Trawlling

[Wansworth]

IfI understand it right trawling for bottom fish is going to be banned in many areas in Europe,this may well reduce the number Of fishing boats or they may take up different arts like long lining .Itsto protect the sea bed and inmprovefish stocks.The effect on the coastal fishing harbours is yet to be seen but could be catastrophic.

 

[Daydream believer]

Has anybody told the Spannish & French yet? Or is the EU frightened to send them that memo.
Does it apply to UK waters? I assume the French can do what they like in OUR waters as it will not be part of the EU market- Or so we are "reliably" told .
In any event, they will find a way to make the fish rise up. Electric shocks, explosives etc. perhaps. Is that legal? has a method already been tested? Then catch them in drift nets.
In any event there will be a demand for fish fingers. That means that it will be necessary for fishermen to adapt.
Possible? Financially? Of course, because there is a market.

 

[ean_p]

IfI understand it right trawling for bottom fish is going to be banned in many areas in Europe,this may well reduce the number Of fishing boats or they may take up different arts like long lining .Itsto protect the sea bed and inmprovefish stocks.The effect on the coastal fishing harbours is yet to be seen but could be catastrophic.

Hopefully and not before time.......

 

[KevinV]

Or it could cement the future of fisheries by enabling the sea floor to perform as it's intended to, making the sea a more fertile place which can support more fish. Bottom trawling of all kinds is hugely destructive. I empathise with the fishermen, but they adapted when big diesels made this fishery possible, they can adapt again to new circumstances - just like we all have to.

@Daydream believer they banned the recent innovation of electric nets - which were hugely effective and selective, didn't disturb the surface as deeply and used less fuel - because the fish often broke their spines with the shock (supposedly - the truth was it gave the Dutch, who developed it, a huge advantage over their foreign brethren within the EU, so they ganged up on the Dutch and banned it).

 

[Wansworth]

When I worked on trawlers out of Vigo we used to fish up around the Fastnet and adjacent areas and on the radio it was normal to hear that the long liners from Coruna were getting good prices,better than the trawlers as the fish was un damaged,anda good size.To some extent the trawlers have not been their best friends over the years with illegal fishing small mesh or double nets.But fish is a staple food especially in Spain so vital something is sorted

 

[Daydream believer]

they may take up different arts like long lining .

Better sharpen the blades on the rope cutter then. I can imagine the mess a few miles of nylon line would make of one's prop in the Channel.

 

[KevinV]

Electric shocks, explosives etc. perhaps. Is that legal? has a method already been tested?

In Dutch, but I'm sure google translate will help:
De schrik, kramp en shock van de gepulste vis

 

[dunedin]

Is it trawling or the massively more damaging scallop dredging that is to be banned?
I would be delighted if scallop dredging was banned, as it devastates huge swathes of the seabed

 

[Daydream believer]

Is it trawling or the massively more damaging scallop dredging that is to be banned?
I would be delighted if scallop dredging was banned, as it devastates huge swathes of the seabed

Do Salmon feed on the scallops before they go up river to spawn. If so that would give them a better chance of survival. I used to enjoy fishing with my grandad on the Tweed..

 

[WoodyP]

Do Salmon feed on the scallops before they go up river to spawn. If so that would give them a better chance of survival. I used to enjoy fishing with my grandad on the Tweed..

I doubt that a salmon could open a scallop shell. I think they feed on shrimp and krill.

