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27 June 2008
Submission from Mr Syvret Hi Mick
I received your e mail this morning, here are my responses, I hope I am not too late.
I have tried to answer things best i can in relation to beach netting only, but please remember a great deal of netting takes place only a short distance beyond the waves from boats.
Terms of Reference
1 96 hours, the aim of this legislation is not primarily to conserve fish stocks, but to encourage responsible use of nets, however giving fisheries powers to remove nets left on the beach will have a conservation effect by stopping catch and death of unwanted fish plus clean up the beach of old net making it nicer for all users.
Reducing the amount of net set on the beach in order to conserve fish is a totally different purpose/discussion.
2 Minimal effect from present situation as most beach netting is done on 3 beaches St Ouens, St Aubins and east coast. Even if I could not reset my net in a area, my Neighbour could with the area still being netted.
3 This legislation will help curtail irresponsible use of nets, with some people regularly leaving them set for weeks at a time with out attending them in order to save on the work of moving them or bringing ashore, preventing any one else from netting a favoured spot. Moving them a small distance will allow fisheries to access if a net has been left or is still being attended.
Questions for Witnesses
1 Across any place fish expected to swim in large numbers.
2 Using Anchors and markers and placed out from back of a vehicle.
3 Any time believe can get good catch in winter months, or when to rough for fishing boats to go to sea and need to supplement income.
4 3 - 4 days.
5 Daily or twice daily.
6 Usually Bass is the target species, but sole and mullet often taken.
7 Many people, some with only a short length of net to feed themselves and some on a large scale to sell, this is easy for them to do as presently you do not require a commercial fishing licence to sell shore caught fish.
Also many licensed fishermen have to supplement their income when to rough to go to sea, this is very important to their live hood.
8 Personally 2-3 per year, Island wide estimate around 50 100 Metre lengths set 20 times a year.
9 a, Help preserve a small amount. b, Help preserve a small amount,
c, Presently nets can be left permanently set.
10 Just enough for fisheries to be able to notice.
11 Fine, currently no need to move at all.
12 They carry on killing and are untidy on the beach. 13 This legislation.
14 & 15, Currently no licence is required to set unlimited amounts of net or to sell large quantities of fish caught from the shore, therefore presently of the large scale beach netters half are licensed fishermen and half are unlicensed.
However with the bag limit legislation currently progressing through to law, Bass the target species will be limited to only 5 per day for unlicensed netters. This will discourage any new or small scale netters from beginning or increasing their activity to large scale beach netting. The large scale beach netters that can show a track record of netting being a regular part of their annual income will probably be given a special permit to continue for a period of years without a licence, when their activity or permit expires all large scale beach netters will have a commercial fishing licence, this will allow them to have more than 5 bass in their possession. This will may also be restricted to only the fisherman that show an track record of beach netting excluding most of them.
However this would still leave unlicensed people able to lay large amounts of net as long as they did not bring ashore more than 5 Bass regardless of how many are caught and killed, if this does not curtail unlicensed fishing and selling or produces lot of dead fish that cannot be brought ashore then quantities of net and pots (as lobsters are another other species to have a bag limit) fished may well have to be introduced.
This will take years to achieve and this legislation is one step in the right direction.
16 Fisheries and Honorary officers with fishermen and the public as a source of information.
The Fisheries and Marine Environment Panel are well aware of the issues being faced, and regularly offers open discussions with all stake holders, both Commercial and Recreational along with the French and Guernsey Authorities.
Many ideas are discussed and this is a special situation, some things are easy to achieve and some things are not.
We all want fish stocks and the environment to be strong and healthy so that commercial fishing can earn a living and recreational people can enjoy the environment or fishing activity also.
This will probably require more legislation not less as the population is growing but the sea cannot expand, equalling more pressure on a limited resource. All sectors of activity will have to give and take and learn to share.
The panel tries to take small steps in the right direction and then monitor their effect to see if any further action is needed, remember that our fish stocks are shared with France and Guernsey, if Jersey tries to act independently in a significant way we will only kill off our own commercial fleet while achieving very little for the overall fish stock.
These are my views of the Panel and the proposed beach netting legislation. For and on behalf of the Inshore Fisherman's Association.
Thank you.
Ian Syvret.