible to overstate the safety risk - yachtsmen dying as an indirect result of getting a got on a pot is incredibly rare.

Also, as per the PBO article, adding a pole and flag and cheap light is not going to break the bank of even the most impoverished fisherman.

I think I read that some like their pots secret so others do not take their lobsters (and gear perhaps). I do not know if this is true.

The gear is heavy; I had to disentangle from a lobster pot once and whilst in the water I thought I would pull the pot up by hand. I soon found how heavy the gear was and gave up.

A bouncing transom above one’s head is not clever either.

 

[ithet]

Why are they not marked properly? I am not a fisherman. Are they worried about losing lobsters?

I think it might be due to the advent of GPS. Nowadays any Tim, Dick or Harry can go and drop some pots, ping each position on a GPS unit, and be sure of finding them again. They do not need clear markers to find them again. Exactly how we recover racing marks at the club.

 

[Cerebus]

I think it might be due to the advent of GPS. Nowadays any Tim, Dick or Harry can go and drop some pots, ping each position on a GPS unit, and be sure of finding them again. They do not need clear markers to find them again. Exactly how we recover racing marks at the club.

Yes, I read that is exactly what fisherman do.

But do they rely upon gps to locate, or to keep their pots secret?

A pole and flag and light are cheap. They can still use gps to sail up to their pots with using binoculars.

I don’t know what fisherman are up to; I don’t wish them to loose lobsters of gear, but to be fair.