FISHING LICENCE

Member Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 31

I can understand why so many anglers are opposed to the proposed fishing liscence. Just another £25 we have to pay the goverment.
But what is the alternative if we are somehow going to have a say in what happens in our inshore waters. The NFSA are doing their best without much success so something has to change.

The local commercial boys are having the biggest say because they must pay a liscene fee to the goverment which they think entitles them to do as they like in our inshore waters. Yet all they do is rape the sea showing total disregard for any form of conservation. During the summer months it is clear for all to see the miles of netting and long lines that are set out along the Solent by the commercials. Its a wonder to me how any fish are caught from the beach. How often do you hear of beach anglers actually having a good catch ?

I like many anglers I know, fish on a catch and release basis, only occasionly keeping a fish to eat. So we are already doing our best for the conservation of our waters.

Something has to be done sooner or later otherwise the sport we all enjoy will become a total waste of time because the commercial boys will have taken all of the fish out of our inshore waters.

We all need to do something if we want to continue sea angling because if we dont then in less than 10 years their wont be any fish left to catch !

Please reply to this post if you have any ideas on what we could do about the current situation and maybe what action we could all collectively take.

Oh by the way I think we should all protest outside of the Houses of Parliament and hand in a petition to the fisheries department expressing our growing concerns for the deminishing fish stocks in our inshore waters.

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 2:25 pm

PUBANGLER wrote:

The local commercial boys are having the biggest say because they must pay a liscene fee to the goverment ......

Not true. Commercial fishing licences were issued free by the government. The only time money changes hands is when a commercial sells his licence (which was free in the first place) to another commercial. The proceeds of which go to the guy who sold the licence not the government (although I believe the tax man is investigating some of these sales with regards Capital Gains Tax).

Commercials have the biggest say because SFCs are rigged in their favour and they have a powerful lobbying machine, wheras anglers are a disjointed and un-unified bunch who would rather argue with each other than put pressure on the government to make changes.

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:15 pm

I agree 100% with your sentiments, unfortunatley we are going to faced with old aversary of the English "APATHY" where if it was the French we would be blockading some port somewhere,
Sea anglers MUST write to their respective MP`s and show their views regarding this, also as dear Gordon Brown has seemed to have signed away most of our rights in Lisbon I am doubtful whether this goverment has any teeth to stop the foreign boats coming virtually up our beaches, just ask yourselves why is the fishing so good in Norway (I have fished there) they are not in the EC perhaps?
I will do all can to make sure someone hears my views but as I said I aint holding my breathe.
Come on Bobfly get back on yer soapbox.

Member Joined: Aug 19, 2007 Posts: 20

hi
I am at a lost here, ? is there a chinese spy in our mist, has the pubangler been at the bottle too long,, could the publangler be a undercover agent working for the goverment . Why not make it voluntary so only the foolish need to pay/apply. why not put more tax on beer and spirts to pay for the damage done by alcohol , winking

cheers
driftwood
P.S
Sex is ok but it does not beat the real thing happy

Member Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 31

Thankyou MJB for telling us all the commercials do not have to pay a liscence fee. However I note you did not refute that commercial fisherman have a total disregard for any form of fishing conServation.

As for your crude comments DRIFTWOOD, I hope all decent anglers treat them with contempt they deserve. You can be assurred you will be reported to the forum.

Thank you SEASPRAY for your reply and I could not agree more, so come on all you sea anglers, write to your MP and let him know your feelings about how these commercial boys are raping the sea and destroying what you enjoy doing, CATCHING FISH.
Like I said before if we dont do something soon there will be no fish left in our inshore waters !

Member Joined: Nov 10, 2007 Posts: 35 Location: Dorset

Bashing the inshore fishermen aint the way to go.Their not the ones affected stocks,it's the boats at sea doing 10-14 days trawling,pair trawling and beam trawling,catching tonnes of fish every haul.What the inshore boats catch is insignificant to these boats.
The government stipulate what their quota's are and this is where problem lies not with the inshore boys,who struggle to make a living because of the larger vessels,they are trying to make a living,not fishing for pleasure ,I for one,am behind them,but the larger boats need stiffer regulations on net sizes,fishing zones(breeding areas),tonnage landed etc.
I have my hard hat on ready for the barrage. worried

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:11 pm

Seaspray is pretty much on target here. Getting out of the EU is the key.

We can then restore a 12 mile limit to keep the big offshore trawlers at bay and we can also make our own decisions about inshore trawling at Westminster. At the moment Westminster has about as much power as a parish council.

