Fish Fight

The EU is so corrupt that the auditors have refused to sign off the accounts for the past 5-6 years ! How can these people be left in charge of protecting our marine environment when they have their snouts buried so deep they can't see over the top of the trough.

It's a disgrace that any fish are wasted. If they are caught they should be landed. Never mind a tonnage system as that would still encourage the dumping of unprofitable fish. The boats must be given a limited number of days at sea. And i mean a very restricted number of days. Keep all they catch. And anyone found dumping fish after a haul have their boat and license removed for good. Cameras can be placed aboard each boat by fisheries protection with it being an offence to remove or tamper with them. These pictures can be beamed to computer systems and the boats can then be monitored from shore.

The tech is there but is the will ?

A very informative programme but i was close to tears when i saw the prime fish being dumped.

Whoever came up with the system we have at the moment in Europe should hang their heads in shame !

It really is a joke, seeing some of the Boats that operate from Hastings who are given quota for Pollock but can’t catch them as the area and having to throw back perfectly good Cod because they have no more quota for them.

What morons run this, i think a name and shame would be better way of highlighting the eijits who think this quota system works, and listen to scientists how have taken considerable time to come up with rock solid research putting fish species before hard cash.

New and improved techniques for catching without damaging the seabed need to be enforced.

If farmers can diversify why cant trawler captains??

I’m not having a rant because I only catch small fish from the shore, it’s the fact that if this continues there won't be any fish to catch and possibly in our lifetime.

Yes these trawlers shouldn't be expected just to flick a switch and change, we are all responsible for this, not just anglers and trawler men, governments need to open their eyes and realise that things cannot go on like this forever.

Bring this to the attention of everyone, as everyone has a voice and our voice will be heard the wider public need to know about he insanity which is going on.

People need educated and we are the teachers.

I watched last night's program and I have to say after what I saw I am not sure that the message that Hugh is trying to get accross is being taken seriously enough. It seems that there are some people who remain sceptical of exactly how big the problem is that Hugh is trying to highlight.
I have to say I did feel a degree of sympathy for the trawler men on last night’s show who said that due to the law they have to throw perfectly good fish back in, it’s complete madness, such a waste!!
"Hitting our heads against a brick wall" seems to be the way alot of people feel about the campaign, attitudes need to change and quickly if there is going to be any progress made but when those people who are in power and in the posistion to make the changes don't seem to be that bothered or concerned then how is anything going to be done to improve things?

yeah i was irate with anger at the point where he confronted the ministers going into a meeting in brussels about disgard and they basically told him he was talking nonsense with the ratios dumped into the sea. these pen pushers have likely never set foot on a boat and even when presented with the footage they just laughed him off. i mean seriously,,,,,,,, these people are supposed to be the ones making the decisions to protect future stocks as far as i can see it they are only interested in lining thier pockets collecting a salary while ignoring all the evidence i thought these people were supposed to make objective decisions based on all the information and facts at thier disposal. seems some of them have already made up thier minds before even looking at the evidence
but fair play to hugh for highlighting the issue. althow sadly his voice of reason seems to be getting drowned out by these EU muppets. i would'nt have enough faith in them to organize a pi** up in a brewery let alone safeguard the future fish stocks

Get them on a fishing boat knee deep in discards!!!

Good program, but he's missing how quotas work, So a trawler comes in 1 tonne over quota? All they need say is its "discard"! Now what do they do with this mixed bag of fish? Box them seperatly? Where do the find buyers, some of these fish will be out of season, they'll all go back in the water or sell them for fish meal?That'll create a new market in its own.

Its just so much more complicated than Hugh tackles. I did enjoy the fact that he was trying to popularize other fish like Mackerel as opposed to Cod etc. And Jamie whats his name cooking up a dab, saying it tastes like lemon sole, my favorite fish to eat, the amount of Dab Ive thrown back.

At least he's raising awareness so fair play

[KERRY1]

I am not so sure whether pushing mackerel onto the menu’s in fish and chip shops to replace cod and haddock is the way forward, what does everyone think about this?
How effective would this be in improving the situation? It’s just a constant cycle and chain that would keep going around and around and I am not sure if this is the answer.
In the short term maybe but a long term solution is needed on a much bigger scale.
Yes, you have to start somewhere, I know that but you need to look at the bigger picture and deal with that if anything is going to work and if improvements can or will be seen.
Certainly, at present mackerel would be seen as being more sustainable than either cod or haddock and by pushing mackerel and using it more it would give the other two more popular species of cod and haddock the chance to re-build it stocks and grow back up for the future, but for how long would mackerel remain sustainable? Would it always be?
The chip shop owners or members of the federation of fish fryers on last night’s show didn’t seem to be too convinced or interested in making changes to their menu’s, some did but others looked very sceptical. That’s what we’re up against, if you can’t convince those on the ground who can help make the situation better then what hope is there of convincing those in power who can really make a difference.
Then once the mackerel are no longer so readily available due to being targeted more for the use in chippy’s and restaurants etc then what would be suggested next, mullet? Bass?
Certainly, deal with protecting those species that are in more imminent danger or risk of its stocks being wiped out first such as cod and haddock but all species need to be safe guarded, they are all as equally important as the other and should be treated as such if the industry is to grow and survive for future generations.
The show has most definitely opened my eyes and educated me and has made me think about the issues and problems that exist and so for that reason Hugh and his team should be congratulated, at least he is trying unlike others who just shrug their shoulders and hope that the problem will just go away or be forgotten about. It won’t and shouldn’t be and it’s up to us to have our voice heard in order to force those in power to act and make the changes in the law and legislation that is so badly needed before the industry is destroyed for good and our fish stocks with it. Whether they take heed is another story, I just hope they do before it’s too late, if it isn’t already that is.

