suggestions for new marine bill

Whilst out digging lug today, gotta a thinkin What about bait beds should we do anything there?? Like impose a strict ban on rag during spawning months or leave it as self regulating? or the over use over areas or lug beds... really interested in what you guys have to say

1. Angling License - only introduced after certain guarantees from government
e.g protection of feeding grounds- mussel dredging,unregulated whelk fishing. Set at a realistic and nominal fee and not as an excuse for government to increase revenue but to cover the costs of informing people of new regulations

Bad idea. I'm totally opposed to it and would fight any such proposal tooth and nail.

Bad idea. I'm totally opposed to it and would fight any such proposal tooth and nail.

Me too.
Think I'm right in saying that after the drift net men were stopped and compensated the salmon licence doubled next season is this what we want.


Yappo

A lot of good points already covered.

- Education of coastal businesses about the commercial benefit of them being aware of and promoting sea fishing.

I think a lot of business that benefits from sea angling directly and in particular indirectly are not aware of its existence. If they were made aware and began to promote it I think in turn they would begin to have a bigger interest and influence when we look to broaden support for conservation measures etc.

A brief example: I stayed in the Garryvoe Hotel in East Cork a few years back. It is in the centre of some incredible fishing yet little / no knowledge of local fishing opportunities from front desk or most staff (I asked!) and a fair bit of organising on my part to have food packs etc ready when I was shooting off early mornings.
Wouldn't it be an achievement to think that the likes of Failte Ireland could plug these kind of businesses into sea fishing and in turn get them sitting up and taking notice and supporting us when we're pushing for say conservation measures such as Bass protection.

How strong would it be to have an extensive list of coastal businesses that signed up to a Bass protection charter as a rebuff next time this becomes a live issue from the commercial sector. A list with hundreds of businesses that are actively stating that a change to Bass protection measures would adversely affect their business.

[this has been a huge problem i know jimh has posted of this in the past. if your staying near any of the lakes or big rivers.
the reception desk is usually well equipt with leaflets and info .packed lunches and phone numbers for guides.alas not so at most of our coastal hotels. i think jimh is putting a package together and is getting back to us.what is needed badly is statisics on revenue generated by sea angling

what about max size limits to protect mature fish carrying better genes?

come on lads put on the thinking hats

hi lads,ive been watching this with interest.
problem, trawlers and dredgers have raped the seas to death. large parts of our local seas are now barren of fish and plantlife due to constant dredging in the past.
solution, stop the commercials fishing some areas and severly restrict others. the overfished areas may never return to life again, certainly not in a generation.
example- belfast and larne loughs. these 2 areas 100 years ago teemed with all manner of big fish as can be seen in local history books. now they are bereft of life. we call them deserts.
anglers did not cause these deserts nor will restrictions and licencing of anglers cure them.
only by letting these areas 'rest', in time will life return.
you have a fantastic tool here with the consultation thats taking place. please use it well.

hi lads,ive been watching this with interest.
problem, trawlers and dredgers have raped the seas to death. large parts of our local seas are now barren of fish and plantlife due to constant dredging in the past.
solution, stop the commercials fishing some areas and severly restrict others. the overfished areas may never return to life again, certainly not in a generation.
example- belfast and larne loughs. these 2 areas 100 years ago teemed with all manner of big fish as can be seen in local history books. now they are bereft of life. we call them deserts.
anglers did not cause these deserts nor will restrictions and licencing of anglers cure them.
only by letting these areas 'rest', in time will life return.
you have a fantastic tool here with the consultation thats taking place. please use it well.

this was one of the main reasons for me getting involved .dredging these mussel and sea beds have to be replaced not just for the fish but for our children a lot of the beaches on the east coast lost blue flags because of water quality with the mussel beds gone, no filtering, can you imagine the amount of water a couple of billion mussels filter.razorfish scallops, they all have a different purpose but all filter the waters they live in thats how were left with these deserts.i also oppose paying a licence or paying a permit for digging bait.with the amount of revenue put in to the exchequer from our sector we should be able to achieve our goals without paying more first.perhaps our county councils could be the answer they have asurplas of staff since all our services have been privatized. retraining them as marine sector fisheries officers let each co council police the 6 mile limits with severe penalties for incursions.if you watch australian navy policing the protected reefs and the penalties imposed huge fine first offence, boat seized and jail time for the skipper next time caughtthats the sort of set up thats needed here in ireland

A few valid points made on the discussion forum of ouroceanwealth that you may be able to pick up on although a couple that I wouldn't agree i.e levy on angling equipment.If that kind of idea was to be enforced there would have to be huge improvements made for sea angling.