So write to your MP telling him/her we want out of the EU which we never asked for in the first place. Join the UKIP and vote for them at the next election.

Member Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 31

Well CHESILMUFF its clear to me you are commercial because your reply is typical of the excuses we expect from you people. Your not catching much because over the years you have have raped the sea and with your fishing methods destroyed fish stocks.
Sure the bigger trawlers do a lot of damage to fish stocks and we have all witnessed the obscene act of them throwing back dead fish. As I recall it was because they were fishing with small meshed nets for prawns.
Guess what surprise surprise they caught cod and other large fish that they had to throw back because they had fulfilled their yearly quotas.
So why do they not suggest to the EU fisheries that they start their yearly quotas when they start fishing with their smallest nets, that way they could keep the cod as part of their quota.
But no they would'nt like that because they dont like being told how much they can catch they just want to empty the sea of fish so that they can make as much money as they can.
Like I said before they could not care less about fish stocks and conservation.

So come on all you Anglers lets start action to put a stop to these commercial fisherman who trawl, net, long line our inshore waters and net illegally our esturies, rivers and harbours. We must stop them from destroying the pleasure we get from angling.

Come on all you fishing tackle shop owners and new boat suppliers who, through us anglers, make your living and pay the Government millions of pounds in taxes. The amount we contribute in VAT and other taxes far outweighs the peanuts that the commercial fisherman pay to the Goverment.

I want my grandchildren to have the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of sea angling but if we do not do something soon we will have no fish in the sea to catch.

Its time for action not just words so if you agree with me post a reply.
If I get enough response I will set up an action group who will lobby the Goverment.

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:35 pm

The only way forward is the golden mile around our shores. A blanket ban of all commercial fishing including land based gill netters. That is the only way that our fish stocks will recover Its not the big ships that do the damage its the smaller vessels that trawl inshore taking undersize fish that are not mature and haven't spawned to create a new generation of fish. I do know my stuff as I am head of fisheries management for my local angling club.
As for us paying for the right to fish, I pay for my rod licence, I watch the EA building salmon runs and a few wooden platforms for people to fish on. I get checked for my licence once every two years. I have watched EA workmen sleeping in their pick up trucks when they are supposed to be working. What will they do for the sea fisherman? What they did in Portugal was take the money then give it to the commercial fishermen which is probably what they will do here angry

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:54 pm

PUBANGLER wrote:

Well CHESILMUFF its clear to me you are commercial because your reply is typical of the excuses we expect from you people. Your not catching much because over the years you have have raped the sea and with your fishing methods destroyed fish stocks.
Sure the bigger trawlers do a lot of damage to fish stocks and we have all witnessed the obscene act of them throwing back dead fish. As I recall it was because they were fishing with small meshed nets for prawns.
Guess what surprise surprise they caught cod and other large fish that they had to throw back because they had fulfilled their yearly quotas.
So why do they not suggest to the EU fisheries that they start their yearly quotas when they start fishing with their smallest nets, that way they could keep the cod as part of their quota.
But no they would'nt like that because they dont like being told how much they can catch they just want to empty the sea of fish so that they can make as much money as they can.
Like I said before they could not care less about fish stocks and conservation.

So come on all you Anglers lets start action to put a stop to these commercial fisherman who trawl, net, long line our inshore waters and net illegally our esturies, rivers and harbours. We must stop them from destroying the pleasure we get from angling.

Come on all you fishing tackle shop owners and new boat suppliers who, through us anglers, make your living and pay the Government millions of pounds in taxes. The amount we contribute in VAT and other taxes far outweighs the peanuts that the commercial fisherman pay to the Goverment.

I want my grandchildren to have the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of sea angling but if we do not do something soon we will have no fish in the sea to catch.

Its time for action not just words so if you agree with me post a reply.
If I get enough response I will set up an action group who will lobby the Goverment.

im totally with you on this one pubangler,trouble is a couple of dozen anglers in a action group aint exactly gona do alot,but if half the sea anglers in the country jioned the NFSA ,then what a difference that would make,more funding and a louder voice that would be heard in parliament,
http://www.nfsa.org.uk/

so come on you lot looky linky,and do something about it,before its to late,and all we can do is tell our grandchildren what a great hobby sea angling was, crying

regards bob

Member Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 31

Thank you for your reply CRAZY-DUDE.

Do you not think we should let the Goverment know what we think before they decide what to do with the liscence money. At least then they for sure would know that we would not be happy if they did the same as Portugal and gave it to the commercials.

