Potential speafishing ban in South Wales

[Mr. X]

...

Thank you for your response.

Commercial fishing from a boat minus licence (any method) is prohibited - max fine £50k
5 fish limit boat fishing is Welsh Govt proposal. For some reason they do not wish it to apply to shore fishing. Welsh SFCs do. I think the answer is that its about as much helping to shore up the vessel licensing provision as conservation.
I am getting mixed comments about Scuba efficiency.I guess bass are pretty flighty.
Your trawl video is very benign - you should see the deep water beam trawl or scallop dredge stuff.
2 elements to it - escapee survival / bottom disturbance.
The latter is minimal on your light weight trawl. Shallow water / short tows then the former would be OK too. Not so heavy deep water big boat stuff.
Regards
Phil Coates

Sounds like they know commercial fishing!

The 5-fish / 2-fish thing sounds unnecessarily confusing though (is it 5 per boat & 2 per person, or 5 per person on a boat & 2 per person from shore, or 2 per person spearing?). Although I've never taken more than 2 fish in a day (did take 3 spider crabs one day), it seems too low -- especially as not every day yields fish. It seems a pity to have to give up early if you come across one of those "once in a lifetime" days when there are fish to be had and mouths to be fed - especially if they are of different species. However, if there is to be a limit for all forms of fishing (spear/rod/net/boat/shore/...), why not make it reasonably generous and consistent for all forms of fishing...and simple?

Also, what if you engage in multiple forms of fishing on one trip to the beach (e.g. 3 fish caught with handline from kayak, 3 fish speared diving from kayak, 1 fish speared & 1 crab picked from shore, one fish rod caught from shore)? It is not unusual for me to engage in all of the above in a single trip to the beach (although it would be very unusual to catch that many fish ).

 

[Spaniard]

Bag limits are fine; they do not stop spearfishing......We are targeted because we are a minority, stopping spearfishing will do NOTHING to affect the horrible consequences of pair-trawling spawning bass and gill-netting which are both deemed to be OK. Let us fight this with cold facts, level-headeness and prudence. David and Goliath it might seem, but we can prevail if we ALL join the cause....!!!

 

[Andy Davies]

I just want to remind everyone that this all started because a commercial fishermen who is a member of the SWSFC proposed a ban on flounder spiking which was then extended to spearfishing at a whim!!!!

The SWSFC officer Phil Coates, or the members of the committe, did not start out by deciding that spearfishing was a cause for concern as a result of scientific data backing up a reasoned argument.

Phil has asked for spearos to think of measures that can be brought in to manage the sport. I personally feel that spearos should not be treated any differently from any other recreational user group which catches fish. In fact, spearfishing is much more environmentally acceptable than angling for various reasons.

I think the one proposal that he has come back with is that we all support the code of conduct produced by the BSA.

Hopefully, inclusion of spearfishing in any new SWSFC byelaws will disappear in their next meeting. Our attention will then be drawn to the Marine Bill where we may have to fight for our cause alot harder.

 

[dave]

The impression I have had from Phil Coates is that he wants a (national) code of conduct to massage his ego. There has been a definate tone of expecting spearos to justify why they should be allowed to continue, rather than any information from him as to any possible reasons for a ban. SWSFC do not have any legal reasons for a ban, but he is enjoying the power of making spearos justify themselves to him
. His personal view (stated in an email to me) is that spearfishing is barbaric, so we should be very careful about giving him any information which may later be used against us.
A good example was the laughable suggestion that spearos have lower bag limits than anglers. He has taken the information that spearfishing is very selective, assumed that means bigger fish, and used something we regard as a positive as a reason to restrict spearfishing.
Voluntary codes of conduct are pointless; responsible people behave responsibly, irresponsible people behave irresponsibly. If a practise is causing environmental damage it should be legislated against. The destruction of Lyme Bays reefs by scallop dredgers is a good example of how well voluntary codes of conduct work:head

The spearfishing code of conduct is;
1/ Obey all fisheries legislation
2/ Respect other water users
3/ Take your litter home
4/ Never carry a loaded speargun out of the water

Anything much beyond this (such as voluntary bag limits, bigger than statutary min sizes etc) comes under the heading of personal ethics.
I personally think all spearos should respect the Skomer nature reserve, however, if spearfishing were to be banned, whilst angling and potting are still allowed, this would set a very dangerous precedent, and give the impression that spearfishing is more damaging than other forms of fishing

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Andy Davies]

I have been corresponding with Phil from the very beginning and he has never expressed his own personal opinion that he thinks that spearfishing is barbaric. Could you give his quote on this please?

 

[SurfnSpear]

Robbo, not as private as you might think as I have given Phil Coates a link to this thread!!!!!

Andy, perhaps your pal Phil can then explain himself....?

 

[Mr. X]

I agree with Spearo Dave, although I got the impression that Phil was trying to make the best of a situation thrust upon him. I prefer candor to the usual smarm dished out these days - at least you know where you stand! Maybe we just need to help him deal with it; it'll be better for everybody if it is kept very simple (e.g. spearfishing is allowed, the restrictions are the same as for rod fishing).

"Barbaric" is over-egging the pudding. Best kept for describing the behaviour of govt. ministers. The fish we eat live a good life, free range hunting wild prey, not cramped in pens, full of parasites, antibiotics, hormones and radio-active protein destructively scoured from the floor of the Irish sea. They have a high chance of survival and the smartest, fastest, healthiest ones get away.

Didn't Huan say they banned commercial bass fishing in Ireland? If they want to make new rules, how about that one!

 

[Mr. X]

Not about Wales, but just received this re. UK-wide bass limits:

"The proposed increase of the bass mls to 40 cms announced by the Fisheries Minister, Ben Bradshaw MP in August 2006 was NOT introduced on 7 April 2007. On 19 March 2007 the National Federation Of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO) met with the Minister to discuss their concerns over the proposed increase in bass mls and the impact it would have on their livelihoods, etc. The Minister agreed to SUSPEND the decision to increase the bass mls to 40cms on 7 April 2007, pending his consideration of the concerns expressed by the NFFO and the looking at new evidence not already assessed in the Regularity Impact Assessment produced last summer. To date we are waiting for DEFRA and the Minister to make a final announcement which was due in the middle to late May 2007. Numerous approaches have been made to DEFRA since with the same old reply "We are examining the evidence thoroughly so as to arrive at the correct conclusion and the Minister will make his announcement soon" .