EU Monitoring of Recreational Fisheries (Article 47)

I haven't had time to research this in any depth but has anyone on here seen or know anything about this "EU Recreational Fisheries Article 47"
.

This is causing serious concern in the UK. See here for some details :http://www.sacn.org.uk/Conservation-and-Political-News/Article_47.html

would be seriously concerned by

c: catches of species subject to a multiannual plan by recreational fisheries shall be counted against the relevent quotas of the member states.The member states concerned shall establish a share from such quotas to be used exclusively for the porpose of recreational fisheries.

how much quota do you think a government will give an unorganized rsa fishery?

Good point Doggie!

I would be far more concerned with this bit though!

"The current fisheries ‘Control Regulation’ entered into force in 1994 is long overdue for revision and this review provides us with the opportunity to standardise control provisions into one Regulation. The proposal includes control measures for recreational anglers, effort control, engine power and controls for marine protected areas (MPAs). There is also a much wider use of modern technology to provide controls for a wider section of the fleet."

This could well spell out the need for commercial licences for angling boats both private and charter boats!

"engine power" This bit I would have grave concerns about. This could be telling us that you will be required to purchase commercial kilowatts which are making in and around €900 per KW.. For those not in the know a KW = 1.34hp... Now picture the average angler with a little boat say for example a Warrior 165 with 80hp that boat would require 59.7 KW @ €53730.00.... A lot of the guys in the UK believe that a commercial license will also be required so on top of that lets just say for argument sake 1 tonne will also be required A tonne is making up to €4500.00.. Then there will be the extra necessary safety equipment and surveys etc all adding to the cost.

This is the reason so many people in the UK are getting very concerned with this article 47

As I said I haven't researched the subject in any depth but on the surface it does not make for good reading

I will try to look into it if you like. I'm not sure if it has been enacted into Irish law yet. Will take out the old books and get back to you.

a:Recreational fisheries on a vessel in Community waters on a stock subject to a multiannual plan shall be subject to an authorisation for that vessel issued by the flag Member State.

the way i read this,all private boats would require a licence to go fishing. and as you said would prob need a quota for the boat as well! damn it to hell just as i was thinking of getting a boat!!

This is only at the consultation phase but well worth getting your bit in early.

Monitoring of recreational fisheries article 47

A:Recreational fisheries on a vessel on community waters on a stock subject to a multiannual plan shall be subject to an authorisation for that vessel issued by the flag member state.

B:Catches in recreational fisheries on stocks subject to a multiannual plan shall be registered by the flag member state

C: Catches of species subject to a multiannual plan by the recreational fisheries shall be counted against the relevant quotas[b] of the flag member state. The flag member states concerned shall [b]establish a share from such quotasto be used exclusively for the porpose of recreational fisheries.

D:The marketing of catches from a recreational fishery shall be prohibited except for philanthropic porposes

This proposal was adopted and published by the commission on the 14th nov 2008 and will be discussed by member states at working group meetings starting in jan 2009 with a view to implementing the final proposals in jan 2010
defra in england are aware of these proposals and are contacting stakeholders there.

ive a few questions

1. have any group in ireland been made aware of this e.u. proposal?
2.On point c: how much of a quota can we expect from our government if we have no national rsa group to fight our corner
3:On point a: does this mean every private boat will have to have a licence and a quota to fish?

the full article can be read at http://www.sacn.org.uk/Conservation-and ... le_47.html

First thing I suppose is that this would only apply to catch-and-keep.

Also worth reading the explanatory note from SACN:

Note: In a European context 'recreational fishing' mainly applies to men with nets, with angling mostly beneath the radar, but swept up in the definition as a matter of convenience.

But as with the small under 10 metre sector local boats, EU regulation framed with the large industrial boats in mind, has a habit of being applied universally with little thought for its appropriateness in all circumstances.

Sounds like to boat angling community need to investigate this a bit more.

but the boat angling community are OUR community,all us shore fisher men do boat fishing at least once a year, i presonally did three trips last year on charter trips and would plan more than three this year! we have to support each other if we have a chance to fight this!!

more on rte on this

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1216/fishing.html

According the the rte article, shore angling is also to be factored in. Hard to see how either boat or shore can be policed or quotas calculated.

virtually impossible - say its got more to do with how much a country claims it catches out of tourism angling (or the amount of money generated from it) and then cleaveing it away from their quotas

just another way of splitting up an ever diminishing pie

This is only at the consultation phase but well worth getting your bit in early.