Maybe we could suggest that they use the money to employ people who would have the authority to enfore a 2mile commercial exclusion zone from British shores.

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:14 pm

Its just another rip off tax by the government,they dont care about the conservation of fish stocks,its just another way to squeeze a bit more revenue out of people.They definatley need to address the commercial fisherman especially the ar**holes who drop there nets a few hundred yrds off shore.I think there should be a total ban on cod fishing they obviously under serious threat and there are plenty of alternatives.I did sign a government petition against the rod licence unfortunatley i think it'll fall on deaf ears.Pretty soon you wont be able to take a sh*t without being taxed and thets why they call this country rip off Britain....................p.s hello to everyone on the forum,this is my first post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:00 pm

BOBFLY wrote:

PUBANGLER wrote:

Well CHESILMUFF its clear to me you are commercial because your reply is typical of the excuses we expect from you people. Your not catching much because over the years you have have raped the sea and with your fishing methods destroyed fish stocks.
Sure the bigger trawlers do a lot of damage to fish stocks and we have all witnessed the obscene act of them throwing back dead fish. As I recall it was because they were fishing with small meshed nets for prawns.
Guess what surprise surprise they caught cod and other large fish that they had to throw back because they had fulfilled their yearly quotas.
So why do they not suggest to the EU fisheries that they start their yearly quotas when they start fishing with their smallest nets, that way they could keep the cod as part of their quota.
But no they would'nt like that because they dont like being told how much they can catch they just want to empty the sea of fish so that they can make as much money as they can.
Like I said before they could not care less about fish stocks and conservation.

So come on all you Anglers lets start action to put a stop to these commercial fisherman who trawl, net, long line our inshore waters and net illegally our esturies, rivers and harbours. We must stop them from destroying the pleasure we get from angling.

Come on all you fishing tackle shop owners and new boat suppliers who, through us anglers, make your living and pay the Government millions of pounds in taxes. The amount we contribute in VAT and other taxes far outweighs the peanuts that the commercial fisherman pay to the Goverment.

I want my grandchildren to have the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of sea angling but if we do not do something soon we will have no fish in the sea to catch.

Its time for action not just words so if you agree with me post a reply.
If I get enough response I will set up an action group who will lobby the Goverment.

im totally with you on this one pubangler,trouble is a couple of dozen anglers in a action group aint exactly gona do alot,but if half the sea anglers in the country jioned the NFSA ,then what a difference that would make,more funding and a louder voice that would be heard in parliament,
http://www.nfsa.org.uk/

so come on you lot looky linky,and do something about it,before its to late,and all we can do is tell our grandchildren what a great hobby sea angling was, crying

regards bob

Bobflly is right. The only way that we can have a voice is if we all join the NFSA.
The government regards angling as a minority sport in this country, in this years figures the government claimed that more people in this country do pilates than fishing, despite sales figures of 1.2 million fishing licences sold, and that doesn't include those that fish illegally without a licence nor does it include those of us that only sea fish. If you take a rough guess the figures for people that fish in this country would hit 2.5-3 million. if we all spoke out against the government they would have to listen.

What is pilates?
And is it better than fishing?

Member Joined: Nov 10, 2007 Posts: 35 Location: Dorset

PUBANGLER wrote:

Well CHESILMUFF its clear to me you are commercial because your reply is typical of the excuses we expect from you people. Your not catching much because over the years you have have raped the sea and with your fishing methods destroyed fish stocks.

Wel PUBANGLER,or are you Derek Acorah,I'am not a commercial,and I do not 'rape the the sea' as you put it,also how do you know I'am not catching much??Personally I think the fishing has approved the last few years since the government have improved regulations but agree they need to do a lot more.
Watching Scottish pair trawlers unload 1000's of tonnes of mackerel and bass in my local port over the winter caught in the channel in years gone by are the sort of vessels doing the damage,but oh I forgot,the fish stay inshore all year round cruising our shore lines,just like the cod do. rolling eyes

I do however think that under 12m trawlers should not be able to trawl right up to our shore lines and should have a three mile limit imposed.
Thats my ENTITLED OPINION.

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:12 pm

I was checking various rules and regs regarding this even checking the Magna Carta, as I was sure there something about the shoreline between high and low water mark, and I came across this website which makes some interesting reading, www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/fishing-rights and it certainly gave me some food for thought regarding this subject, in saying that it still does not alter my views on this subject.