Uk Cod Stocks Are On The Brink Of Collapse and Iceland Have Just Cut Their Cod Quota To Stop Theirs Going The Same Way

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) welcomes the announcement that, from September 1st 2007, the quantity of cod that Icelandic fishermen will be allowed to catch will be reduced by nearly one third (31%) to enable stocks to recover, and ensure supplies of cod for the future. Sadly, the future for fish in UK and European Community waters is much less assured. North Sea cod is now teetering on the brink of complete collapse – at current fishing levels the populations are barely able to sustain themselves. As a result, the great British tradition of Cod and Chips is in fact no longer British at all - more than 90 per cent of cod consumed in the UK is imported from areas such as Icelandic waters and the Barents Sea.

The pressure MCS has applied on UK supermarkets and fish-producers to source their fish sustainably has, in turn, created demand for a more responsible, science-led approach to fishery management. The decision made last week by the Government of Iceland has been influenced by this demand, and will bear dividends for fish and fishermen in the future.

Due to a long history of ignoring scientific advice, the European Commission has overseen a dramatic decline in cod populations around the UK. In the North Sea, for example, cod stocks have dropped from over 300 000 tonnes in the 1970s and 80s to the current level of only 30 000 tonnes – largely due to overfishing.

Dr Bryce Beukers-Stewart, Fisheries Policy Officer at MCS, says “The recent bold decision by Iceland to cut its cod quotas in line with scientific advice really demonstrates the power of consumer awareness in sustainability”. He continues, “The Icelandic fisheries minister publicly stated that the prime motivation behind this move was to maintain Iceland’s reputation as a source of sustainable fish for the British export market. For MCS, this is the ultimate reason for the sustainable seafood movement – collective individual actions are now influencing international fisheries management measures – and helping sustain the long-term future of our fish stocks and marine environment.”

The MCS Sustainable Seafood Programme enables consumers, in the UK and Europe, to make informed choices when buying seafood to secure a sustainable future for fish. The first UK ‘Good Fish Guide’ book was published in 2002, followed by development of the widely acclaimed website www.fishonline.org. To provide up-to-date and easily accessible consumer advice about the sustainability of over 150 fish stocks the FISHonline website is updated annually, together with a Pocket Good Fish Guide which provides lists of Fish to Eat and Fish to Avoid.

MCS has influenced and advised the development of sustainable fish buying policies by many of the key UK food retailers; M&S, Tesco, Waitrose, CoOp, Asda, Somerfield and Sainsbury’s have all removed from sale species identified by MCS as “Fish to Avoid”. MCS has also produced guidance for chefs, and advised the House of Commons and several restaurant and hotel chains on the adoption of sustainable seafood policies. Throughout the campaign MCS has engaged in constructive dialogue with fishermen, fish producers, associations, retailers and fish farmers. The Programme has resulted in the stated support of a number of individuals from within the fishing industry for, variously, its “reasonable” position, “thorough and useable advice”, and “robust voice”.

More information about the Sustainable Seafood Programme can be found at the www.fishonline.org website. The MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide, featuring lists of fish to eat and fish to avoid, can be obtained FREE - send a SAE to MCS, call 01989 566017, e-mail info@mcsuk.org or download from the website.

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Anglers and Recreational Shell fishermen from Hartlepool have all but brought the  North eastern Sea Fisheries Committees system for provision of permits for the new shellfish byelaw to its knees. In a NESFC document about the bye law it is claimed that

“Since the introduction of the new bye law there has been a concerted campaign in the Hartlepool area to encourage individuals and schoolchildren to apply for permits in an attempt to clog the committees administrative systems. This is peculiar to Hartlepool and has not been reflected in any other areas where the provisions have been widely accepted. To date 461 limited shellfish permits have been issued, 80% from Hartlepool “

“As an example one individual ordered 8 permits for his family and 300 for a local school”

“Applications have also been received from individuals as young as 3 years old”

The byelaw which was introduced some several months ago  is up for review at the committees next meeting and NESFC officers hope to introduce a fee for provision of replacement tags to individuals who lost their initial set which are provided free of charge.

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A 2 fish per day bag limit is proposed for north east boat anglers.

Bass anglers in the north east have been angered by proposals from the north east sea fisheries committee to introduce a 2 fish per day bag limit for bass anglers fishing from a boat. The byelaw which is to be voted upon on Tuesday reads

Any Person taking part in a fishing activity from an unregistered vessel shall take for personal consumption only a maximum of 2 bass per calendar day

North East Anglers who are still not happy with their local sea fisheries committee for introducing a licensing scheme for the collection of Velvet peeler crabs from the shore fear that the introduction of a bag limit for bass will signal the end to recreational sea angling in the north east east as they currently know it. All though the proposed bye law is only against anglers fishing from boats it is feared that in future similar laws my be introduced for shore anglers and spread to other species. Any such bye law would surely signal the end for the north east charter fleets and the regions fishing clubs.