Just my tuppence worth

http://www.ouroceanwealth.ie/Lists/Disc ... ng%20sport%

hi lads,ive been watching this with interest.
problem, trawlers and dredgers have raped the seas to death. large parts of our local seas are now barren of fish and plantlife due to constant dredging in the past.
solution, stop the commercials fishing some areas and severly restrict others. the overfished areas may never return to life again, certainly not in a generation.
example- belfast and larne loughs. these 2 areas 100 years ago teemed with all manner of big fish as can be seen in local history books. now they are bereft of life. we call them deserts.
anglers did not cause these deserts nor will restrictions and licencing of anglers cure them.
only by letting these areas 'rest', in time will life return.
you have a fantastic tool here with the consultation thats taking place. please use it well.

this was one of the main reasons for me getting involved .dredging these mussel and sea beds have to be replaced not just for the fish but for our children a lot of the beaches on the east coast lost blue flags because of water quality with the mussel beds gone, no filtering, can you imagine the amount of water a couple of billion mussels filter.razorfish scallops, they all have a different purpose but all filter the waters they live in thats how were left with these deserts.i also oppose paying a licence or paying a permit for digging bait.with the amount of revenue put in to the exchequer from our sector we should be able to achieve our goals without paying more first.perhaps our county councils could be the answer they have asurplas of staff since all our services have been privatized. retraining them as marine sector fisheries officers let each co council police the 6 mile limits with severe penalties for incursions.if you watch australian navy policing the protected reefs and the penalties imposed huge fine first offence, boat seized and jail time for the skipper next time caughtthats the sort of set up thats needed here in ireland

in total agreement mate. im also totally against any form of licencing. are we as anglers now saying that a father cannot take his children out and introduce them to an hours fishing time without buying a licence? crazy idea i also will fight. my father had no interest in fishing but while on holiday he borrowed a rod and reel and took me fishing. he never fished again, i havnt stopped since. if a licence had been required then he would never had bought one and id never have found my lifelong passion.

im also totally against any form of licensing. are we as anglers now saying that a father cannot take his children out and introduce them to an hours fishing time without buying a licence? crazy idea i also will fight. my father had no interest in fishing but while on holiday he borrowed a rod and reel and took me fishing. he never fished again, i havnt stopped since. if a licence had been required then he would never had bought one and id never have found my lifelong passion.

Good point, never thought of it from that aspect. I would've been in support of a modest licence fee mainly because putting our money where our mouth is would make us recognised stakeholders with more clout. Also, official registration would reveal just how big the sea angling sector is.

Wikipedia defines:

The verb license or grant licence means to give permission.......... A license may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party ("licensee") as an element of an agreement between those parties. A shorthand definition of a license is "an authorization (by the licensor) to use the licensed material (by the licensee)."

In particular a license may be issued by authorities, to allow an activity that would otherwise be forbidden. It may require paying a fee and/or proving a capability. The requirement may also serve to keep the authorities informed on a type of activity, and to give them the opportunity to set conditions and limitations.

See anything there that you fundamentally disagree with for sea angling? I do.

i think most anglers would oppose giving any more revenue to the goverment as we pay top tax rates on anything to do with our sport whether it be vat or tax on fuel.its a can of worms that needs to be avoided.it starts as a 5 euro rod tax and then grows each budget until.the ordanary joe cant afford it, the sea will be a playground for the wealthy only.

i think most anglers would oppose giving any more revenue to the goverment as we pay top tax rates on anything to do with our sport whether it be vat or tax on fuel.its a can of worms that needs to be avoided.it starts as a 5 euro rod tax and then grows each budget until.the ordanary joe cant afford it, the sea will be a playground for the wealthy only.

TRUE!, Any government cant control themselves when it come to taxes.
The talk of the fee came about because of the "Summer Anglers" we all know the sort, endless streams of beer, countless tackle packets that are left to blow in the wind like leaves fallening off trees, abusive behaviour (not only to fish, but to each other as well). If I thought a fee would deter this sort of angler I would be for it, however in hind sight I know myself they'd just ignore it and continue on regardless. its not even April yet, and the cliffs around Howth are destroyed with litter, last year I spent two days pickin stuff up out there only to return the following week and it was like I never even did a tap
When we talk about fishstocks and their recovery, environment as we all know plays a major roll, for what we anglers take and alot of us are CPR (Catch Photo Release) lads around here, its minimal, but when we look at advances that have made commercial fishing, years back skippers relied on knowledge, and experince to shoot their nets, now, boats are bigger, and stronger then ever before the advances in techs, have it so, that with a flick of a switch they can find the fish, knowledge teaches them which species is most likely to be about at certain ares at certain times of year. But Im not talkin of just OUR commercial fleet either, thanks to various governments over years we now have multitudes of vessels partoling our waters in search of fish, hence not giving our stocks any chance to recoup. One definate measure to this is off shore limit, yes we all know the odd skipper wont adhere to it, But most skippers are concerned as we are (if not more as they have More to lose) about the present situation.
When we go fishin we see things at first hand, we know our waters, we know the currents. all be it we do it for pleasure rather then dependent on it for livley hood. (mind you with my kids, any fish brought home of decent size is a welcomed bonus!) People makin the laws are done so by advisors, we need to be THEIR advisors.