Where have all the cod gone?

My father and I used to fish out of Ballintoy harbour on the north coast of Antrim away back in the 70s and 80s and I would have rated it as being among the best there was. Back then, every Sunday the harbour would have been crowded with people waiting for the boats to come in with their catch. We sold the cod for 50p/lb and many sunday evening we went home with £50 apiece in our pocket. That was more than a weeks wages just for a bit of crack. The cod fishing was to say the least brilliant, with the average around 10lb 12lb. I have had a couple of boats over the last 10 years and we have searched all around the marks but they just aren,t there. Has any other member had any recent success around the north coast or is a trip south the only other option. :shock: :( :o

North, I'd say. North as far as Norway if you want to experience that kind of angling again.

Sad, isn't it? :cry:

didn,t land a cod all last season from antrim belfast lough area, Might have to migrate this year.

Don't feel unique, its the same almost everywhere you go. And unless we are all blind or ignorant I think 99% of the blame lies with the trawlers who never give our Cod stocks a chance.

We were even out in Greystones last week on a Sunday and there were 6 trawlers we could see within eye shot going up and down areas that have been so trawled so much that the sea bed contours have changed!!

If the average punter has to move to Meath and commute to Dublin why should any other profession be different as in why aren't these guys going 40/50 miles out instead of raping in shore areas!

Its terrible really, even if the five mile exclusion zone was obeyed and policed it would make a huge difference. :cry: :cry:

i agree with robert, but as for the policing issue,, i think the irish naval service needs to get the finger out, along with the minister for the marine.

I know exactly what you mean Robert. One particular night fishing the marks off Ballintoy a trawler circled our boat so close he lifted my perk off the bottom and broke the line. We wern,t any more than 3 mile from the harbour. I have almost forgot what it is like to drive a perk into a good cod. :( Keep the feed back coming lads. Thanks.

I heard a rumour that our current minister for the marine might be moving to transport. I can see a certain amount of sense in this as he gives the appearance of knowing nothing about fishery management, but if he was in transport, if he did half as good a job reducing traffic congestion as he has done reducing fish stocks, there'd be grass growing up the middle of O'Connell Street come spring.

The Irish Navy are not to blame for fishery protection or lack of same as they're just a taxi for the fishery protection officers.

What we need and have long done so is a properly equipped fishery protection service - with it's own fleet.

We need a vast reduction in catching capacity operating in our waters. This would lead to some job losses in the commercial fishery sector, but would these same individuals not make excellent protection staff?

We might then be able to police our own waters against not just foreign boats but any domestic boats who try to pull a fly one. We might be able to pass legislation that would protect our fisheries without that legislation being blocked at every turn by commercial fishermen desperate to stay in a job - regardless of the damage they will do to the marine environment in the meantime.

Those remaining in the industry might be able to make a decent living and stop the poor mouth that is swallowing vast tranches of our taxes in subsidies. ?50 million for harbour development in Killybegs, and not one single new job created. Scandal. Hundreds of millions of euro in grants, subsidies, etc. Shame. If the same money had been put into fishery protection, how many jobs might have been created, while making the remaining commercial fishermen and the fishery sustainable.

Last edited by x on Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

i fear it will be a long time until you experience cod fishing such as that again mate.dont think there has been a decent cod caught this last couple of years on the north coast,the culprits the trawler men dont care about stocks they cant see any further than the next weeks wages,and the goverment are not prepared to put the right legeslation in place to stop this once and for all.the greencastle men are getting x amount of pounds a box for spurdog.what species will be next ?where will it end?when there is nothing left in the sea?

sandman, you raise a lot of very good and valid points.
but i still think the navy could do a lot more, one of their roles
being tasked with fishery protection.Secondary Role's
Fishery Protection.


The Naval Service is tasked with patrolling the Irish Economic Zone, an area of approximately 132,000 square miles or 16% of the total EU sea fisheries. This represents almost five times the land area of Ireland and encompasses perhaps one of the most productive fisheries in the world. It is an area of great economic importance not only to Ireland but to the whole European Union. Whilst all roles are important the majority of effort is allotted to fishery protection. Annually, the Naval Service boards and carries out thorough inspections on several hundred fishing vessels. For example, in 1995, 928 fishing vessels were boarded and inspected. Of these, 79 vessels were issued warnings and 51 were detained.

To assist in this highly important role and to assist in the effective implementation of European and national fisheries regulations, the Naval Service established the Naval Supervisory Center as a national recording center for sea fisheries.

