Blimey, keep mentioning my name!! Scary...
Anyway, I think the situation is much the same as previous years, loads of bass, loads of commercial boats fishing for them, boats which trawl, rod and liners, potters using the rods, part timers risking it in the rough waters etc etc etc.
One interesting fact is that the Skipper of Amy Blue, pretty much our biggest trawler, lost his trawl on the Boue the other week (a Boue is Guernsey Patois for reef for the non Guerns and this particular reef is pretty much a single pinnacle coming up from the deeps). He did get it back the next day but it was apparently in a bad way. Such a shame for him... :friday:friday:friday
The fish are there in good numbers but not as many as previous years from what I hear. The Jersey boat caught bass record has been claimed by a fish supposedly caught at the Guernsey spawning mark, only a small fish though of 16 something. The best fish on rod and line have been in excess of 22lb in weight. No commercial is brave enough to claim the Guernsey record with a spawning fish, and anyway, they would have to stop fishing to do that... Much more money in fishing for a few more hours.
I have stepped down from conservation roles I was running as I simply don't have the time anymore but I obviously have an interest as an angler who mainly fishes for bass, been 4 times this year already.
Unfortunately, I think that any kind of protest is a lost cause as it always comes back to the argument that you are taking away someones income at a lean time of year. The fact that:
1. How did they survive before the breeding fish were found?
2. What will they do when the fish are gone?
Doesn't seem to matter. Fill your boots boys.....
The problem is that our sea fisheries seems to have completely collapsed under bureaucracy. The commercials I have spoken to say they are struggling with the new licenses being given (as in free) out by SFC (including a pair trawl one), the fact that sea fisheries is allowing foreign boats inside the 3 mile limit, the fact that they cocked up and allowed the 12 mile limit to be disbanded which is now open to all and sundry as a black fish area and who knows what else they have done that I can't think of... Pretty much the same deal as anglers get, the SFC don't give a flying **** what goes on anymore. Sad but seems to be true.
And then to top it off, any criticism of SFC doesn't get you anywhere and they block you out completely as they are "doing their best with limited resources". I also have it on very good authority that the Guernsey Law officers (they make the laws for approval etc and advise the govn't on laws and prosecution cases to get the right laws etc etc) are very short staffed, budget cuts mean they can't get more staff, they are up to their eyeballs in work but will give priority to certain cases which they get most of. So where do we start??
Local people are awfully gullible as well, hence Guernsey Donkeys!! They see line caught bass for sale, great!! It's not trawled so therefore it's good for me to buy it!! Ask the fishmonger and are they going to tell you it was spawning when caught? Not likely as it will affect his sales.
The problem seems to be in making non fishy people understand and care enough to do something about it long term.
BUT, it's more than locals as most of the bass are landed in Carteret in France, they have also been landed in Brixham and Peterhead to try and get the prices. The UK charter vessels have started to cotton on to this and are making the cross channel trip to land their punters the "bass of a lifetime" telling them that the fish are Guernsey bass. Well they aren't. The tagging program told SFC that the fish come from all over and as far away as Belgium and the Saalcombe estuary from re-capture info. BUT, it's all gone rather quiet on the tagging results, maybe too many were re-caught locally!!!
I have no idea what to do.......:crutch
