Pot markers in The Solent

l'escargot

l'escargot

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Southampton VTS who control a significant chunk of The Solent have stipulated a standard of marking pots for fisherman in certain areas here including a yellow light and radar reflector. Would be good for other authorities to follow suit.

Full list of Southampton VTS NTM here. They sometimes get forgotten but cover the middle of The Solent and all of Southampton Water
 
excellent , that should sort out that idiot out of Chichester with virtually unmarked gear, about time!
 
Does that mean you can legally cut bad markers as a hazard to navigation.

Other implications which leisure boats will have to conform, IMHO.

If we snag an anchor and decide to mark it for later retrieval, I think, to maintain the moral high ground we too will have to mark our gear in the same way, no?

If we use an anchor buoy will the marker also have to conform?

Should mooring buoys be lit?

*****I hate the damn pot markers like the next man, but I see this bouncing back to the leisure boats, the fishermen who are going to have to fork out for this gear are going to watch us like hawks.****

A step in the right direction and I hope other authorities take it on board <pun>

Devils advocate only, hope you understand!
 
mooring buoys are ok unlit as they should be marked on the charts as such ...

marking off your anchor with a trip line on a fender ... lots of ppl don't like these anyway (not that I'm bothered) but as I assume anchoring is normally in anchor spots then again - marked on the chart ... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

putting out a lobster pot near the forts or anywhere in around 15-20m of water is not normal mooring ground or anchor spots ... and should be marked!

I gather there is some noise about lighting racing marks too ...
 
Those fishermen who cause the problems have ignored the previous regs for marking their pots, and deemed the unlikely chance of being caught as worth the risk for the potential savings to be had. How much more so will they be inclined to ignore more expensive requirements. It will make little difference unless there are increased resources for enforcement- not very likely- with a hand held gps a rogue fisherman can make his pots almost invisible- which of course is the problem! If they have to pay for all this gear I won't be able to afford me Friday night battered rogue and chips from Lymington Chippy. It could seriously damage the local economy.
 
But why don't the fishermen use their brains (no comment please), why the hell use dark green or black floats (empty plastic containers). If they were to give them a few coats of white of orange paint it wold be so much easier for us to see them. Or is that the rub, if we can see them so can their 'mates' who would nick the catch!
 
Just a quick one about 'cutting' pot markers. Although it can be tempting, the abandoned pot will often remain trapping fish and crabs for years on the seabed.

All best Nick
 
This might seem strange, but black flags or buoys actually work quite well at night, just needs a little moonlight to see them. If there's no light then you wouldna be able to see them no matter what colour.

Now if the black flags and buoys also had a reflective strip that could be state of the art...
regs
 
Black can work quite well during the day as well, especially against an overcast sky. Orange is better of course but even the best orange fades very quickly. Yellow is useless for a buoy if there any white horses around, it looks just like another little wave.
 
The ones that I refer to have no flag! Just semi submerged, usually dragged by the tide. Only the 'wash' being the tell tale.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If they have to pay for all this gear I won't be able to afford me Friday night battered rogue and chips from Lymington Chippy. It could seriously damage the local economy.

[/ QUOTE ]

You won't find any local fish in Lymington Chippy, it had probably been dead a week and frozen before it even reached England. Most of what's landed at Lymington - generally crab and cuttlefish - is straight in a van and off to London or Europe.
 
Have to agree .....

Fishing boats normally do not take down their fishing signals even when tied up in port .... there has been various crack-downs and fines for this over years .......... they still ignore it and carry on ....

Sorry - regs are all well and good - but they don't follow half of 'em and even then you're lucky that they even do that.
 
I wouldn't mind betting that a fair few of those actively don't want to be seen, because they are unlicensed illegal pots. The last thing they want to do is advertise their presence. That's probably why so many of them have only the minimum gear to allow retrieval attached to them. Probably belong to the same guy that supplies Lymington Chippy with rogue!!!
 
Re: Have to agree .....

Exactly Nige.I am always amazed by the skill of the Looe fishing fleet who have developed the art of pair trawling whilst tied up to the quay in a dried out harbour!!!!, but then I have to confess it's a long time since I was legally motor sailing!!!!!Ssshhhhh, don't tell QMH!
 
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