The Naval Supervisory Center (NSC) in Haulbowline is the national recording center for Sea Fisheries. It supervises and co-ordinates all matters concerning fishery that are within the Naval Service's area of responsibility. In addition, it keeps Naval Command fully briefed on current activity, trends and development in sea fisheries. To assist the NSC & Ships in the role of fishery protection, the Naval Service has developed a number of software packages as follows:

Fishery Data Base The fishery database stores information on all fishing vessels operating off our coast. Details stored include fishing vessel characteristics, registration & license particulars, owners, skippers, sightings, boarding, position / activity reports, catch activity reports, warnings and detentions.

Fisheries Legislation Expert System (FL.E.S.) This system was devised to assist the ships to correctly interpret complex fishery law. In a live scenario at sea, the ship's onboard computer supplies accurate, up to date legal information to the ship's captain.

Naval Service Geographical Information System (N.S.G.I.S.) This system incorporates a visual screen display of all fishing vessel positions and activity recorded in the data base. This system is utilized to give fisheries briefs to Naval Command and ship's officers, to assist planning, and to analyze seasonal, EU national, and species fishing effort.

The above information packages are maintained and kept up to date by NSC staff. Ship's computers are constantly updated by Satellite link. Further projects in hand include a pilot project in the satellite monitoring of fishing vessels (LIRSAT). If fully developed and approved by the EU, real time monitoring of fishing vessels can be implemented.


but i have to say, i would love the idea of having a dedicated fishery protection being set up.
it would have a lot of advantages over the current set up.

as for the minister going to the dept of transport, I totally agree with you
on grass growing on o connell street :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .
if he can do for traffic what he done for fish stocks it would be great.

Cheers lads, when we were fishing out of Ballinetoy we were plagued with sand eels as in when we were perking for cod we would foul hook these damned sandeels and we had to reel in and unload and go back down again, so my pa hooked a cod and reeled in and on his way back down he said a s*** those damn sandeels are back and he tried to reel in and the rod bent in half, after 15 minutes he had the tackle at the boat side and he had 3 cod on his rod, I gaffed the middle cod which was about 11 or 12 lb and the other 2 was about 5 or 6 ilb each. That was before he reached thr bottom. When will we ever see that again? :( :? :cry:

maybe on a playstation game in the future!! maybe by the title of deep sea angling - 70's and 80's style!!! :lol: :lol: :evil:

Hi all a newbe here.

I fish Monkstown Wall in the winter and there the trawlers come right up the channel and haul there nets in front of us anglers. For those of you who do not know the area, it is well in Cork harbour and the particular spot is only about 350 Mts across, so what chance have the codling of escaping this sort of constant harrasment, add to that there are several gill nets in the area. Can anyone top that for downright poaching the angler's fish from under their rods. I have been tempted to put a 6oz lead through their wheelhouse windows, but then who would the cops come for, not the trawler men.

Hope the situation improves very soon or we will not have a Cod left to go after, even the Whiting are getting scarse due to this onslaught. :evil:

Agree with you on your points on the wall but I also think that plenty of damage was done by people who fished the wall taking home absolutely everything they caught or not taking enough care unhooking the little fellas. The amount of dead undersized codling that could be seen bobbing about at stages was a disgrace as was the piles of mini codling that could be seen at anglers feet from time to time. All proudly displayed in full view of the public on the footpath... :shock: As far as whiting go, I had, in all my visits to the wall 1 decent whiting of just under 1 1/2 lbs...where were they??

Could not agree more with you on all that you say. It is very sad to see all the juvenile fish either lying on proud display at the anglers feet or bobbing about in the water where they are eaten by the hungry birds, at least in that respect they are not wasted, as little is in nature.

Two years ago, as you probably know there were Whiting there in great numbers and big fish too. I and my friends who go to the wall had some great days and great fish to 3lbs, but not my more and that is, in my humble opinion, down to the nets.

Good reply lads, I honestly think cod fishing is over. When my father and I went out our main species was cod for the simple reason it was good sport plus it got us a good few extra pound for our hobby. I say :God help the charter boat owners who try to take a party of anglers out to catch a few fish and depend on it to make a living. 20 years ago I could have took anglers out to enjoy themselfs but not now.

You see, I don't know if Cod are a lost Cause, As you know I do a lot of Shore Fishing around Donaghadee Harbour. and this past year, First year Codling have been a real plague, if only these masses of Mini Codling were given the chance to mature may, just maybe a viable fishery is NOT completely off the Cards :?