More information is available on the proposed by law within our fishing forum at the link below

http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/north-east-coast-fishing/will-yorkshire-be-first-county-to-get-bag-limits-for-bass/0/

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The European Union today published some information on CFP rule breaches for 2005. Speaking on behalf of the eu, fisheries minister Joe Boerg said that in 2005 more fishermen had broken the law but on average were being punished less severely with smaller fines than in the previous year. Commissionaire Boerg went on to say that he felt current deterrents were not sufficient to deter the law breaking commercial fishermen within the eu

Boerg Says :

“Breaching fisheries measures is not an innocuous snub at authority. In reality, it represents a series of repeated blows to the sustainability of the fish stocks and the fisheries concerned. Unless we all work together at eliminating the illegal activities of a minority, illegal fishing will continue to flourish while the industry as a whole, declines.”,

A full press release regarding this issue can be found at :

http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/press_corner/press_releases/com07_56_en.htm

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Pendulum Casting Tournament at Kirkleatham near Redcar

Members of the newly formed North east surfcasting association (NESA) held their first casting tournament at Kirkleatham fields near Redcar on Sunday last. Enthusiastic casters from around the area gathered at 9.30 for a full day of casting, with a dull overcast and humid day and a moderate cross wind the conditions were not perfect for the really big casts, despite this there were several personal best casts on the day and a new club record.

Alan Varley was first to strike with a huge cast of 261 yards early in the day. Alan who was using the traditional style of most long distance casters stayed un first position for most of the day before being pipped right at the close of play by Steve Anderson who bettered Alan’s cast by all of 1 yard.

Jamie Blakeman showed some top class pendulum casting and did extremely well achieving a pb of 242yds-150gm off the ground, and setting a new club record..Dave Hammill cast all wieghts and set some new club records too ;241-2-4/100gm, 222-0-0/75gm, 183-0-2/50gm and 223-1-10 on the 200gm, all on the same rod. Marcus Hammill also set a new back cast club record of 193-1-10 and newcomer Paul Atkinson went from 78yds in the morning ,after a little tuition from the lads achieved a respectable 148yds in the afternoon.

Nesa who are a surfcasting club affiliated to the United Kingdom Surfcasting Federation (UKSF) said the day was a big success and have now planned several more casting tournaments for the late summer and into early autumn. John ward spokesman for the club says that weather allowing casting event will be held on the following dates

July 22nd

August 19th

September 16th

October 14th

November 4th [weather permitting]

winter break

March 23rd- 2008

Anyone interested in joining the NESA should make contact through the Whitby fishing forum at this address :

http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/north-east-coast-fishing/0/

Alternatively the club holds casting lessons every Thursday at Kirkleatham fields in Redcar for anyone wanting to learn any of the casting styles which include pendelum casting, off the ground, x cast and Back cast.

NESA Membership is £10 until may 08, includes first event fee, £5 for members for each event thereafter, £8 for daycasters and juniors under 18 are free.Three recognised casting tutors regularly and give their advice free of charge. Again more details can be found in the whitby fishing forum allong with related topics about the pendulum casting events. See:

http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/north-east-coast-fishing/casting-at-kirkleatham-update-t1050/0/

http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/north-east-coast-fishing/casting-at-kirkleatham-t1251/0/

http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/north-east-coast-fishing/casting-at-kirkleatham-update/0/

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Ian, Ray and Dave who are all members of the Whitby sea fishing forum recently had a kayak fishing session off the Yorkshire coast near Scarborough. After major success on the cod fishing front earlier in the year the guys headed out in their kayaks again, this time in search of bass.

Unfortunately the bass were not as thick on the ground as had been expected with only Ian managing to catch, all be it a fine specimen weighing roughly 5 pounds

Although unsuccessful on the bass front Ray Maddison from Scarborough learned a few valuable lessons for the future. Ray who has been hoping to catch some bass from his ocean prowler kayak using a method of free lining shrimps says he spent a fair bit of time looking at new areas to fish from his kayak and found an excellent new venue to try, saying  as soon as the weather allows I will be back with my shrimps in search of the bass. Ray also managed several Pollock from his kayak in this session and says :

Decided to have a go at the Pollock and Bass. Managed about 8 Pollock while trolling, great sport. The bad news is I lost my best 2 plugs  Got hit by one good pollock which shot for cover and got my first plug fast up. Me being quick to learn put another one on and the same thing happened

Dave who is also a member of the Whitby fishing forum had a great day fishing from his kayak for cod. Using his favourite method of fishing jelly worms Dave managed a good bag of cod up to the five pounds mark.

