youghal 1/12/10

Sorry, I cant help but say this, anyone who thinks that shore or boat anglers are responsible for the serious decline in the fish stocks is a total muppet. I mean yeah there are wreck marks that are heavily fished by boat anglers and yes that has probably resulted in the that particular mark holding fewer fish but it does not mean that the overall stock level has been decimated. The same goes for Seanie keeping a few cod from what sounds like a quality cod mark that i'd happily give my left testicle to know about! Fish stocks being what they are due to the commerical men, pollution and global warming. 18 cod is not even a drop in the ocean even if you were to somehow times it by a 1000. I still don't understand why the only complaint about people taking 100's of Mackeral in one session, is about the filthy chavs catching them. Will noone stand up for the humble Mackeral??!!!...oh and the worms and sandeels all of which get damn good thrashing from the evil sea angler. Gurn up. Build a snowman or something.

Seanie I don't know you but bloody good show old boy

Well fair play to you Seanie,if this post has proven anything its that the fishing must be fairly s...e around the place at the moment.I must admit im not a fan of the picture,but to be honest with the slaughter of codling small and large this winter down this way by lots of "anglers",Seanie's catch is a drop in the ocean and as the man said the fish were all good size and used properly.In other words just because we don't regularly see pictures does'nt mean that it is'nt going on.
For differant reasons i won't be fishing for the next few months[not my choice],but i sure hope that this post won't still be running and that Seanie you'll be using a "profile rod" for bigger fish.
Tight lines

There is always going to be positive and negative thoughts on such a post its to be expected,i personally would be happy bringing home two good sized fish but that's just me and maybe something to do with them being so scarce in my are i just hope i can catch one before the winters out .

Here is something from the horses mouth, so to speak, it might be of interest to some of the chuck them back members. I think that the following will make Sean's little catch pale into insignificance. as you will see it was reported by Reuters.

(Reuters) - Europe's conservation-minded fishing chief won a partial victory on Wednesday, convincing fishing nations to forego some short-term profits in 2011 to help rehabilitate over-exploited species such as cod.

But Britain appeared to have succeeded in diluting plans to halve the catch of cod in Scottish waters, possibly weakening efforts to protect the main species used in the traditional fish and chips meal.

The yearly negotiations were the biggest test yet of the resolve of European Union fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki, who started her political career as a leader in a 1973 student uprising against the Greek dictatorship.

She has pledged to put the recovery of fish stocks by 2015 ahead of short-term profits.

Damanaki proposed last month that cod catches should be halved in zones to the west of Scotland, in the Irish Sea and in the straits between Sweden and Denmark after evidence showed populations were not recovering from decades of exploitation.

Scotland, where annual fishing revenues are around 445 million pounds ($706 million), looked likely to be hit hardest.

But fisheries ministers meeting in Brussels agreed in the early hours of Wednesday that a 25 percent reduction in quotas was more appropriate than 50 percent, according to a provisional report from the meeting.

"I have been fighting hard to protect the livelihoods of our fishermen," said UK fisheries minister Richard Benyon.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the main scientific authority on northeast Atlantic fish, says cod stocks in the region are in such a perilous state around Scotland that the catch should be cut to zero.

COD QUOTAS

Ministers also threw out Damanaki's proposal for a 15 percent cut to cod quotas in the Bay of Biscay and off the Portuguese coast, opting for business as usual with a catch of 4,023 tons.

Fishing nations argue that cutting cod quotas will not always protect the species, as they will be swept up anyway by boats trawling for Nephrops prawns and then thrown back dead into the sea to obey the limits, an unpopular practice known as 'discarding'.

"After two days of intense negotiations, with no clear winners, I am more convinced than ever that the (EU's) Common Fisheries Policy is broken and needs radical reform," said Benyon.

Conservation groups, such as Pew Group, Greenpeace and WWF, also called for a total overhaul of the EU's dysfunctional fishing policy. "Bargaining with our oceans and the livelihoods of fisheries dependent coastal communities has to stop," said Uta Bellion of Pew.

Damanki's team say 72 percent of European fish stocks are exploited at unsustainable levels. Around 93 percent of North Sea cod, for example, are caught before they can even breed.

I always find if difficult to understand how any fisheries minister can possibly say he is protecting the livelihood of the fishing communities when all he is arguing for is fewer fish to be caught, but I am not a politician so I do not have to lick anyones b---s.

Season greetings to all Wez

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the main scientific authority on northeast Atlantic fish, says cod stocks in the region are in such a perilous state around Scotland that the catch should be cut to zero.

Ministers also threw out Damanaki's proposal for a 15 percent cut to cod quotas in the Bay of Biscay and off the Portuguese coast, opting for business as usual with a catch of 4,023 tons.

Fishing nations argue that cutting cod quotas will not always protect the species, as they will be swept up anyway by boats trawling for Nephrops prawns and then thrown back dead into the sea to obey the limits, an unpopular practice known as 'discarding'.

"After two days of intense negotiations, with no clear winners, I am more convinced than ever that the (EU's) Common Fisheries Policy is broken and needs radical reform," said Benyon.

Conservation groups, such as Pew Group, Greenpeace and WWF, also called for a total overhaul of the EU's dysfunctional fishing policy. "Bargaining with our oceans and the livelihoods of fisheries dependent coastal communities has to stop," said Uta Bellion of Pew.

Damanki's team say 72 percent of European fish stocks are exploited at unsustainable levels. Around 93 percent of North Sea cod, for example, are caught before they can even breed.

I always find if difficult to understand how any fisheries minister can possibly say he is protecting the livelihood of the fishing communities when all he is arguing for is fewer fish to be caught, but I am not a politician so I do not have to lick anyones b---s.

Season greetings to all Wez

interesting read wez

and also remember that for every pound of commercially caught cod legally taken from the north sea and landed, an equal ammount is illegally landed (source "the end of the line"). and thats not even taking into account high grading and bye catch discarding by the commercial whitefish fleets . so seanies 18 cod literally were a drop in the ocean. (pardon the pun) kinda puts things into perspective, does'nt it.

Brilliant fishing seanie, well done mate Sorry that K2 and I never got over to you for a session when we where down in Kerry there recently, it was hard to get K2 pulled away from his beloved bass, we'll get another session arranged soon. Hope wee Jamie and the rest of the family are keeping o.k, Happy Christmas to you all, hope Santa comes