Go on, have a tuna...

"This came to my attention today...

http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/C6 ... ly2005.htm

?tuna? means Albacore (Thunnus alalunga), listed in the Annex, as well as Northern Albacore (Germo alalunga), referred to in Annex IE of Council Regulation (EC) No. 27/2005 of 22 December 20042;

""?I am delighted to have been able to open up these new species to Sea Anglers. Sea Angling is extremely socially valuable as both a widely available and healthy form of recreation. Perhaps most importantly Sea Angling is a sustainable activity and I hope this new regulation will enable many more people to experience the quiet enjoyment Sea Angling can provide?, said Minister for the Marine, Mr. Pat ?The Cope? Gallagher, TD.

The result of this regulation (S.I. 353 of 2005 ? Sea Fisheries (Tuna and Certain Other Species Fishing) Regulations 2005 ? PRN A5/1102) is to allow for the fishing for tuna and certain other species by means of fishing gears other than the type of gill net, driftnets, bottom set gill nets, trammel nets and entangling nets. This regulation is in operation since the 8 July 2005 and offers Irish and International anglers the opportunity to fish for bluefin tuna on rod and line from various sea angling centres nationwide. ""

Am I wrong or is the Bluefin not different from Albacore, and were permits or 'authorisations' ever required for any sort of tuna anglers in this country? Because they are now......"

"""I hope this new regulation will enable many more people to experience the quiet enjoyment Sea Angling can provide?, said Minister for the Marine, Mr. Pat ?The Cope? Gallagher, TD.""

-who is either He-Man or has never tried to land a fish that weighs the same as a cow and can hit 40 knots without breaking a sweat :lol:"

Sea Angling is extremely socially valuable

(bold high light is my emphasis)

We really must get the point across that we're also extremely economically valuable.

I think the 'economic' bit may be well enough recognised. If an 'authorisation' is now required by tuna anglers, how long will it be before a licence is required i.e., one you pay for. And then which species is next? Bass? Mullet? Tope? Smoothhound? Anything you can tag with the 'game fish' handle? Or just anything with gills?

For any number of reasons, I'm against any form of rod licence for sea anglers payable to the government, the same one that is trashing the fisheries in this country.

We're taxed to death as it is and I hope this latest tuna caper is not designed to set the legal precedent that the Dept of the Marine can impose the requirement for 'authorisations' on sea anglers today in preparation for a compulsory, chargable licence tomorrow.

One suggestion I've heard is to send the Minister for State a mackerel in a padded envelope, similar to sending nappies to the Minister for Justice in protest over the groceries Order issue. I don't think those letters will go unnoticed, if you know what I mean...

I might be mistaken, and frequently am, but I thought that piece of legislation was aimed at commercial boats, to protect the tuna from being fished commercially.

You don't need "authorisation" to do a bit of Recreational Sea Angling on them, do you? Or have I missed the point?

"I may be wrong as well, but netting tuna was banned a few years ago if I remember correctly. That was aimed at the commercials.

The whole gist of the press release was that the Minister had bestowed a great blessing on recreational anglers by bringing in an authorisation scheme to finaly allow them to fish tuna.

It got a bit confusing when the 'tuna' referred to in the legislation referrred to Albacore & Northern Albacore and held no mention of Bluefin, but the Minister's press release did.

The legislation states:

""3. A person who is the owner, charterer or hirer of an Irish sea fishing boat may not engage in fishing for tuna or for the species listed in the Annex unless an authorisation has been granted under Regulation 4 of these Regulations for the purposes of conducting tuna fishing.""

Tuna fishing is similarly defined as:-

""'tuna fishing' means fishing for tuna and certain other species listed in the Annex by means of fishing gears other than any type of gill net, driftnets, bottom set gill nets, trammel nets and entangling nets.""

I take this to mean by some sort of line fishing (unless the above permits trawl netting), either rod and line or longline. Rod and line could be your average intrepid recreational sea angler, or a commercial fisherman whose boat tows lines from some sort of outrigger.

Either way, the gist of the press release was that this legislation was for recreational anglers - i.e. fishing with an ordinary (if beefy) rod and line.

What's also unclear is whether the charter boat, chartering angler or both have to hold a valid authorisation to fish tuna of some description.

""I hope this new regulation will enable many more people to experience the quiet enjoyment Sea Angling can provide""

Since when were we not allowed to do sea angling for tuna without a government authorisation?

I hope I have the wrong end of the stick here, because if not, we've just seen what could well be the first step to regulating sea angling. Next up, we'll have to pay for the priveledge. If we won't accept rod licences for sea anglers, maybe we can be coerced into paying for permits - spot the difference."