Petition to stop lobster traps trapping us

[jimi]

So as the Teddies and rattles are flying from prams in all directions we finally get some numbers.

Almost 300 callouts per annum (I assume throughout the UK) against how many yacht/small pleasure craft sailings? on a good weekend in the height of the summer there must be thousands (probably tens of) of yachts and small craft going afloat. It would seem even from a rough guide of guesstimate figures that there are less than 1% of yachts and small craft being towed in.

Maybe the Solent has a particularly acute problem and interested parties need to address this with their local authorities. If the rough guide statistics are anywhere near realistic then no government department is ever going to do anything on such a low percentage.

Personally I would feel safer sailing through the Solent on a daily basis than commuting on the countries motorways

The murder rate in the UK is 0.0009% of the population, are you proposing we ignore it because its such a small number?

 

[NormanB]

How about just hoisting badly marked pots and having it away with the gear and the lobbie?

 

[Greenheart]

Excellent, Norman! :biggrin-new: :encouragement:

 

[PetiteFleur]

So have I - very interesting sailing, recommended route through our local one(but banned in Dutch wind farms apparently)

Done that. The turbines are very visible and set in a sensible pattern

Also signed - I've cut at least one off Felixstowe with my rope stripper(as well as 2metres of my genoa sheet!)

 

[BelleSerene]

So have I - very interesting sailing, recommended route through our local one(but banned in Dutch wind farms apparently)

Also signed - I've cut at least one off Felixstowe with my rope stripper(as well as 2metres of my genoa sheet!)

That's one hell of a rope stripper you have, that'll cut through a turbine.

 

[Gordonmc]

Signed, but it is worth saying that the professional creel fishermen I have come across in my local waters do not pose a threat.
Lines are well marked with big day-glo bouys marked with the name of the boats which laid them. Sinkers are weighted so the lines are vertical in the water, whatever the tide state.
The problem seems to be with the one or two pot amateurs and I suspect the professionals are as annoyed as anyone with their practices.

 

[saltylegs]

Signed.
And I used to fish for lobsters and crabs.

 

[OceanSprint]

The map of where people are from who have signed so far is worth a look. Does this show where this is an issue, or just where sailors live?

 

[mainsail1]

The number of lifeboat call outs is the 'tip of the iceberg' if my experience is anything to go by. I guess I have become entangled with 15 pot lines in the last 20 years and only once has the lifeboat come out to assist when I foolishly called up the coastguard for advice as I could not see where the underwater line had snagged. Ironically, the entire lifeboat crew seemed to be fishermen and they were more concerned about not damaging the pot line than my sail drive!

 

[Robert Wilson]

Signed.
these things are bad enough when you can spot them (flags etc), let alone unmarked.

How do the pot-men know my exact course?
On my way round Britain the wretched things were directly in front of me all the way

 

[wizard]

I have had two experiences of being snagged by pot lines at night. In each case I was lucky that the Stripper dealt with them. It raises the point that there is no way of reporting these incidents and therefore they go unrecorded, along with people that deal with the problem themselves.

If these incidents could be reported/recorded somewhere then the number of incidents per year would probably increase dramatically.

 

[Yealm]

What is the current legal situation if you remove a poorly marked lobster pot that is acting as a navigation hazard ?

 

[Yealm]

Also, do some fisherman use poorly marked lobster pots on purpose to avoid other people finding them and 'stealing' their lobsters ?

 

[Halo]

Does anyone have contacts with the scuba divers - BSAC and PADI clubs ? They are a large group that may be interested in joining in on this .
Has anyone asked RYA to circulate this ?

 

[wizard]

Does anyone have contacts with the scuba divers - BSAC and PADI clubs ? They are a large group that may be interested in joining in on this .
Has anyone asked RYA to circulate this ?

As the CA sponsored this petition I would have thought even out of courtesy they would have notified the RYA

 

[fisherman]

one has to remember that the pots go on fishing for ages after

No they don't. Not unless the trap is made from weldmesh which is unusual this side of the pond, though normal in US. Crabs eat through the netting quite soon.

 

[OceanSprint]

I see in scotland there is now a limit of 1 lobster per day for unlicensed fishers. I think there is also a crab limit.

See
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Sea-Fisheries/InshoreFisheries/unlicensed

 

[fisherman]

Just looked at the petition, you may find that the agency in question is the MMO and/or MCA rather than DEFRA. MCA for sure.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/marking-of-fishing-gear-retrieval-and-notification-of-lost-gear applies unfortunately only to registered FVs. With the pikey problem, I don't know. In some cases it would be valid to cut them off, or maybe hoist them up/tow them and drop in a heap, if they are genuinely dangerous or in a dangerous place, but you don't have the gear to haul them up and might put yourselves in more trouble. If the pikeys find their gear constantly interfered with they may go elsewhere. However, you have no legal right to do any of this, no matter how self righteous you feel, so don't get caught, your boat is worth more than his pots.

 

[fisherman]

I see in scotland there is now a limit of 1 lobster per day for unlicensed fishers. I think there is also a crab limit.

See
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Sea-Fisheries/InshoreFisheries/unlicensed

This is nationwide in different forms. The MMO has recently showed some signs of life and been reading the riot act to restaurants about buying illicit fish, fines can be heavy. They are allowed to buy fish from registered boats, but must register as first sale buyers, submit MMO returns with boat name, skipper's name, owner's name, boat reg, port of landing, ICES sea area, weight and value within 48 hours. The fisherman must carry a transport document with most of that info plus vehicle reg also. Strangely an angler can sell fish provided he has paperwork, ie invoices for tax, without any of the other stuff, but I'm not sure about the restaurant in that case, since the FV info would not be present.

 

[fisherman]

What is the current legal situation if you remove a poorly marked lobster pot that is acting as a navigation hazard ?

You have the same rights to remove an illegally parked car that is causing an obstruction, although if you ran into it and caused damage you might get away with it. Or not.