Hi David,

Any update from Scotland?

RTE the national TV station news had a feature on this today seems like its going to be all doom and gloom.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1216/fishing.html

It seems that the quota is indeed going to be shared with the commercial fleet so it will be a percentage of the total quota which as you know changes every year.
Who is going to go to Brussels to fight for the anglers share of the quota I wonder! Will shore quota be separate from boat quota etc... By the time the shore season really starts here the quotas will probably have been used up if they are not separate, as it has also being stated that Shore angling will be included, it has to be I suppose as it is the same fish stocks!

Its going to be very interesting to see how this is going to be implemented, The shoe will now be on the other foot with commercials reporting anglers for fishing and breaches of fishing laws which I can tell you will happen here anyway definitely! There will be no other option now but to have a compulsory sea angling license and an official logbook in order to record the quotas. I just wonder how such a licence and how many will be issued, will boats require a commercial license and tonnage after all its part of the same quota? And will each individual angler be required to have an individual license and logbook. How will this work for anglers visiting Ireland or Irish anglers fishing in other EU states? What is the cost of such a license going to be?

This on top of the recent end to marked diesel oil use in boats will have very serious consequences to the future of sea angling!

I think it is now time as I have been saying for years for anglers to join with the commercials rather than seeing them as the enemy and show a joint strength. The commercials will not want their quotas shared so will be on the anglers side on this one.

to be honest i'd be in favour of this in principle,a few fish for the pan is fine but lets face it theres too much mass murder on charter boats and not to mention the lidle/aldi/argos enthusiasts.
however when you factor in the reality of the situation how will this work, will a fisheries officer be posted on each charter boat port to check the quota on the boats arrivals form a days pleasure fishing, or will they post one on every conceivable spot to fish on our coast??
an inevitable reality of charter fishing is that most fish pop their swim bladders so when the quota is reached whats happens to these fish. like i said its a good idea in principle but it just like on comercials its a flawed concept.

not to mention the lidle/aldi/argos enthusiasts

Hey you...

I've got meself a Lidl bag, just gotta find something different than whiting to stuff it with

It is not impossible to implement at all, don't be too sure yet lads. All it needs is the introduction of fishing licences and logbooks just as in the commercial sector now before anyone jumps down my throat for comparing RSA's to the commercial sector this article proposes the splitting of the commercial quotas with RSA's therefore you will be joining their ranks whether we like it or not.

You have all heard of "logbook offences" with commercials it may now become the same story for anglers! I have some serious concerns about this and with the possible ways of implementing it, remember this is not an Irish law, it's an EU law and we have all seen the results of EU laws on the commercial sector!

There is another thread here on this subject.

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=12&p=144108#p144108

You have all heard of "logbook offences" with commercials it may now become the same story for anglers!

In fact there are already logbook offences for salmon and sea trout anglers!
eg
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/si/0348.html

There is another thread here on this subject.

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?f=12&p=144108#p144108

Threads now merged, renamed and made sticky for the moment.

You have all heard of "logbook offences" with commercials it may now become the same story for anglers!

In fact there are already logbook offences for salmon and sea trout anglers!
eg
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/si/0348.html

This is correct I had forgotten about the salmon laws but the big difference is that this is an EU law, So the log books can be viewed in a number of ways and I presume the logs must be returned each year. I know that some (OK most ) of you are thinking OK well who's to say what we put in the log books would I be right in thinking this?

If you log false entries, it may well work against us all in that under recording of fish will result in a lesser quota the following year and over recording may limit the amount of licenses issued the following year.

I have been speaking to a few fellow charter skippers over the past week or so and most hadn't even heard of this

I may be jumping the gun here so we may be better to wait and see but prepare for the worst case scenario and we can't be disappointed

This is interesting. I have been returning my salmon log books since it was implemented.

For the salmon it is actually a good idea. Prevents people from openly selling illegal wild atlantic salmon, thus reducing the profitability of poaching. Also, allowed those policing the rivers to quickly spot an illegal salmon.

It now looks like my 12' long kayak will have a commercial quota

I do have to say that I totally disagree with the slaughter I have seen on some charter boats. Perhaps, circle hooks and bag limit could be introduced. There is a method of venting the swim bladder of a fish, in order to return them.

If anglers are lumped in with the commercial fleet and with those in the commercial sector already suffering unsatisfactory quotas, it could create a very nasty situation for anglers.