What hopes for future fish stocks and young anglers.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:39 am

I feel I must post my thoughts and sadness, after experiencing some of the worse cases of fish slaughter and polution of the sea by some mindless so called anglers. ( The use of the word anglers, sticks in my throat )

Rocket and I were on board a charter boat at Dover yesterday, 27th Dec 2006, catering for individual anglers.
A number of people were on board the boat , including a father and young son who were with a group from somewhere in Hertfordshire.
Most of the day the youngster was swearing and moaning about not being able to catch a fish.
His language from some-one of his age was disgusting and I was at that time, surprised that his father never corrected him.
It was evident that most of this group were inexperienced in boat fishing, but this did not excuse their killing of virtualy everything they were catching.
I saw at least twenty or so small dead or dying fish float past me at the rear of the boat where I was fishing.
I also heard comments like, "Do you want this one for your cat"? refering to a very much undersized pouting.
I saw the young lad walking about the boat with a reasonable sized pouting in his hands, which eventualy ended up dying on the surface of the sea.
It was apparent that hooks were being ripped from the throats of the fish and these were then left to die in the water.
I know that on occasions when the hook goes deep, serious wounds can be inflicted on fish while trying to remove it.
But this was virtually every fish that was landed.
A very small 'doggie' was thrown into a carrier bag, as was a very small codling.
More cat food ?........

On packing up at the end of the day, I witnessed bait paper, sandwich bags and other litter being thrown overboard.
This despite the fact I had hung a black plastic rubbish bag up, next to where they were fishing.
In the end, I had to tell them to use the bag as I was absolutely sickened by what I had seen that day.

No, I am not being a goody, goody. I am just telling it, as it was.
This site has many responsible sea anglers and there are many responible non-members who read our forums.
I just hope that anyone who reads this, who was part of that group at Dover, will get the message.

Be responsible for your actions. Do not kill fish just for the sake of killing them.
Small imature fish are not 'cat food' and you are adding to the already massive problem of depleted fish stocks.

The sea is not 'your dustbin' and pollution also kills fish. Newspapers, tins, metal foil and bottles can be collected in a black bag ( avilable from supermarkets and the £1.00 shops ) and most, if not all skippers on charter boats will dispose of it at the end of your trip.

Teach your kids how to fish 'responsibly'. Remember it is your actions today, which will determine what they carry out in the future.

And last but not least, remember that when you are on these trips, you also have a resonsibility to fellow anglers on the boat.
They have paid for their trip and are entitled to enjoy it.
What I witnessed at Dover was not an enjoyment, it was bl***y disgusting.

Guest

Limey1 wrote:

I feel I must post my thoughts and sadness, after experiencing some of the worse cases of fish slaughter and polution of the sea by some mindless so called anglers. ( The use of the word anglers, sticks in my throat )

Rocket and I were on board a charter boat at Dover yesterday, 27th Dec 2006, catering for individual anglers.
A number of people were on board the boat , including a father and young son who were with a group from somewhere in Hertfordshire.
Most of the day the youngster was swearing and moaning about not being able to catch a fish.
His language from some-one of his age was disgusting and I was at that time, surprised that his father never corrected him.
It was evident that most of this group were inexperienced in boat fishing, but this did not excuse their killing of virtualy everything they were catching.
I saw at least twenty or so small dead or dying fish float past me at the rear of the boat where I was fishing.
I also heard comments like, "Do you want this one for your cat"? refering to a very much undersized pouting.
I saw the young lad walking about the boat with a reasonable sized pouting in his hands, which eventualy ended up dying on the surface of the sea.
It was apparent that hooks were being ripped from the throats of the fish and these were then left to die in the water.
I know that on occasions when the hook goes deep, serious wounds can be inflicted on fish while trying to remove it.
But this was virtually every fish that was landed.
A very small 'doggie' was thrown into a carrier bag, as was a very small codling.
More cat food ?........

On packing up at the end of the day, I witnessed bait paper, sandwich bags and other litter being thrown overboard.
This despite the fact I had hung a black plastic rubbish bag up, next to where they were fishing.
In the end, I had to tell them to use the bag as I was absolutely sickened by what I had seen that day.

No, I am not being a goody, goody. I am just telling it, as it was.
This site has many responsible sea anglers and there are many responible non-members who read our forums.
I just hope that anyone who reads this, who was part of that group at Dover, will get the message.

Be responsible for your actions. Do not kill fish just for the sake of killing them.
Small imature fish are not 'cat food' and you are adding to the already massive problem of depleted fish stocks.

The sea is not 'your dustbin' and pollution also kills fish. Newspapers, tins, metal foil and bottles can be collected in a black bag ( avilable from supermarkets and the £1.00 shops ) and most, if not all skippers on charter boats will dispose of it at the end of your trip.

Teach your kids how to fish 'responsibly'. Remember it is your actions today, which will determine what they carry out in the future.

And last but not least, remember that when you are on these trips, you also have a resonsibility to fellow anglers on the boat.
They have paid for their trip and are entitled to enjoy it.
What I witnessed at Dover was not an enjoyment, it was bl***y disgusting.

Limey.

I feel for you mate. I hate irresponsible actions like that, especially now that the Government has or os deciding that angling needs more regulation. This is just ammunition for the antis.

