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Guernsey 2016

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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foxfish

Silver Smoker
Dec 31, 2005
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Happy new year everybody.
The last I heard, sea fisheries had yet to confirm if there will be a ban on taking bass for the first six months of the year.
Does anyone have any up to date info?
 
Happy new year to all down on the islands .Remember boys there's more to life than bass!
 
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Happy new year everybody.
The last I heard, sea fisheries had yet to confirm if there will be a ban on taking bass for the first six months of the year.
Does anyone have any up to date info?
Hi Mart, RE EU BASS restrictions, We are also waiting to see what happens here in Jsy. Our fisheries can implement restrictions on the commercial sector via licensing conditions but at the mo, as Jsy is not EU, there is no local law in place that can be used to restrict recreational fishermen, however, our law officers are working on it. Until recently, I was supportive of the EU measures, even those restricting recreational bass fishing, because we were told it was necessary and that commercials were to be similarly restricted, BUT I have since found out that the 6 month commercial ban does not apply to gill netting, which accounts for approx half the bass landed in the UK. Astonishingly, gill netting has been classed as "low impact" so it is only restricted for two months (feb and March) but even more astonishing is that for the remaining 4 months of the ban, gill netting quotas have been increased from 1 ton to 1.3tons per month, making a mockery of the whole thing. IMO, the UK recreational anglers have been misrepresented by vociferous , well organised catch and release bass anglers, who inflated bass catches, as a result the EU acted on the assumption that recreational anglers account for 25% of total bass landings! What a load of tosh! Sadly, as a result, recreational anglers (includes spearos) have been sold out by EU and British government.


EU BASS RESTRICTIONS 2016.jpg
 
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Happy new year all, Heard the same as Mike yesterday, my neighbour is still catching bass now on the shore spinning, but for every 5-10 trips out he scores with a 3-4 lb'r
 
I would assume Guernsey will follow the UK .... considering our fleet (including recreational fishermen) whipped out 100s of tons of breeding bass, then Jersey took us to the European court which in turn allowed huge UK trawlers to finish the job, both of our islands are partly responsible for the huge decline in bass stocks!
Of course it is not only bass that have suffered .. where have all the flatfish gone?
I find it hard to imagine that rod & line fishermen could deplete flatfish stocks to the present level, but as far as I can work out .. our sea fisheries department just want to please the commercial fishermen & not to conserve stocks!
 
Hi Mart, RE EU BASS restrictions, We are also waiting to see what happens here in Jsy. Our fisheries can implement restrictions on the commercial sector via licensing conditions but at the mo, as Jsy is not EU, there is no local law in place that can be used to restrict recreational fishermen, however, our law officers are working on it. Until recently, I was supportive of the EU measures, even those restricting recreational bass fishing, because we were told it was necessary and that commercials were to be similarly restricted, BUT I have since found out that the 6 month commercial ban does not apply to gill netting, which accounts for approx half the bass landed in the UK. Astonishingly, gill netting has been classed as "low impact" so it is only restricted for two months (feb and March) but even more astonishing is that for the remaining 4 months of the ban, gill netting quotas have been increased from 1 ton to 1.3tons per month, making a mockery of the whole thing. IMO, the UK recreational anglers have been misrepresented by vociferous , well organised catch and release bass anglers, who inflated bass catches, as a result the EU acted on the assumption that recreational anglers account for 25% of total bass landings! What a load of tosh! Sadly, as a result, recreational anglers (includes spearos) have been sold out by EU and British government.


View attachment 41697

That cartoon sums up the problem perfectly, a touch of class! ;) Remember the government knows best...................... how to ensure Bass is not on your menu but is on the menu of the Parliament canteen :D
 
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The new regulations have not been ratified yet, so not in force.
 
Happy New year Folks, will give the bass a rest then, for the mean time I will focus my efforts on Ormering this weekend & "timbering" down the west coast
 
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Trip on Sunday scalloping with Jonny Twofifty, sheltered spot from the wind and was a nice day. Walk down is always easy but the walk back up is really hard work, good bit of training to get the Christmas fat off though. Had my first scallop which has taken a while as couldn't equalise, so could only get to around 5 meters, after a free diving course at Vobster quay with Emma Farrel, that changed all and got down to 9 ish meters. Now can hit the scallop beds, just need to change my technique as spent too much time faffing around instead of gliding the sea bed getting scallops, Jonny had a good load of scallops, a great day out in all this winter gloomy weather...
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General question, I suspect Mart will know though, when is the best time for snorkelling for spider crabs? i.e when are the biggest males about and also in good condition? I had some corkers in march 3 years ago, and the last 2 years the viz was either terrible early on due to the mega swells, or I was late back into the water.
 
Now would be a good time but you would need to dive too 200'!
They live in deep water but start their trip into the shallows around Feb time, that is when the offshore netters get them.
What is left.... arrive in early spring but it is temp & weather dependant from year to year.
Spider crabs were so abundant when I was young, we used mesh covered bike wheels tossed from the rocks to collect them.
So much fun and excitement, very often you could actually watch them crawl into the wheel, the sea bed was paved with tens of thousands of them.
Spider usually arrive at the same time as plaice but the plaice have already breed & are never in good condition for the first few weeks. However they both seem to like calm weather & spring tides so the first calm springs in from late March early April would be a good time to look.
 
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Cheers Mart, I will probs start diving again at the end of Feb so should coincide with them hopefully, it is nice diving & lobstering at the end of Feb/March if there's a calm spell as all of the weed has been cleared making it so much easier.
 
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Think Jonnys got a funny French accent , you know what the dark sheeps like ,he is .....fiddling with all sorts !
 
Can anyone advise? I have a couple of mates coming over to dive in the autumn and would like to stay close to town. So we are looking for somewhere where the costs are reasonable and don't complain too much if the guests smell of neoprene.
 
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