by Leon Roskilly » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:20 am
My ears have been burning :)
(Thanks for the invite Tanglerat)
I thought that I'd start off another thread 'Bringing about Change' rather than take this one off topic, so see you over there (once I've posted!).
But back to the original subject - Decommissioning.
Yes, for the stocks, it's always good news when fishing boats are taken out of action, but unfortunately it's not as good as many imagine.
As other posters have stated, part of the problem is with quota.
Each Fishery Minister fights hard for as much quota as can be wrung out of the EU for his/her nation's fleet, regardless of what the scientific advice at the time may be.
And they fiercely try to hang onto that quota with bargaining and pleading.
And they will point out all the conversation measures that they have undertaken, justifying why they need that quota so that 'livelihoods' (profits) can be protected.
Those conservation measures will include fleet reductions.
'We have already reduced our fleet by x number of boats, our remaining fishermen need that quota to survive'!
But that is something of a magician's trick.
Look at old film of the fishing industry.
Fleets of trawlers packed with men.
Those boats couldn't catch much, they took a long time to reach the grounds, then they had to find the fish. Their gear was inefficient and all of those men were needed to hand-haul the nets, clean and pack the fish for the long journey back.
Harbours packed with boats and towns packed with fishing families.
It is technology that has changed all of that.
Boats get faster, have modern navigation and fish-finding aids.
Gear and it's deployment is a science now, with multiple nets often being towed together, the catch winched aboard by machines.
One modern trawler can do the work of many older boats, one fisherman needed when many hands were once needed.
Modern monofilament gill netting can catch more fish, for more time and in more circumstances than the old nets that were once used and, being much lighter and as dry when it comes out of the water as when it went in, not to mention cheaper, small boats can deploy and handle many kilometres of the stuff.
And that 'technological creep' (more like a stampede!) hasn't stopped, it continues.
So don't be fooled with talk of 'half the boats now compared with ten years ago'. Those new boats have more fish killing power, so the numbers may have halved but the efficiency has more than doubled.
So, when a boat gets decommissioned, the quota for the national fleet stays the same, decommissioning money is re-invested in modernisation, and nothing much changes, as far as conservation is concerned.
But it's not all bad news.
The problems are being recognised, and there are signs that they are being dealt with by reformation within the Common Fisheries Policy.
The failures of 'Quota management' are recognised, and other restrictions - closed areas, limitation of effort (days at sea etc) are being used more.
But changes only happen when there is recognised 'political will' to bring about change, and the growing Recreational Sea Angling lobby is part of the mechanism that is bringing about that change.
But it will only continue to do so, if individual anglers play their part!
And now I'm going off topic, so see you over on 'Bringing About Change'
Tight Lines - leon