I always take a rubbish bag with me, beach or boat and take it to a beachside bin, or take it home afterwards. That is not being anal that is just caring about my environment.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:40 pm

Edgey wrote:

Limey.

I feel for you mate. I hate irresponsible actions like that, especially now that the Government has or os deciding that angling needs more regulation. This is just ammunition for the antis.

I always take a rubbish bag with me, beach or boat and take it to a beachside bin, or take it home afterwards. That is not being anal that is just caring about my environment.

Far from being 'anal' mate, you are just being 'RESPONSIBLE and CARING'.
Responsible for your own actions and caring about your envioroment and not leaving it up to others to sort out.

You along with the vast majority of others on this site are to be commended.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 2:10 pm

Hi guys, first off I hope everyone had a good christmas break and all went well. Thats a shame about your boat trip, its people like that who give fishing a bad name. I dont normally go boat fishing but should it not be the responsibility of the skipper to oversee the behaviour of these people. Afterall its his business and livelyhood that will be affected.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:06 pm

miami wrote:

Hi guys, first off I hope everyone had a good christmas break and all went well. Thats a shame about your boat trip, its people like that who give fishing a bad name. I dont normally go boat fishing but should it not be the responsibility of the skipper to oversee the behaviour of these people. Afterall its his business and livelyhood that will be affected.

Hope you had a good Christmas too miami.
This is a 'toughy' mate....
On one hand we have charter boats that can't always go out to sea because of the elements.
Also there are times when skippers are let down by people who have booked the boat.
It all boils down to making a livlyhood, and at £35.00 per angler ( average ) it is easy to see why some skippers turn a blind eye.
On these 'individual' fishing trips, it is impossible for the skipper to know what type of persons he is going to get on board.
Plus there is also the likelyhood of maybe getting a thumping from someone he may upset.

At the end of the day it is the responsibility of the individual to see that he behaves in an acceptable manner, andt is unfair to put that burden on others.
We can only lead by example and hope that the few mindless people will get the message.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:22 pm

Cheers Limey, Christmas was great. Only over too quickly and now back to work.

Sure I see your point now. Only last week I was fishing off a pier and a group of teenage kids set up next to me. Swearing and throwing rubbish about shouting and totally no respect for the sealife or anyone around them. As you say rather than risk a thumping i just moved further along, but its a shame to think that the behaviour of some people could spoil the day out for others, in particular people new to the sport who may be put off by this behaviour.

Sorry for the moan though, im all finished now, just needed to get that out. Not enjoying being back at work today. sad

Guest

It's the skippers responsibilty to ensure that no undersize fish are kept and he should have had words with the idiots on board about how they handled the fish. Let's face it, it's the small fish growing up that are going to bring back anglers in the future. The problem could be that he is in desperate need of future bookings and didn't want to upset anybody. The thing to do is, take your custom elswhere until you find a good skipper who makes things clear to all concerned.

Guest

Hi guys, hope you all had a good christmas.

It saddens me too that at least once a month if not more that one of us feels the need to have a moan about rubbish left by irresponsible tossers or have a winge about their behavoir. I'd love to take my nine year old boy night fishing but am reluctant to do so because of the kind of people that frequent our towns these days. I know that I'd have a chance of standing my ground but not with my boy around.

What has the world come to when you can't express an opinion to these morons without risking a kicking. The government want to set up respect zones. Thats fine by me as long as I can do the respecting with a lump of 4x2 with a nail in the end of it. Lets face it, thats what most of them need not some poncey civil servant telling them that they're just misunderstood.

Rant over. Happy New Year!

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:17 pm

DuncBooth5 wrote:

Hi guys, hope you all had a good christmas.

It saddens me too that at least once a month if not more that one of us feels the need to have a moan about rubbish left by irresponsible tossers or have a winge about their behavoir. I'd love to take my nine year old boy night fishing but am reluctant to do so because of the kind of people that frequent our towns these days. I know that I'd have a chance of standing my ground but not with my boy around.

What has the world come to when you can't express an opinion to these morons without risking a kicking. The government want to set up respect zones. Thats fine by me as long as I can do the respecting with a lump of 4x2 with a nail in the end of it. Lets face it, thats what most of them need not some poncey civil servant telling them that they're just misunderstood.

Rant over. Happy New Year!

I'm 110% with you on this one Dunc'. Perhaps if society was less tolerent with these gits, and turned a blind eye to a bloody good hiding that a lot of them deserve. then perhaps we would be able to live in a much better neighbourhood.
Bring back the 'cat' for these scum is what I would do.

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 7:13 pm

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL, WILL IT BE???? THEY WAY FISHING IS GOING,,WITH STOCKS AND ALL THE TOSSERS,, THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE ANY FISHING IN THE FUTURE,, TELL YOU WHAT NEXT TIME YOU SEE SOME TWAT ACTING LIKE THAT,, SMASH HIM IN THE FACE!!!! I WILL,,AM NOT BEING RUDE, BUT AM SICK OF SEEING IT,,RUBISH,,ETC,UNDERSIZED FISH BEING KEPT,, FORGIN BOATS FISHING ARE WATERS,,SKIPPER NOT GIVING A TOSS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS ON THERE BOAT,,

REGARDS DAIWA