Monkstown

[cobh-skipper]

Hello ppl, has anybody tried monkstown for cod over the past few weeks.
i was there over the w/e and and only had one cod and one conger.
anyone know where all the cod are hiding ?????

[chuck]

Last Tuesday 8th Feb. we fished the wall and watched a trawler trawl off Monkstown Pier for 2 hours.
Am reliably informed the wall was also trawled on Wednesday and Thursday. Does that answer your question!!!?

[cobh-skipper]

that might explain it alright chuck, i was thinking about that problem
would anybody be interested in protecting the area by dropping some big anchors and stuff, if the trawlermen were doing serious damage to there gear maybe they wouldnt trawl the area.
myself and some other fishermen in the area are thinking of doing the same thing on the the turbot bank and the approaches to the bank.
i would appriciate ppls comments on this.. is it over the top?????

[MAC]

Personally I don't think that it's over the top. But that's MY opinion. I doubt that anything you can lift would do too much damage to their nets though it might be worth a try. If you have the means I would suggest something metal like what is on the beach landing scene on Saving Private Ryan. Sharpen up the edges a bit and that might cut through the nets preventing the metal from being lifted. Savage stuff but in times of reduced anglers and indiscriminate trawling soon there will be nothing left.

Kev

[Adrian]

Skipper,

I like the way your thinking however unless you know someone who has a spare ship/large boat (or two) in need of sinking it would probably be a waste of time Maybe ever a trawler or two . MAC's idea might work, but I reckon they would need a pretty heavy concrete base to keep them in place and getting them into position could be a problem, and on top of this I reckon the harbour master wouldn't be too impressed.

It has been mentioned before that we should start some sort of letter writing campain to the minister for the marine to protect certain areas. Personally I think we should campaign for a total ban on trawling within 1 mile or 1 KM of the coast line.

[chuck]

Would it not be possable to find where the trawlers land their catch. You can be pretty certain that they are catching undersized fish in these trwal nets and being as greedy as they are, possably landing them with their 'legal' catch. It would not take much to notify the authorities and hopefully harass these b*****ds into giving up.

[cobh-skipper]

I have put a lot of thinking in on the issue, and i think we have to take more direct action to protect the few cod we get each year(fewer and fewer these days) and the idea i have come up with is to find some old anchors, the bigger the better... and cut one of the stocks off them so the remaining stock sticks up from the bottom.. the trawls should be damaged enough by the anchors to make the skippers of the the trawlers think twice. a few boxes of cod or serious damage to the nets..
as for the landing spots, there are two cobh and crosshaven i have even seen young cod and whiting under 300mm being landed by these so called fishermen..

[kieran]

Hi Cobh-Skipper

You might want to check whether your actions are legal or not before you go do it, given your posts here are doubtless read by the commercial trawlermen as well! They might not take kindly to finding the expensive trawl nets slashed to pieces although personally....

For the record, Adrian, you can no longer decommission (i.e. scuttle) old boats - they have to be properly disposed of in an environmentally sound manner, authorised by the Dept of Natural Resources... which is why old trawlers can be picked up for next to nothing at the moment.

In some countries they used chained tyres to create articifical reefs, and I know the skippers in Dunmore East wanted to scuttle a load of old boats to do the same but the authorities banned it (and said not to try it as they would be watching).

I'd be in favour a 1 mile (kilometre is smaller ) ban on all inshore trawling, especially when it can be proven that they are doing it in known nursery areas like Clew Bay, the Shannon Esttuary and Cork Harbour.

Might be our first submission for the IFSA annual conference!!! Stir it up!

[Guest]

Before we all loose the plot and start filling Cork harbour with our backyard junk lets use people power and the law to rid ourselves of these trawlers and punts with their trammel nets. Look at the amount of people who are travelling from all over this island to fish de wall in the last few weeks. These people are a source of income to the local B & B's, shops, pubs and petrol stations. the tourist board must be made aware of this it is their job to bring people into the area. They must be brought into the fight to clean Cork harbour of all forms of commercial fishing. Local charter skippers must also make their voices herd in this fight. Having boats tied up on moorings, because of bad weather out at sea makes no sense, when the could be fishing in the shelter of the harbour without the fear of boats trawling around them. The harbour is a huge expance of sheltered water which includes strong tidal currants and calm backwaters. These areas are the maternal breeding grounds for young and immature fish. The savage trawling of these waters are not only slaughtering small fish it is also destroying the very seabed they feed from. S ome one in authority must put a stop to this before it's all gone. Ask local sea anglers and charter skippers and they alltell the same thing, this harbour willbe wiped clean of fish if something is not done now. I believe the best way for anglers to achieve this is to put pressure on all T.D's to buy out these few people involved. It would not take a lot of money to do this, simply base their compensation on their log book returns and paper work from the sale of the fish over the last year or two, that's if they keep any. SAVE IT NOW or else start getting your excuses ready for the next generation orf sea anglers

[donal domeney]

Sorry never loged in before writing my views on the trawling of Cork harbour. Anyone who know me know I am not afrid to air my views.

[DAMIEN]

fair play donal as you said we need are voices heard

[cobh-skipper]

thanks for all the views guys, i will have to give it a lot more taught before doing anything. you make a good point on the department Kieran,,, that might be one way to go, ask for permission to sink some kind of reefs around not only cork harbour but every place we can organise,, to do something to protect whats left of our young and our breeding stock.
and you also make a good point Donal, people power. now for the next question how many of us are willing to actully get involved and do something, write letters and basicly anything we can...
?????????????

[deejaybee]

Lads,

The people power option makes sense but be aware that inshore fishermen seem to be a protected species themselves. Ireland is so far behind other EU nations on banning drift netting for salmon that it is a national embarrassment. When the inevitable happens some nets will be retired but fishermen will seek alternative species - cod in winter and bass in spring/summer I'd guess. An inclusive law is required but there is no political will just now. It will be a long campaign but nontheless it would be worth the effort - eventually.