Cushendunn Co Antrim 29th 08 2030 A Report from the Future

A Report from the Future

People:Me

Duration:09.00 -12.00

Tide: hw @ 10.00

Weather: electrical storms

Bait: synthetic

Rigs: scratching

Results: Zilch


Report:Amazing how quiet it is round here now that all the birds are gone, there used to be gulls and comorants round here way back in 2005 , but as the commercial overfishing destroyed the stocks, what was there for them to feed on ? About the only place you see a cormorant these days is around the freshwater fish farms....... The first signs were when the gulls left the sea and moved to the old landfill sites.

I remember watching a pod of dolphins in this bay, amazing sight. But of course they are all gone now too. It was pitiful to watch the last few, starving, trying to eat jellfish in a desperate attempt to survive. They say life will always find a way....maybe the jellyfish were meant to be.

I blame the gillnetters and longliners for wiping them out, you know. The survivors died a slower death, starving as the last fish were pulled from the sea by the remnants of a vast, global commercial fleet, whose demise quickly followed that last of the fish.

The sea has changed in that time, on a calm day it would gently lap against the shore, these days it sort of gloops full of weed and jellyfish. Jellyfish are about the only 'fish' left now. They dry them now. Apparently they can be used as a thickening agent. Perhaps someday, even they will be gone. Back in 2006, I remember jellyfish being sold for only 14 cents per kilo. I fear the worst, even for the jellyfish, as trials are already underway in harvesting zooplankton from the sea - it's about the last 'natural' source of protein in the sea that we can rely on.

Plenty of activity at the fishfarms in the bay. I suppose they're getting worried with the report due to be published soon, feeding the fish cattle offal is just wrong. Look what happened with BSE . Now the goverment has withdrawn its advice to eat two portions of oily fish a week, the fish from these farms arent going to be of benfit to anyones health. The kids are being given artifical omega 3 supplements, nowhere near as beneficial as the real thing.

Back then, a few scientist, anglers, conservationists and the like cried doom. Like all doom-sayers, they were scorned for the most part. Ridiculed. Dismissed as zealots and crackpots....if only people had listened, it might be different now. But they didn't, convinced by media and government that it was all 'under control', 'regulated', 'managed'. It was, but not for the benefit of the environment. It was managed exquisitely for the benefit of a few avaricious corporations. Not for the many, nor for the future.

Ahh well another blanking session, wonder whats on telly tonight, hope they show some of the old Henry Gilby shows. Would be nice to see what a fish looks like again

Andy Elliott

Last edited by Andy Elliott on Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:37 am, edited 2 times in total.

the fish stocks are fecked and we need to get our arses in gear alright - there are plenty enough reports like that in this day and age already :(

apart from all that u had a good day out then mate? :lol: :lol:

Bad day then Andy? :wink: I kinda understand where you are coming from. Ok, maybe you fished the wrong tide or at the wrong time, but the fishing has gone to pot this last few years. We fished Cushendun the other evening and only got a handful of dogs. I dont expect 5lb cod every trip, but it was poor. I also fished it when it was supposed to be "fishing its socks off" too. Ok there were a few codling, whiting, flats etc around for a while, but they were all small. I'm sorry, but a 3/4lb codling is not suitable for the 'pan'.

What does this imply to me? As soon as the fish grow to a reasonable size they move to deeper water and get snaffled by trawlers. So yes, i do understand why you are so depressed! Fishing is on the way out, without doubt. But i will still go because i'm an addict and live in hope. A bit like the football team i support :wink: :D

Check the date of the report :29th of August 2030

Its a fictional report from the future ... what will happen if somthing isnt done

apart from all that u had a good day out then mate? :lol: :lol:

Yes, Rab01. I'm old enough to remember when you could regularly catch a fish worth eating. So my expectations from angling may be a bit higher than some. But I don't think we're beat yet, other wise I wouldn't have bothered joining SACN, or setting up the SACN Ireland website, or wasted my time trying to present the facts to anyone who'll listen


Andy Elliott

Fishing IS on the way out. But only if we let it. Come 2025, like the report says, do you want to stand on the shore knowing you did nothing while there was still time? Didn't join SACN, didn't take 5 to fill out a survey....just stood idly by and let it all happen?

Anyone think the future described above is bull? Doom-saying? Exaggeration?

thats it spurs boy - there are a few places that the netters cant get to that are basically stocking the rest of it - its only a matter of time before technology/pollution/climate change get into the few nursery areas

but as you said - its like gamling (ahem!) - hoping you can still get a result! 8)

theres a b in gambling - just got a bit excited there and missed the key :lol:

This picture was taken 20 years ago ... had any catches like this recently ?

