Sussex report 2008

[devondave]

I was looking at min' sizes for taking fish & shellfish on the Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee website , thinking these must be out of date I phoned them and spoke to a very knowledgeable and nice Fisheries Officer ( sorry forgot your name ) . Turns out the sizes are correct e.g 36cm for Bass , 24cm for Sole , Mackerel 20cm , none at all for Mullet or Bream ! :hmm .The reasons for these sizes are complex and convoluted ,much to do with commercial fishing interests and EU policy , seemingly not much to do with protecting fish species :duh. As spearos we already practice the least damaging , most sporting , most selective (in fact we're just bloody great :inlove ) form of fishing possible . I would not like for anyone to think those kinds of sizes are ok in a sporting context , they're not ! (imho) . So to enhance spearfishings reputation and gain a bit of PR maybe each area on db could have voluntary recommended min' fish sizes , like the London Club has e.g 45cm for Bass . My own criterion is " is it big enough for a slap-up meal ? " , if not leave it . Ok I'll stop rambling and get back too work now .

 

[jwells1989]

i dived the palace pier again today, again saw lots of wrasse and caught one nice flounder. vis was better than yesterday around the pier which was good, but still murky under the pier,
going again tommorow aswell as the weather is looking really good, devon dave i thought the minimum size for bass was made higher to 41cm last year is this correct?
nice one kev for getting out, where are all these bass and mullet eh?
kev what boats do you guys take out how far do you go out?

 

[KWM]

Devondave/jwells. the Sussex spearfishing club have an agreed size limit of 45cm for bass this is a voluntary agreement with the Sussex Sea Fisheries Committe. We have also agreed not to shot congers eels or wrasse. This agreement has been inforce for the last 5 years. The sussex sea fisheries area stretches from Dungerness in the east to Hayling Island in the west. The BSA as a whole has an agreed size limit of 41 cm for bass. Again this is a self imposed limit where fisheries regulations stipulate 36cm. The sussex club has also agreed to a bag limit of 10 fish per diver in the Sussex area. The only agreed exception to this is if we hold a national competiton. Part of the BSA'a code of conduct states abide by all fisheries regulations ( what ever area you are in, as they do differ) as a club our relationship with ther sea fisheries committe is a cordial and good one.

This is a voluntary agreement that has worked well. Obviously if you are not members of the club or BSA you do not have to abide by BSA or Sussex club rules. It is also very fair to say that there would be no reason why you should know about them. That said it works well for the BSA, Sussex club and the sea fisheries committe and I would ask all divers that fish in sussex waters to give them consideration. If you fish in or around brighton YOU WILL BE STOPPED by Fisheries protection officers in their very fast/ big RIB, it will be of great benefit to you if you do not have undersize fish.

Josh, myself and Eric have 4m bombards, which we use up to 7 miles offshore.
Any more questions please PM me

Regards Kev

 

[KWM]

BTW, for those that are interested in a bit of training, see below from Dave King

A new ( freediving) club is opening in Brighton, at the King Alfred Leisure Centre on the Kingsway, Hove.
Every Thursday night from the 24th, 8.30-10.00.

We will have around half the pool and hope to get a mini comp there later in the year. If anyone is interested get in touch with Dave King either through the British Freediving Association website wwwbritishfreediving.org or at davidking74@mac.com

Also through the summer, shallow freediving around Brighton, as well as spearfishing. Let's start a freedive community here in Brighton!
__________________

 

[devondave]

Thanks for that KWM , was not aware of the voluntary agreement . The things you stipulated sound fair enough to me , is it possible to post a list of sizes for other species agreed with the SSFC ? Quite interested in their views on Mullet , Bream and Triggerfish amongst others . If anyone has questions for the SSFC they do seem to be approachable and not anti spearfising in any way . PS 10 fish limit not a problem ( too crap to catch 10 fish ) .

 

[jwells1989]

well that certainly cleared up a lot of stuff, thanks kev.
yeah i heared about the freediving club sounds good, but only half the pool?
going to dive the pier again later on this evening, is it me or is the may bloom starting to bloom the water is looking greenish.

 

[jwells1989]

dived the palace pier again today,saw no fish of any interest, not even a wrasse! vis was ok on the bottom but not brilliant, there seems to be lots of small particles in the water, anybody know what this is, is it may bloom?

 

[devondave]

Dived Newhaven breakwater this morning , vis nil , fish seen nil , temp' 9 or 10 . On the plus side new elios suit is the dogs danglies , so quite chuffed .

 

[Captain J]

Patience I reckon.

I'm going to wait till mid May.

Good to here you like the Elios, they are the dogs!:t

 

[jwells1989]

hey devondave what breakwater did you dive today was it the west long concrete arm with the big light house on it or the smaller pier to the east?
i tried to dive the west pier today but vis was rubbish swam to the end of the pier and back again struggled to see the end of my gun most of the time.

 

[devondave]

Hi jwells , dived the West one with lighthouse , same thing could not see end of gun . On the fishless theme anyone else tried the fishmongers at West Quay Newhaven ? Got 6 fresh Mackerel & 300 g of shell on prawns for £5.40p , bargain !! ( bought stuff here before , it's always cheap & most of it is fresh ) .

 

[Old Man Dave]

FOM trophies http://forums.deeperblue.net/708007-post22.html

Dave

 

[jwells1989]

nice one devondave i was thinking about diving it the other day and will definanlty be doing more diving there this summer as it looks really good, how far along the arm did you manage to swim? did you dive the harbour side or seaward side, those blocks along the seaward side and at the end look really good cant wait to give them a go this summer.
i have brought squid from the fishmongers on the west quay for bait and yes most of it is quite fresh as it comes straight off the trawlers moored in the harbour.

 

[KWM]

Josh, diving in harbours will get you in no end of trouble. Stick to the seaward side.

You do not want to be inside the harbour wall when the ferry leaves.

Kev

 

[Captain J]

The Newhaven arm is very good for everything.

Its also a very popular spearfishing spot in the summer months.

I bumped into a well known Italian spearo there last year.

Seabass hide amongst the big blocks.

I've scuba dived it on numerous occasions to the very end, about 11-12 metres.

When the ferry leaves/arrives vis turns down, but only nearer the end.

 

[devondave]

Yeah jwells , I agree with KWM to dive the inside of Newhaven when the ferry leaves/arrives would be very unpleasant or even :crutch. Haven't dived the outside much but did see the biggest shoal of Bass in my life there last year , ( mostly schoolies but wow ! ) . Maybe take a torch for all the crevices and holes Bass might be hiding in . My favourite site so far is under the cliffs at Seaford , saw some very big Bass there last year .

 

[jwells1989]

yeah i would dive the outside looks much better anyway, i am going to be diving a lot more down newhaven way this summer. i have seen some amazing vis down around those blocks but never had my spearfishing stuff on me at the time!
another question does anyone know what all thoses ittle particles are in the water at the moment?

 

[jwells1989]

whos going to the freediving training tonight at king alfred, are you going kev?
i want to go but finish work at 8pm so might be able to make it, the more people that go the cheaper its gonna be!

 

[KWM]

No I cant make the freediving club, to short notice.

Particles in water could be the begining of the dreaded may bloom, or could just be that it is still very wintery with lots of sediment.

kev

 

[jwells1989]

thats a shame, i have spoken to alix and she says that with me its four people that means it gonna be like £9 each (ouch). if i can get my brother to go it will be about £7.