Youghal....Again

A good post by Stan. I have an article in IA shortly about fishing for bass from the boat, with special respect to crab. In it I touch on the demise of Youghal as a venue (I’m talking boat cos that’s what I know!). It is startling over recent years. I can think of no other reason for this demise other than the removal of green crab from the system.

There is a huge “green” crab fishery ongoing in both Youghal and Cork. Stan is correct about the perfume ingredient, and I’m told the crabs are used as an ingredient for fish soup in France. The sight of stacks of sacks of green crab in Cobh is frightening.

From what I can gather, the only thing saving year-round plunder of crab is the regs for shrimp potting (off season May-Aug). Crab started off as a by-catch of shrimpers.

I have spoken to people from CFB/IFSC, BIM, MI etc. about it and guess what? There is actually no green crab fishery in Ireland! It looks like that the majority is fed into the “black economy” so hence BIM, CFB, MI et al have know idea what’s going on around the country.

A crock? It sure is!
I remember a few years back there was consternation over the long lining of conger eel off East Cork. When we contacted the powers that be, we were informed that there were no landings of conger in East Cork! Why? There were no records of any landings? Its rife within the industry. I'm told there is over €1 million landed a year in one East Cork port. These fish are outside the normal declared fish.
I'd say it could be the same crack with green crabs. Cortaz has the right idea...Revenue inspection....

Jim and Sandman, nice to see you are expressing such an interest. I am going to keep writing to all concerned in the dept of Marine until I get an answer.

I have just written to the minister for the marine as follows:


Hi,
I have been trying to get some information from BIM and the SRFB. Here is a copy of an e-mail that I sent to both.

Dear Mr Cooke,

Could you please let me know if a license is required for potting for shore crabs?

There is an individual who is setting pots for these in the Blackwater estuary in Youghal. I just wonder if this man has a license for the same and if not is there anything that can be done to stop this activity.

It would appear to me that if this is allowed to continue the fish will no longer have a reason to feed in this area.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,


Stan Ryan


I would be grateful if you could get some information for me on this matter.
Regards,

Stan Ryan

I think that I will have to get a response to this.

i wouldnt go holding your breath stan

if you actually get replies i find it can take weeks - sometimes the buck is passed and you eventually get a reply from some very low order civil servant - and you barely know what they are refering to, the way they have done a chinese wispers on it! :roll:

There was a postal problem in our area the summer before last. It was on Joe Duffy and some other programs. There seemed to be no possible solution.

I very much depend on the post as do 7 others on our road that work from home. In one day I got every house on our road to sign a petition demanding that we have a daily delivery of post. This was sent to out local FF representative, the minister for communications, Comreg,an Post ( head office) and the manager of the Glenageary sorting office.

We had no problem with deliveries from then on.


If enough people write to their representatives and the fisheries board there may be a reaction. There is power in numbers.

There may be no quick answers but I think it is worth a shot. The alternative is to just sit back and ignore what is going on.

Dear Mr Ryan,

I wish to acknowledge receipt of your correspondence.

As the Minister of State, Mr John Browne T.D., has responsibility for marine matters, your email has been forwarded to his office for his attention.

Please refer any further correspondence to:
Mr John Browne T.D.
Minister of State
Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources
Leeson Lane
Dublin 2

or by email to minister.browne@dcmnr.gov.ie

Yours sincerely,
Carina O'Donoghue
Private Secretary to Minister Noel Dempsey T.D.
Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources

Maybe you are right. However, I will keep trying

Well, it's about as hard getting to speak to anyone in the DCMNR on the phone as it is to get a reply from God, as far as I can see.

I have a few questions for them as below, if they'd be good enough to take my call.....

1. Shellfish licence: Is one required to land green and/or velvet crab?



2. If so, is there any quota system in operation?



3. Are there year on year figures for landings of these species, particularly CPUE?



4. How many vessels / pots are involved in this fishery?



5. What monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure this fishery is sustainably managed?



6. Before this fishery commenced a few years ago, was any environmental impact/population study performed?



7. What are the future plans to regulate this fishery?



8. How might you react to concerens voiced by anglers that heavy catching pressure on these species may be impacting on the food chain for other species such as bass, cod, smoothhound, haddock, wrasse etc?

Here is an answer to one of your questions.


Dear Mr. Ryan,

Further to your query of yesterday, essentially any fishing activity in which fish or shellfish are being caught for sale requires that the vessel involved be licenced and registered. Specifically the vessel must be registered in the general polyvalent segment or in the polyvalent potting segment. If the vessel is engaged in such fishing without a licence it is operating illegally. Shore crabs are not excluded from these requirements.

If you have a specific boat/incident to report you can do so by contacting the Sea Fisheries Control Section in the Department of Communications Marine and Natural Resources for action. The Regional HO is in Oak House, Bessboro Rd., Mahon, Cork. Tel. 021 4515100.

I hope this information is of use.
Yours sincerely,
Aoife McQuillan
_____________________
Aoife McQuillan
Minister of States Office
Leeson Lane, Dublin 2.

t. 01-678 2024
f. 01-661 0061
e. aoife.mcquillan@dcmnr.gov.ie

-----Original Message-----


If I can get the name of the boat concerned ( in Youghal) and likewise someone else get the name of the one in Cobh it may be worth following up.

Unfortunately, I will be away quite a bit until Christmas but will be back in Ardmore ( heaven) after that. I will try my best to track the guy doing the fishing down.

http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/5D ... bsite1.xls
have a look at this it might help
Looked into this problem last year. From reliable sorces it seems they are catching flounder in the bay and using them as bait in the pots.

Ah! nothing to worry about!!!!
You can see there are no landings in Cork or Youghal. Must have been a mirage :roll:

The only thing that seems to protect crabs is that the shrimpers are not fishing during their closed season and crabs could be regarded as a bycatch of the shrimp fishery. That's only for a few months in the year though.