Catches like that were common place... not any more


what are YOU going to do about it ?

Or do you want to stand there with your hands in your pockets?



[img]http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7280/gonefishingwn5.jpg[/img]


Andy Elliott

In the Past 24 Years Andys Catch Rate has shown 0% Fluctuation. :lol:

Only messin' mate, I see where you're coming from. :wink: :cry:

Doh Andy, i should have read the whole thing properly. Have just done the survey. I remember witnessing a day like this in the mid eighties at the Blue Pool, plaice after plaice coming in to one angler on sandeel (and being returned) - they were like binlids - 3lb+. My mate and i fished probably 6 or eight times specifically for plaice this year - probably not far off 60 man hours. I think we had one near the 2lb mark - and we know the tides, conditions and baits required to catch them.

I used to go down as a student spinning for coalies and pollack and lost count of the fish - in the eighties also. I frequently got fish going to ground that i couldn't stop. Whilst spinning this year i would get on average 1 or 2 undersized at most. I rarely spin now. The problem nowadays is that younger anglers expectations and peceptions are that what they see around them is normal and are reasonably happy with that.

I'm ranting i know... Our first open competition on Benone was won with somewhere in the region of 25 flatties only 7/8 years ago. When i stopped fishing the opens a year or more ago they were being one with 2/3 fish.

Do i still bother fishing? - yes because its the best stress relief i know. But i certainly dont go on the basis of having a fish supper for dinner the next day.

Andy, you are encouraging us to do something. Can you give me an example?

Spurs_Boy (and u know who i am BigPhill..)

Oh and Andy, which one are you? :roll: :lol:

In the Past 24 Years Andys Catch Rate has shown 0% Fluctuation. :lol:

Only messin' mate, I see where you're coming from. :wink: :cry:

Hi Drew

Good to see you know where im coming from

So I take it you HAVE completed the SACN online survey [url=http://www.sacn-online.org/survey.php]Here[/url]

You HAVE added your support to the work of the SACN by joining [url=http://www.sacn-online.org/membership.htm]Here[/url]

and you WILL of course practise Catch and Release ? (keeping the occasional fish for the table)

Or are your hands nice and warm in your pockets ?


Andy Elliott

Oh and Andy, which one are you? :roll: :lol:

Im the wean in yer man's arms in the background :D

Andy Elliott

I knew you were there somewhere - just didn't know whether you were an oldie or not :lol: :lol:

andy, i hope u realised i was just messing around. i myself here of stories years ago of great fish caught from holywood were i'm from. but pollution has destroyed basically the whole belfast lough and i really don't know what possibly can be done to stop r problems. i do take seriously the future of r sport.

Well, pollution is a crime just about anywhere these days. So report it to any individual or body who cares. If enough people complain, it's not completely outside the bounds of possibility that something might get done about it.

Everything was better in the past. I used to have hair. :lol:

But while we cannot change the past, we might be able to influence the future, if we try.

one other thing, why were u fishing artifical lures at cushendun? those plaice from back in the eighties surely weren't caught that way. i would expect to blank if i was fishing that way at cushendun.

Oh yes spurs-boy, i remember the open you mentioned, i think it was the best result in an open i have witnessed in recent years, i think it was won with 21 flounder at the old minimum counting size of 25cm, but the other catches from all anglers was also in the high teens etc. this sadly is no more.

one of the problems here i believe has been inshore(basically near on beach) trawling of the area over the years for flounder, turbot and bass. - nothing much being done to stop this even now.

another one i believe was the fact that at opens like that at the time i weigh im system was used and irregardless of our efforts to keep most fish alive and return them asap to the water after the weigh in, i believe the most died, we have done something about it over the past few years by the introduction of catch measure and release...which is now working.........but just bare in mind how long it took to get it introduced fully at all shore opens.....it goes to show that differences can be made with enough effort and time.

another is pollution, over the years farmers have been seen washing out slurry tanks etc at the beach etc, obviously the slurry aint good for the fish either, havent seen it recently, but now knowing what i didnt know then, i am in a position to do something about it if i see it happen again.

it would be good if all members of the forum who have old photos of catches from years gone by to forward them to the guys at sacn ireland, it will help in the long run to gather more stuff to hit the politicians with.....to keep trying to make the changes required for improved and sustainable recreational sea angling for all for the future.

[Davy Murdoch]

Last edited by Davy Murdoch on Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.