Specimen fish report 2012

I have used both the Salter and the Ruben Heaton. The Salters are excellent but the keypad tends to fail after a while. I have a RH for a good few years an it is working a treat without any problems.

The Salters are excellent but the keypad tends to fail after a while. .

Had the same trouble with mine,i rang salter uk to see could i send it to them for an overhaul and i was told they were a disposable item never heard of 125 euro disposable scales before this so with nothing to lose i went about finding the problem myself and i did, turned out to be a very easy fix in the end .

It is great to see that the ISFC have at long last decided to introduce 'length based specimens' for spurdog from 2014, as they presently do for tope and blue shark. Even they have recognised that spurdogs are critically endangered. All specimens above 12lb are almost certainly females which don't even mature until 18-21 years old. They have a gestation period of roughly 24 months which means all specimens currently caught are probably pregnant females. As things stand all specimen claims need to be weighed on land which means a needless slaughter of these fish. In all honesty I can't see why more species can't be covered by the length based method. There were 80 spurdogs on the list this year, how many were returned alive I wonder?

From
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 92061.html

Death of the chairman of the Specimen Fish Committee


IN A week when the Irish Specimen Fish Committee (ISFC) report for 2012 was published, came the sad news that its chairman, Trevor Champ, had died following a relatively short illness.

Trevor took over chairmanship of ISFC in 2002 and successfully steered the committee through many changes in the specimen and record categories for the report to become one of the most sought-after booklets in Irish angling.

RIP

From
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 92061.html

Death of the chairman of the Specimen Fish Committee


IN A week when the Irish Specimen Fish Committee (ISFC) report for 2012 was published, came the sad news that its chairman, Trevor Champ, had died following a relatively short illness.

Trevor took over chairmanship of ISFC in 2002 and successfully steered the committee through many changes in the specimen and record categories for the report to become one of the most sought-after booklets in Irish angling.

RIP

Indeed that was surprising and sad news. Trevor was one of life's gentlemen.

It is great to see that the ISFC have at long last decided to introduce 'length based specimens' for spurdog from 2014, as they presently do for tope and blue shark. Even they have recognised that spurdogs are critically endangered. All specimens above 12lb are almost certainly females which don't even mature until 18-21 years old. They have a gestation period of roughly 24 months which means all specimens currently caught are probably pregnant females. As things stand all specimen claims need to be weighed on land which means a needless slaughter of these fish. In all honesty I can't see why more species can't be covered by the length based method. There were 80 spurdogs on the list this year, how many were returned alive I wonder?

i tought the length based species was tope only,did not think the blue was introduced yet,
R I P Trevor,eddie..........

Update:

I have written to the IFSC on behalf of some "small boat owners" and the concerned members here on SAI.

I know the committee have a meeting before the awards presentation. I have asked them to come back to me and will post up anything that comes back. The committee tends to act slowly but we will see how it goes.

Mr Willie Roche,
Secretary ISFC.
Inland Fisheries Ireland,
Swords,
Co.Dublin.


Via Email

Monday, 11 February 2013

Dear Willie,
I have been tasked by numerous small boat owners and members of Sea Angling Ireland .org to write to the committee to make some enquiries about the current scales certification process.
The system as it exists is not ideal for all. Members/anglers have baulked at the prohibitive cost of certification and have also asked me to ask some questions regarding certification by other reputable companies/organisations. I know there are many anglers that have not certified their scales in 2012 and therefore have stopped claiming specimen fish.
Anglers were keen to point out that the fee of €50.00 is actually closer to €60.00 by the time an anglers sends the scales via post or courier to Dublin. I think most appreciate that there is going to be some cost involved in certification however many highlight the fact that it costs considerably less to certify a scales in Northern Ireland.
We appreciate the need for standards and the IFSC has always had high standards across the claims process however the fact that there is only one method of scales certification is frustrating many anglers especially considering that there are more cost effective methods of certification to be found locally.
Anglers point out for example:
• Calibration companies locally will certify scales for something like €20-€25.
• Many companies have internal laboratories where scales, weights and measures are regularly calibrated/certified.
• Some tackle shops are prepared to invest in a set of calibration weights.
We feel that the committee needs to investigate these options and allow anglers to have a choice in how/where they have their scales certified. If the committee decides to allow anglers to have a choice it would be necessary to have a scales test/certificate template available on line so that anglers can present this with their scales and also we would be all presenting identical certificates. Anglers are prepared to help out in any way necessary if it suits the committee.
We hope that you can bring this matter before the committee for discussion as soon as possible and revert back.
You might pass on our compliments to the committee on another splendidly produced report in 2012.
Yours sincerely,

_________________
Jim Clohessy

Cheers jim

cant wait for the responce,eddie........

Just a brief update:

I spoke with Willie Roche at the Awards.
He acknowledged the letter. The committee discussed the matter at their meeting.
They will be reviewing the situation and coming back to us.

As I said earlier, the committee tends to work slowly but we should get a result that will satisfy.

Fingers crossed Jim..

Just a brief update:

I spoke with Willie Roche at the Awards.
He acknowledged the letter. The committee discussed the matter at their meeting.
They will be reviewing the situation and coming back to us.

As I said earlier, the committee tends to work slowly but we should get a result that will satisfy.

Good work jim.
Do you think they will give an answer/guidelines before the summer? Id like to get my scales done again but wont be paying over €50 to get it done. I dont mind paying for it but im not gonna be fleeced by a government organisation just to claim a fish.

Good work jim.
Do you think they will give an answer/guidelines before the summer? Id like to get my scales done again but wont be paying over €50 to get it done. I dont mind paying for it but im not gonna be fleeced by a government organisation just to claim a fish.

Red,
I am not sure when to expect a reply.

Do you have some crowd in mind locally to test your scales? I would not be adverse to getting it done locally and submitting.

I can see the problem as faced by the IFSC: you need the certification to be from a reputable company not done by a man in his shed. I think they do not want a massive amount of varying tests/companies either. This will take them some time to sort. They will also have to issue a test guideline/procedure/standard declaration for companies that will ultimately issue the cert.

I think I will be getting mine done locally and take my chances.

A quick search on golden pages showed 2 companys on forge hill that should be ok to do it. One of them has a website where it mentions its certifing credentials.
I have no idea on cost as i didnt get a chance to call to them today but might ring them monday to see if they will do it and at what cost.
My scales is upto 35lbs so ill ask them to do a weight up near that, something around 2-3lbs and a couple in the middle range just in case and see what kind of a cert they give me if it passes.
Hopefully that will be good enough for the ifsa, then i just ned to find a few fish:grin:

When I had my scales certified they used 4 weights. My scales goes up to 100lbs and stores 8 weights in it's memory. When I checked what they used I could see that they tested accross the range. The last weight used was over 90lbs.