Shoot me now...

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/sacn/latest ... p?view=570

It appears that our elected representatives are at it again. The above link is to a UK report on the work of Sean O'Neachtain, yes, our MEP. It appears that he is a signatory to a report that supports the arguement that recreational sea angling is now a threat to commercial inshore fisheries. Yes, you may have to read that again but that is apparently what the report says. I have tried to find it but can not, nor is it listed on his website http://www.oneachtain.com but if someone does find it online, can they please post the link here so we can read this report, and doubtless pass on our feedback to our MEP - working hard as he is to represent the views of all his constituents in a balanced and democratic way. Ahem. :?

i have aquired a copy of that report and will e-mail it to you...

got hold of a link for .pdf and .doc

PDF
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/omk/sipad ... &LSTDOC=Y')

DOC
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/omk/sipad ... &LSTDOC=Y')

dont ask how i got my hands on these.. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Dear Mr O'Neachtain

Ref: Motion for an EU parliament resolution 2004/2264

Would you not consider that recreational angling has a greater role to play in the same coastal rural communities that you seek to protect? Is not recreational angling, by its very nature with the well established principles of "catch and release" and the interest of most sea anglers in conservation and fish stock preservation, well suited to a more sustainable form of economic development in these rural regions ?

Is it not equally well recognised that anglers are in a position to put back small or inedible species, something commercial netsman can not do either at all or with the same facility? Does recreational angling not directly through tourism revenues support a host of small local businesses that of themselves maintain the social fabric in rural areas notably through spending in hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs, restaurants and pubs, gillies, shops, tackle suppliers, with bait suppliers etc.?

Is the suggested argument that only commercial inshore netsmen are reliant on the sea for their livelihood thus inaccurate, leaving out as it does - for example - the 200 charter boat skipppers now operating throughout our coastal areas, and who are solely reliant on recreational angling? Why are these valuable contributions, now the subject of economic reports in the UK, not alluded to in your proposal in the interest of balance? I think the 65,000 card carrying affiliated anglers in Ireland will be very disappointed to find such an unbalanced view being proposed in their name by one of their own MEPs.

In anticipation of your considered response,

sent just a few seconds ago, will post reply if I get one here... recommend you all contact our MEP to express your opinions...

It appears that he is a signatory to a report that supports the arguement that recreational sea angling is now a threat to commercial inshore fisheries.

I'm as cynical as the next man and I've read the report but I have to say I didn't read as much into it as the SACN report, in terms of the "threat" of recreational angling. The main failure of the report in this regard was not recognizing that recreational angling has an important role to play in local communities and conservation. Well done Kieran for pointing this out (although it seems Mr O'Neachtain might have been the monkey in this case, and not the organ grinder.)

There will only be a threat from recreational angling if commercial fishing is not properly reguated or the regulations are not properly enforced, the latter being a particular problem in Irish coastal waters.

The worry I would have from the report, more than the mention of conflict with recreational fishing, is the potential for EU wide regulations that might, for example, legalize commercial bass netting. (It's late and I might have misinterpreted the report.)

Jonathan

[fenitbob]

[quote]Another serious aspect that must be considered is competition from emerging activities like
recreational fishing. In the absence of any formal framework recreational fishing does raise
tensions and does create animosity towards commercial uses. Unless this question is tackled
seriously and solutions found, it is highly likely that we will witness further conflicts between
the fishing community and other inshore users.
Your rapporteur believes that in order to avoid competition for resources the use of the sea
spaces should be regulated by assigning exploitation and access rights, for example through
restricting the development of certain activities and [b]making licences compulsory[/b].[/quote] page 13 or do search for 'recreational'

sea fishing licence???

another link [url]http://www.marinetimes.ie/news_06.html[/url] referring to this story in maritimes.

Actually on looking at some of what is being said it looks like they are trying to formalise some sort of arrangement where the commercial fishermen would be regulated more than they are now.
Still I must contact my MEP

find your MEP
[url]http://www.europarl.ie/meps/index.html[/url] here

Has anybody got a contact number for a hotel and guest house representative body? Surely these people are stakeholders in this decision as well.

Also what about charter boat owners? do they have a representative body?