A full report from the guys on Kayak fishing for bass near Scarborough can be found here 

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British Beachgoers Urged To Watch Out For Blooming Jellyfish!

19th July 2007

MCS is interested in the six larger jellyfish and two jellyfish-like species likely to be encountered around the UK coast that are known to be leatherback prey. This year British beach-goers and sea-users are encouraged to record their jellyfish encounters at www.mcsuk.org, where a free MCS jellyfish identification guide can also be downloaded. Paper copies of the ID guide and forms are also available on request, however MCS advises the public to take care during the survey.“Everyone is fascinated when they come across a jellyfish on the beach, but its important to remember look but don’t touch, as some species can inflict a painful sting!” said Peter Richardson, “So long as people are careful and sensible around jellyfish, there is no reason to panic about them blooming in our seas.”

Taking part in the survey is easy – the full-colour MCS jellyfish photo-ID guide can be downloaded from www.mcsuk.org where jellyfish encounters can be reported online. Alternatively, if beach goers want a paper copy of the ID guide and recording forms, they are available on request from the MCS office on 01989 566017 or info@mcsuk.org. Ends

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The Doc Goes Fishing In Iceland with Peter Thain.

Forum Member Doc known to Holderness coast anglers as Nigel Procter recently spent some time fishing in Iceland. Astounded by the quality of the shore fishing up there Nigel reported catches of decent sized haddock, cod, pollock, and whiting.

Nigel says

Must say a big thank you to Peter Thain, who guided me round the marks and the Island. After 3 nights of fishing (working during the day) I was knackered and almost (but not quite) looking forward to the flight to Norway where I could at least get a few hrs kip to catch up with myself.

I would recommend Peter and Steve’s Icelandic Fishing Adventures, these guys probably know more about shore fishing in Iceland than anyone else alive (non of the locals bother too much with bait fishing from the shore its all lure fishing up there), they don’t know what they are missing, although I think they may be coming round to it soon. Check out http://www.dreamfish.is Give it a go, you know it makes sense.

Nigel with a double figure shore caught cod in Iceland

To read more of Nigels Iceland fishing adventures please visit his report - A session up north - in Iceland

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Large Shark Caught In Filey Bay

A threshar Shark was landed by A Filey Fisherman yesterday. These huge sharks prefer very deep water and it is many years since a large shark like this was caught so close to the shore off the Yorkshire coast.

Quote From Sun News Paper

FISHERMAN Pip Farline celebrates the catch of his life . . . a 16ft thresher shark weighing 1,000lb.The 44-year-old was stunned when the monster got caught in his nets just 200 yards off the coast.

He had to call other fishermen to help him haul it on to his boat, which is just 12 inches bigger than the shark. As they landed it the shark’s tail fin walloped Pip’s border collie Mitzi over the head.

The last time a deep water shark was caught in the North Sea off Yorkshire, was nearly 80 years ago.

Also see the report in our fishing forum

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ED Grimshore From Rochdale Is Junior Champion In WCSA Summer Angling Festival 2007

Fishing on Colin Freeman’s boat Saxon lady. young Ed Grimshaw from Rochdale wound in a ling of 15 pounds 12 ounces on day 7 of the Whitby fishing festival . Eds big ling gives him the title of Whitby angling festival junior champ, he will also recieve a tackle prize donated by Whitby Angling Supplies .

Eds Dad Says

Ed is 14 and has been fishing now for 5 years, he is a full member of Milnrow Angling Club. Him and his step brother Ryan (13) made the decision to become a full members rather than a junior members last year because it gives them the same rights as adult members in terms of applying for places on boat trips. Both saved up the membership fees themselves. I was delighted when I knew they would be fishing with Colin Freeman on Saxon Lady as he is really passionate about his fishing and he and John his deckhand were brilliant with the lads on the day, and were delighted when Ed hauled up his winning fish.

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Save Our Sharks, SFSA Conservation Team And Sea Anglers Conservation Network Merge In Scotland

The three main bodies for representing sea fishing issues in Scotland have merged. The Save our sharks organisation managed by Ian Burrett, the SFSA Conservation Team and the Scottish division of the national organisation Sea Anglers Conservation Network have joined forces to persue conservation matters north of the border. The new body is to be known as The Scottish Sea Anglers Conservation Network (SSACN).

