Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:25 pm
See press release from EU Commission - looks like the end for drift nets but appears to leave a loophole for draft nets and drift nets where stocks are OK.... :?
[url]http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/906&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en[/url]
Mon Jul 03, 2006 8:18 pm
I'd wonder if stocks are ok anywhere, given the poor returns from drift netting in the north west so far.
Years ago you would never have seen 3lb fish, now many of the salmon caught are small.
I don't think at this point it matters whether the drift nets are banned - it looks like even if they were left to fish, there'd be so little it wouldn't be worth it commercially in a couple of years time. Especially if they continue to allow netting in the estuaries. At least in the open sea with drift nets, the fish have room to miss the nets. In estuaries, it's all rather like shooting fish in a barrel, pardon the pun.
Banning netting alone will not solve the problem, in my opinion, but it's a step in the right direction. What will be done about poaching, habitat maintenance and improvement etc will have a large part to play in whether stocks regenerate or not.
I think designating salmon as a recreational only species in perpetuity is the only way forward. I can't see anyone who owns a fishery (and the Government own the most) investing in improving their business under the constant threat of resumption of commercial fishing either.
It'll be interesting to see what the state of play is in a decade.....