Last edited by fenitbob on Wed May 24, 2006 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

what does "restricting the development of certain activities" mean? - a way to get at harpoonists and the like..... :!:

what does "restricting the development of certain activities" mean? - a way to get at harpoonists and the like..... :!:

If you read those two paragraphs carefully, this looks more worrying than I thought. Recreational angling is an "emerging activity" ... maybe it's also one of the "certain activities" to be restricted.

If they are suggesting that commercial fishing can take place in some areas, and recreational fishing in others, then I'll take the first three miles, thanks very much.

the first three miles thing doesnt work - they trawl/net as close in as possible anyway - no emforcement/deterants

the simple fact of the matter is rod and line doesnt go near what the commercials are at

Just to add to the above - the commercials ARE busy trying to destroy recreational angling here. Why? Simple. In the UK anglers got organised, joined BASS, SACN etc, who elbowed their way to the political table and started to get a bit of recognition. The commercials do not want anglers to have any say over the marine environment here. They're simply heading this problem off at the pass. We're not a threat to fish stocks, we're a potential threat to commercials having complete say over the seas. In so far as what happens to the fish anyway. So we have to be stopped here now, before we do become a threat to commercial fishermen.

Now, most anglers prefer to fish, or talk about fishing, rather than take note of what their elected representatives are at. It's time to wake up and smell the coffee, people. Stop electing these fools. Make it you mission to get informed, join SACN, join BASS, join an angling club. Start writing to whoever your MEP, TD etc is. Write to the papers. Call a chat show. Be able to explain how and why angling is important and how it and the whole marine environment is under a very clear and present danger from the commercial lobby. Explain it to you family, friends, co-workers, tackle dealer, charter skipper. Get working before it is too late.

Oh, and the Spanish are busy trying to get the deepwater gill net ban announced in January rescinded, I hear.

Hi Kieran,
did you get any reply from your elected representative?

I emailed Simon Coveney as he expressed support for the report and is one of my MEPs
I got the standard reply that it would be passed unto him and he would reply to it ..... sometime in the future ...possibly.

I can't believe that this thread did not get more posts as it looks like they just might do something. I would hate the site to get too political and aggressive as lets face it its just a pass time. but I think its a bit like the catch reports, people just don't bother to make their contribution.

[lucky angler]

Does that include the North as well or are we covered by UK laws?

found this news item [url]http://www.dardni.gov.uk/pr2003/pr030144.htm[/url]

Last edited by lucky angler on Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sure does lucky!

Well said, Sandman: straight to the point and a good wake-up call.

It really is disgraceful that the government in the South appears to be pandering to the commercial fishermen and not taking heed of the concerns of anglers (sea and freshwater) and of other nations on the irresponsible attitude of Irishcommercial fishermen (let's not just have a pot shot at the 'foreign' vessels: it's our homegrown species of fisherman that are screwing up the wild salmon stocks, here and on the western seaboard of mainland Europe).

Get angry, get a pen (or keyboard) and get in contact with whoever you believe can make a difference!


E.L.

Went scouting around for MEP,s in northern ireland and there are only 3 members, of which 2 are on the fishing commitee

They are Mr Jim Allister E-mail jameshugh.allister@europarl.europa.eu and Mr James Nicholson E-mail james.nicholson@europarl.europa.eu.

So if anyone wants to find out their MEP go to [url]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do?language=en[/url] or try this for a list of committe members for fisheries [url]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/committees/search.do?committee=1245&partNumber=1&language=EN[/url]

Emailed the Irish hoteliers Federation today. Wanted to find out what their stance was. www.ihf.ie

nope.

In honesty, if we step back here and take a look, seriously at this sort of situation. You realise the shortfall of all Anglers in Ireland, North and South. We need a representative body, An Umbrella of every sort of recreational Sea Angling organisation and Club on this Island. We as Anglers shout with a Thousand different voices, all lobbying to be heard, while the commercial sector speaks, united under one or 2 banners that are big enough to be heard by the Governments. If we can find this sort of voice through the like of the IFSA/SACN I think it may be time for every right thinking Angler in Ireland to join up, to have our Voice, and to make it heard.