 

[Daydream believer]

I read about Salmon going across to the eastern side of the North sea to feed before coming back to go up the Scottish rivers. There was complaints that the Danes ( think it was them)were killing the food stocks that Salmon ate so the fish going into the rivers were under fed & unable to make the journey up river to spawn.
I thought that the debate was about scallop fishing. Perhaps it was the scallop fishing that was killing the other parts of the food chain that salmon eat & I missunderstood the content of the article

 

[fisherman]

There's a world of difference between a lightweight otter trawl, which was once towed under sail, a modern beam trawl or an 18 a side scallop dredging outfit. Also twin rigs, etc etc, and fuel costs may drive people back to low impact methods. But not if the government subsidises fuel costs, mentioning no names.
A modern ten metre trawler may have 300hp: an anchor seiner of twice the length, maybe under 100hp, low impact, they spread leaded rope in a circle and herd the fish into a lighweight net.
I used pots and lines, passive low impact gear.
It will need a few years for stocks to regenerate before we turn back to older methods, inc longlining, one of my favourite jobs. As mackerel, the bait of choice, is scarce and costing as much as or more than the target fish it's a non runner.
The whole industry needs to step back. For instance, if monofilament nets had been banned when they arrived in the 70s there would have been a lot less fish caught for nuppence return. Plus a simple thing like cheap GPS and constantly running echo sounders (needing no paper) allowed people with no ancient handed down knowledge to find every bit of useful ground they pass over. It's called technology creep.
All that happened at a time the authorities took no interest in fishery management, they suddenly panicked in about 1984.
Another European war would allow regeneration.
If people stopped buying scallops that would be very nice for the seabed and the fixed gear fishermen. Simplistic, but the consumer dictates what comes out of the sea.
You won't get longline in your prop, it lies on the bottom. There is some shallow water lining , but not what they are talking about here.
Salmon hover near the surface waiting for rain to wash the scent of their river out to them, fresh water sits on salt.

 

[Daydream believer]

Another European war would allow regeneration.

Never heard of a tsunami torpedo then ?
What about fish stocks
55 secs in
This is not meant to be about the politics I am just wondering about the damage to the environment- fish in particular, when radiactive water circulates around the gulf stream

 

[Frogmogman]

This is not meant to be about the politics I am just wondering about the damage to the environment- fish in particular, when radiactive water circulates around the gulf stream

You SAY that it’s not meant to be about politics, yet your post #2 begins with an attack on French and Spanish fishermen that appears to be based on nothing other than your own prejudice. These are issues for ALL fisheries.

I would be delighted if scallop dredging was banned, as it devastates huge swathes of the seabed

Me too. Dredging the sea floor with hooks and steel mesh does massive damage to the whole ecosystem, destroying or perturbing almost all that lives there: the sessile plants and animals on which fish feed, the fish themselves and their spawn. The damage these techniques cause is out of all proportion to the catch, costing other fishermen way more than the dredgers make themselves.

 

[Wansworth]

The there is the by catch which is hosed off the deck,mostly dead small fish

 

[Daydream believer]

You SAY that it’s not meant to be about politics, yet your post #2 begins with an attack on French and Spanish fishermen that appears to be based on nothing other than your own prejudice. These are issues for ALL fisheries.

Let us be clear here. I was referring to the video. I did not want to enter a political debate about the rights & wrongs of nuclear arms. Only point out the futility of the earlier comment suggesting ( although not saying in direct words) that we need an european war to save fish. The forum rules forbid political debate but i wanted to reinforce my objection to the post in question. _ but not break forum rules, which is difficult when talking about such subjects

Re the French & Spanish, I think that it has been well documented that Spannish fishermen have been seen to break the rules, so my statement was really a critical statement based on fact not fiction..
As to the French connection, is it not reasonable to ask if fishing in OUR waters comes under the same rules as fishing in EU rules?
That is not politics so much as the business of fishing. Obviously they are set between nations so you can say it is political. But it was never meant to be so due to forum rules. Clearly the mods did not think it such, otherwise it would have been removed

 

[KevinV]

Only point out the futility of the earlier comment suggesting ( although not saying in direct words) that we need an european war to save fish. The forum rules forbid political debate but i wanted to reinforce my objection to the post in question.

My understanding of @fisherman 's post was simply a reference to the superabundance of fish after WWII, when fishing had been very limited for a relatively short period (and two perfect herring breeding seasons). Not suggesting that war is good, or to be hoped for.