Trawlers And Drift Nets

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mikesyam

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Hi
Got a bit of a shock today and wondered if anybody knows the rules or regulations in simple terms regarding drift nets, left the marina today for a few hours at sea, half a mile out, up on the flybridge doing around 22 knots, we had noticed a blue trawler which we had passed about a mile back coming towards us at about a half mile away and about 90 degrees off our starboard side, when suddenly I noticed a strange straight "pattern" on the surface, it was a fishing net, got into neutral asap, luckily before going over it so it caught the legs but luckily didnt get around the props, raised the drives up as high as possible and managed to push the rope down and release it from both legs as the trawler came along side with his ratty head on! the skipper said they had been waving at us but to be honest when we had passed him a mile back I didnt give him a second look as I was watching ahead not behind, anyway here was this net stretched out, I dont know how long it was in total length but after we had released the net I noticed a few hundred yards away to port a small round orange buoy which I presume was the start of the net but couldnt see anything to starboard indicating the other end, the top of the net was nylon rope with small round white floats every two feet or so which was floating flush with the surface.
Point being this could happen again quite easily and it seems a accident waiting to happen if these nets are left like this one was, should it have been better marked or is this normal practice?
Thanks Mike
 
normal unfortunately as is hundreds of feet of floating line used to attatch pot marker buoys /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
Admitting ignorence here "appropriate daymarks" the only marks we saw were a round orange marker at the beginning of the net a few hundred yards off my port side or do you mean on the trawler?
 
Where abouts was this? and were the ends of the net marked, i.e. dan bouys or similar. PM me with your email as I may be able to answer your questions.
 
[ QUOTE ]
"appropriate daymarks"

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
show fishing/trawling day marks eg 2 cones point to point

[/ QUOTE ]

These off course (without teaching my grannie to suck eggs) should be on the fishing vessel
 
The situation is not helped by the fact that most fishing boats display shapes all of the time.

Col regs
[ QUOTE ]
e) A vessel when not engaged in fishing shall not exhibit the lights or shapes prescribed in this Rule, but only those prescribed for a vessel of her length.


[/ QUOTE ]

So most of the time you really don't know what they are up to.
Bottom line;If it looks even vaguely like a fishing boat steer well clear,and if you want an interesting chat ask a trawler skipper why his fishing baskets are permanently rigged when he is moored.
 
From what I remember (day shapes or not) 'drift nets are not to be left unattended for any reason', and I don't really think a mile away counts as being "attended" either.

I wonder if this was around Bawdsey or North of the Ore by any chance?

Got trapped in the same way last year. These instances are getting to be far too regular and serious. I hope everyone steps up their reports to CHIRPS. More info on these links:-

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/451994/an/0/page/0#451994

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/902271/an/0/page/0#902271
 
[ QUOTE ]
From what I remember (day shapes or not) 'drift nets are not to be left unattended for any reason', and I don't really think a mile away counts as being "attended" either.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not for one minute defending the guy but if the drift net is a mile+ long and he's sitting 100' from one end "is it attended" I would argue that it was!

I might want to know why he felt the need to shoot his gear so close to the shore and a marina exit and what else would he expect?

Peter.
 
The Trawler was a few miles north of the river Tyne and too far away from us to see if it was showing any marks, I was just amazed that someone could leave a net of this size floating like it was, all the lobster pots are well marked, the normal trawlers tow there nets behind so just give them a very wide berth but in 30 years I have never encountered one of these so its been a learning curve, anybody know how wide these nets can be?
Thanks
 
There are load of them around the Spanish coast. They usually have a fast-ish surveillance boat that comes haring along to wave you off (they shout, scream, wave coats, etc.) if you look like crossing a net. But I go along at around 6 kts so they have time...at 22kts they don't stand a chance of waving you off, so if you bring your boat over here, be VERY careful!
 
I don't think that is an issue here. Are you saying you look behind you every 10 seconds or so and a proper look not just at the boats but the crew who may or may not be jumping up and down trying to attract your attention.

I wonder why he did not shout you on the VHF when he saw the inevitable, I am sure traffic like that on 16 could be excused by the YBW VHF perfectionists.

Personally I would like to see a ban on drift netting and purse seiners, but that is a whole new argument.
 
Forgot to mention in between the yelling I asked why he didnt call me on the VHF, he said he was non stop, I said no, I had 2 vhf's and both were silent, I said which channel and he screamed 8! Then his face dropped and the anger subsided.
Thanks Mike
 
These nets are set to catch salmon and trout between july and sept.and are about 600 metres long, with orange float at each end.
CG. used to give monotonously regular warnings of their presence but the fishery is being phased out and far fewer boats are licenced.
They normaly warn approaching v/ls on 16 but at 22k you may have been too quick for them.
Rgds. ionian
 
I would have thought this was a perfectly normal use for 16 which is the safety and calling channel. This is both 'safety' and 'calling'.
 
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