Last edited by KERRY1 on Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

so much for your few cod for the table seanie and all the crap ye had to read. hard to believe this is goin on in this age.damian

Your right mate this just brings the whole thing into perspective, hope everyone on here will sign up to the protest online I have done anyway.

Regards Wez

last nights program also showed small fishingboats in hastings .with qoutas for pollock up to 30 tonnes .a fish the fisherman said they havent had in area for years . the question has to be asked why.why is there no pollock and huge amounts of cod.he also said the method of nets he used doesent catch small fish.that the mesh size only takes big fish.when they brought the discard to the beach there was 8 boxes all prime cod no other species. he should have been a bit more honest and showed all the doggies, smoothies, tope, and other discards that were in the nets.like they did on the trawlers.im sure no trawler man wants to dump fish .but why show only cod ?

great program and i hope people will start thinking what they are doing. as my mate john always says. look after the dogfish because it wont be long til thats all that is left in the see.

of couse there is always a dark side to this the trawler men in the program were not there to highlight discard .the only thing they wanted to show was how much cod was there to be taken in the north sea they were highlighting there quotas.thats the only reason they allowed a greenhorn on board and went out in a force 9 gale.

The quota system is flawed, no doubt.
We should not forget the reason for quotas in the first place.
Commercials would take every last fish from the sea without some control.

Hi,

Unfortunately even the fish that are living when they hit the deck will have been damaged internally from being compressed in the cod-end of the trawl. They will also be very stressed.It's unlikely they would survive but I agree they should be given the chance.The only fish guaranteed to survive is our old friend the doggie.

Would it not be much wiser to use these unwanted bycatch (or whatever you call it) to produce food for fish farms? Rather than purposely catching perfectly healthy fish for the same reason?

no im sorry our salmon only eat anchovies and sardines from chilie we couldent let them eat any aul shite now

seen the program...just sad...signed up... hope something is done about this...

I could provide you with some tasty recipes here Derek , free of charge obviously , even the most delicate ones would certainly jump on these goodies , but all these jokes aside, status quo is we are in a dire situation and this is to blame onto flawed and mislead scientific advice and uneducated politicians as a legislative force mainly, so why not change it now before it's too late? Nature surely won't care where animal protein is sourced from, be it Chile, Honolulu or Buxtehude? Why not utilize our own resources for a change? I believe this could be a viable preposition and a way out of the dilemma the Irish and the entire EU fishing/seafood industry is facing in the long term? Call me naive, but try to find a solution is my aim here, any sincere suggestions to aid this interesting discussion are certainly most welcome.

martyn i was piss taking . i have said exactly what you suggested in an earlier post as to why these fish have to be dumped. fish or chicken feed can easily be produced from all by catch.it would also insure that boats come back with full loads.but again it would need to be monitored. both on land and at sea.remember these fishermen are past masters of exploytation.could they be trusted not too exployite the cod in the north sea?dont think id trust them.

filling a boat up with cod and the likes for fish meal would not pay the fisherman it would also be morally wrong to land cod for meal.the only way forward is days at sea and land what is caught for market

martyn i was piss taking . i have said exactly what you suggested in an earlier post as to why these fish have to be dumped. fish or chicken feed can easily be produced from all by catch.it would also insure that boats come back with full loads.but again it would need to be monitored. both on land and at sea.remember these fishermen are past masters of exploytation.could they be trusted not too exployite the cod in the north sea?dont think id trust them.

I am aware of that Derek and I like your sense of humor, I'm about the same and enjoy a good lough , nevertheless I really do want to emphasise the fact again that there are so many fish = valuable resources grown by nature - simply dumped overboard and the entire sector of the Irish meat industry, may it be chicken, beef or fish - has to shell out enormous amounts (for inferior foodstuffs) imported from various other countries, only to satisfy our indigenous demands. Resources which we have freely available on our doorsteps.
The mind boggles...
Thank you EU and thank you Globalist politics, we really are in your debt - literally!