Spokesman for SSACN Says :

Over the past months the SOS in Scotland and SACN (Scotland) and the SFSA Conservation Team have worked together to address a number of marine conservation issues; this has greatly increased the political recognition of RSA in Scotland and allowed us to contribute to several Government and NGO initiatives. Today I would like to announce we are going to combine our conservation efforts on a more regular and organised basis by creating The Scottish Sea Anglers Conservation Network (SSACN). International pressure, persistent lobbying and the collapse of many of the inshore species has forced the Government to accept that it must address marine conservation issues and that it must include a much broader range of stakeholders.

The creation of SSACN reflects the need for RSA bodies to be as effective as other active lobby interests - nature conservation NGO’s, commercial and port interests, Government Departments etc. Our goal is to ensure recreational sea angling is recognised as a valid stakeholder in marine conservation.
We have a meeting with key officers in the Scottish exec on the 24th of this month to discuss elasmobranch management and Inshore fishery Group inclusion. There are many challenges for SSACN, YOU can help.

We need active supporters throughout Scotland to work issues with local press, politicians and local conservation groups. We also need help in establishing a ‘junior’ SSACN, researching papers, creating web pages and all the other stuff necessary to enable us to rapidly increase our presence and the impact of sea angling conservation. Any organisations, clubs, individuals etc seeking further information or wishing to make any form of contribution to aid or support SSACN should email ianburrett©btinternet.com

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YORKSHIRE DIVISION

MINUTES OF EGM, HELD 16^TH JULY, 2007

SCARBOROUGH ANGLERS CLUB

Attendance:

J Amery, NFSA

D Haye, Meltham DSAC, P Jefferson , Commercial SAC

M Wilby, K Graves, D Lowe, G Asquith , P Stonehouse, all Scarborough Boat Club

R Neale, P Arnott, G Kilpatrick, S McPherson, B Welch, Nigel Proctor, P Riley – all Individual Members

B Clarkson, J Forrest, P Kitchingman, all Bradford & District SAC.

G Davies, Scalby Mills SAC

Apologies:

G Twigger, NFSA

John Amery opened the meeting and gave a resume of the situation whereby the Yorkshire Division was pretty inactive and explained some of the reasons – closure of mines and working men’s clubs meaning that a lot of inland clubs no longer existed. Lack of fish to catch put anglers off spending good money for little return, and a host of social and economic reasons have seen a reduction in clubs.

John pointed out that in the past the NFSA had been club led, but nowadays more and more individual membership is being seen, and the emphasis on NFSA activity has moved firmly from the competition scene to protection of the Recreational Sea Angler (RSA) through fighting conservation issue etc.

Gwyn Davies spoke of the need to have a strong Division in order to talk to DEFRA , Sea Fishing Committees etc as he had found out from personal attempts that they were not inclined to take notice of individuals. It was at Gwyn’s instigation that this attempt to resurrect the Division was started.

General discussion then took place for a while as new people asked questions about the NFSA. The distribution of copies of the Journal and the application form detailing our activities prompted questions when it became apparent that some people were really aware of what the NFSA does.

Bradford & District representatives then gave a detailed account of why their club had left the NFSA, after more than 20 years membership. The gist of their comments was a failure by Head Office to respond to letters and phone calls that they made over a period of months.

John Amery responded that he had no knowledge of the situation but explained pressure of work in the office, not helped by David Rowe’s bad health at the time could be a contributing factor, but he accepted that if Bradford’s comments were correct then there was no excuse. He promised to take the matter up and said that he would have the Chairman contact them within 7 days.

Nigel Proctor commented that we needed these long serving clubs back into the fold and should take what action is required. Paul Jefferson reported that he had made a query to head office and had a reply within four days.

Nigel Proctor asked for a show of hands to determine whether there was a majority of boat or shore anglers in the room. The vote showed an even split.

Election of Officers

Chairman John Amery Proposed P Jefferson, seconded N Proctor

In accepting John said that this would be a stop-gap measure so that he could assist in getting the Division going.

Secretary Gwyn Davies Proposed J Amery, seconded P Arnott

Treasures Jean Amery Proposed P Jefferson, seconded R Neale

Jean agreed, with the same proviso as John

General Committee Stuart MacPherson,

Rob Neale

Glen Kilpatrick

Phil Arnott

Conservation Nigel Proctor

Standing Committee Nigel Proctor

Other Business. Paul Jefferson asked if the Division would be responsible for organising the Guernsey qualifier. John said that as of next year certainly, but he felt that this year’s event was already arranged and he would not advocate taking it away from anyone. It was suggested that if this was the case could we ask for a second heat to be run by the Division to prove that we are back in business.

Paul also asked if minutes of the meeting, together with a letter informing of the developments could be sent not only to current paid up clubs and members but also past members who had lapst. John said he would look into this and should have required information at head office.

Venue for Meetings was discussed and agreed in general that the Division would seek to move around the Division once it was established which clubs and individuals were interested.

Date of next meeting. 20^th August, Scarborough Anglers Club , Priors Way, Scarborough

7.30 pm

The meeting closed a 9.05 pm with J A thanking everyone for their attendance and input.

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The winner of this years Whitby angling festival Craig Simmons from Harrogate will shortly be collecting a cheque for £1500 from the Whitby charter skippers. Craig won this years angling festival with a ling of 21 pounds 10 ounces caught from Rich Wards boat Shytorque. As winner of the festivals ling section Craig will also  receive tackle prizes in addition to the £50 he won as a daily winner in the festival. John Wilcock from Barnsely who fishes all the angling festivals at Whitby came in second with a ling of 20 pounds 8 ounces also caught on Shytorque skippered by Rich Ward. Third place went to Whitby’s Mike Bessenger with a ling of 20 pounds 7 ounces. A full rundown on the festival can be found in the Whitby fishing forum by clicking here.

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The National Federation Of Sea Anglers Yorkshire Division held an Extraordinary General Meeting last night. Local interested sea anglers met at the Scarborough Rock Anglers Social club where the possibility of reforming the local branch of the NFSA was discussed.

Issues around the proposes sea angling licence and other contentious issues within the governments forthcoming marine bill were discussed.

The meeting was attended by an equal amount of shore and boat anglers with Scarborough charter skippers also being represented.

It was felt by those in attendance that there was enough interest to restart the local division. A committee including a chairman, secretary, treasurer and several committee members was elected. Minutes of the meeting will follow when I have received them.

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Local Angler Martin Wilding from Scarborough joineed his mate Chris Scaife for a day tope fishing down off the Holderness coast today. Launching from Flamborough the guys headed down to Holderness in Chris’ boat. they spent the first hour of the day Fishing for mackerel to use as bait then they set up for the tope. Things were a little slow but the third angler in the party, Mick was the first to get into the tope and landed a fine tope which was the first of the yeat for the lads who regularly  pursue the species. To read more about Tope Fishing Off Holderness Please click here.

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Today saw the Bridlington Seabirds angling club hold their annual summer angling competition. Anglers from across the region competed against each other for the prize for the captor of the heaviest single fish. Well known local angler Andy Barmby was the eventual winner with a fine cod of just short of 6 pounds.

Full Results

1st A Barmby 5lb 12oz
2nd A Barmby 5lb 8oz
3rd P Arliss 5lb

Heaviest bag
A Barmby 22lb (8 fish)

Pairs
A Barmby-R Maddison 29.5lb

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New PB Smoothhound for Phil

Local angler Phil (AKA Rusty1) had a great day at Chapel saint leonards fishing on the Lincolnshire coast for Smoothounds. Around this time every year the coast at chapel saint leonards in Lincolnshire becomes alive with smoothounds and Rays and anglers from far and wide flock for a piece of the action. Phil who is from Redcar and reports his catches to the Whitby fishing forum reports

Managed to pull this fine specimen of a fish out of the deep down at chapel today Didn’t have time to get a weight once we’d found a camera and got pics etc but definitely a new PB for me

To read Phils report in full and comments from Other local anglers please click the following link. Smoothound fishing in Lincolnshire

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Kayaking Anglers Meet At Bridlington

Members of a north east kayak fishing forum held an open day at Bridlington yesterday. Many local kayak anglers were present to enjoy the day which included a barbecue on the beach. One of the highlights of the day was the attendance of Phil from http://www.mokai.co.uk/ who brought his motorised kayak for anglers to try. The Mokai Jet kayak … powered by a Honda 4 stroke water pump system was siad to handle like a dream and can be viewed on Phil’s website. For more pictures and a full report on the kayak fishing open day please visit this page on our fishing forum.

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sea urchin

The sea urchin has been very busy recently and reporting some excellent catches of good size cod, mostly taken on shads over hard ground,

the algae bloom disappeared a few weeks ago and the fishing was phenomenal with all the WCSA boats reporting excellent catches and with so many fish around the summer angling festival looks set to be a great one.

The sea urchin still has plenty of spaces available during the festival week, you can contact mick on…07855439380 or via email… enquires@whitby-sea-fishin.co.uk

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