who do I report fishermen to ?

[bobgosling]

Last time I was out in The Solent I witnessed a fishing boat with the registration P989 hauling in a lobster pot attached to a bright blue poly-bottle ( no flag / reflector / light / etc ).

Was he committing an offence ( i.e. incorrectly marked buoy ) and if so to whom should he be reported ?

 

[duncan]

no he wasn't in the wider sense as all of the recomendations and guidelines on the marking of tackle are just that.

he may have been commmitting an offence with regard to the location of a pot as there are some rules in relation to certain areas in the Solent - Portsmouth entrance for example - but I don't think that is what you are referring to.........

of course if it was a yachtsman hauling the same pot hoping for his supper he wouldn't be committing 'an offence' either.

 

[oldharry]

Not sure if it is actually an offence yet, as there still seem to be quite a few around like that. At least the marker was bright blue - one p+++ off Chichester still marks his with small black bottles....

Report form available online from CHIRP - downloadable report forms from their website .http://www.chirp.co.uk/New/Contact/Contact.htm

Chirp particualrly asks us to report incidents arising from badly or unmarked fishing gear.

 

[Talbot]

If the lobbie pot was within the dockyard port area QHM would like to know (see here

If it was within southampton port area, then they are the responsible authority,

 

[duncan]

[ QUOTE ]
Not sure if it is actually an offence yet

[/ QUOTE ]

yet?

what?

you r use of yet suggests that you believe 'it' will be - would you like a small wager on that? /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[landaftaf]

if you consider he is causing a danger to navigation - then to the coastguard

 

[jimi]

Report it to Solent CG.

 

[Birdseye]

[ QUOTE ]
Last time I was out in The Solent I witnessed a fishing boat with the registration P989 hauling in a lobster pot attached to a bright blue poly-bottle ( no flag / reflector / light / etc ).

Was he committing an offence ( i.e. incorrectly marked buoy ) and if so to whom should he be reported ?

[/ QUOTE ]

So whose fishing now, then?

 

[oldharry]

No, but: after a major entaglement with a net from which I needed Lifeboat asistance to get me sorted and clear, I reported the incident to CHIRP. They and RYA are collecting evidence to ascertain the extent of the problem, with a view to making formal representation to the authorities about the hazards presented to both commercial and leisure interests by inadequately marked fishing gear.

So, as far as I know inadequately marked fishing gear is not an offence - 'yet...' - but watch this space.

And yes, reporting something that appears to be a hazard to navigation to HMCG also sounds like a very good idea to me.

 

[Solitaire]

[ QUOTE ]

So, as far as I know inadequately marked fishing gear is not an offence - 'yet...' - but watch this space.



[/ QUOTE ]

This is an extract from LNTM 41/05 issued by QHM on 11/08/05

"South of the Harbour entrance in any area not shown on Admiralty Charts as an area within which fishing is prohibited, unattended fishing gear in respect of which a surface mark is employed must show a dan buoy or container with flag, which must be fitted with a radar reflector and have the identity of the laying vessel clearly displayed.

5. Attention of Mariners is drawn to the Dockyard Port of Portsmouth Order 2005 Schedule 1. Regulation 8 (fishing), which remains in force.

6. In accordance with Dockyard Port of Portsmouth Order 2005 Paragraph 6, failure to observe this direction will constitute a criminal offence. "

Talbot posted a link to the full notice. If you belive that a pot is marked incorrectly inform either QHM or, if within the western solent, Southampton VTS.

You can complete an incident report on the QHM web site or write to QHM.

 

[beserk]

Pity the poor fisherman, trying to eke out a meagre living.

 

[TheBoatman]

No he wasn't, but that may change in the future. Subject to local by-laws you can lay gear down with any marker you choose!

BTW. That reminds me, I'm potting next w/end - I must go to Tescos and get a couple of 4 litre plastic milk cartons just so that I can catch some un-suspecting yotties out /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[duncan]

they are indeed trying to establish the full nature of the 'threat' but I believe they aren't getting a whole lot of 'evidence' to this effect (?)

I would certainly recommend that people report actual incidents but clearly watching a fisherman pull his own pots is not one!

personally I hate the damm things as I like to come in from fishing after dark around the Purbeck coast and they are a definite threat - so far I have been lucky, which I put down to taking a route out away from any and then following the plot back within a few metres on my return!

 

[goneballistic]

I think that fishermen should be left to get on with their buisness without interference. We forget that we are using the sea as our playground whilst the fishemen are using it for their livelyhood. The cost of a pole/flag/radar reflector might seem like not much to you but when your not even making ends meet it is another story.

I think more vigilance is required on the part of the yachtsman, after all if the fisherman can find his pots we can too.

 

[duncan]

whilst I agree with the principle of accepting that (most) fishermen are out there making their living I think you are being a little ridiculous with your analogy of them finding their pots
1. they don't do so at night
2. they haul close to slack water
3. if the weather and tides conspire against them so that they are out in low viz/night they use GPS.

generally there is no excuse for poorly marked gear - it's a false economy as they end up having to creep for more strings anyway when the ends are chopped off.

 

[oldharry]

[ QUOTE ]
I think that fishermen should be left to get on with their buisness without interference. We forget that we are using the sea as our playground .....I think more vigilance is required on the part of the yachtsman, after all if the fisherman can find his pots we can too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Frankly, I think you have missed the point entirely. Yes the fishermen are trying to eke a living in an increasingly difficult market, and the temnptation to cut corners is great, but there is NO excuse for badly marked gear: the fisherman himself is not the only loser - his gear may get damaged or lost if he doesnt mark it properly, but the risk of damage to other craft whether commercial or leisure, and the potential risk to life (and I understand there has been loss of life directly as a result of getting fouled on fishing gear) is greater.

To say most of us 'forget' we are using the sea as a playground is nonsense. We are there for fun, others are there to make a living - we all know that.

And again to say yachstmen should 'show more vigilance' again suggests we are all stupid muppets who dont know a pot marker from a G'n T. How can we be 'vigilant' for markers that are too small and coloured as to be nearly invisible even in good conditions, and in many cases are dragged beneath the surface by the tide so are completely invisible.

The incident I had recently: I was entering a well known and popular anchorage. Around a hundred feet to port was a small white buoy not more than 8cms diameter. Would you have taken any notice of it other than steering clear? Right across my course a net had been secured just below the surface - which of course I ran straight in to, conpletely jamming the sterngear, and damaging the rudder. In my effeorts to get clear, the boat swung round several times, resulting in the net becoming entangled in my keels as well.

The other end of the net - which was firmly enough secured to stop 3 tons of boat dead in the water at 3kts had no surface mark whatsoever.

Please tell me how 'lack of vigilance' on my part contributed to the accident? After nearly an hour struggling to disentangle my boat, I called Solent Coastguard, who tasked an IRB to come to my aid. It took the united efforts of the crew another hour to disentangle me from the net.

The point of this thread is that some fishermen are still placing the gear in such a way that it is a threat to other sea users, and failing to mark it clearly - or in some cases at all. As long as that is happening, then there is a problem for the rest of us, and those who act irresponsibly will sooner or later find themselves put out of business. The trouble is they will take others who DO act respnsibly with them.

 

[zefender]

Er, the fisherman can find his pots because he knows where he put them - others don't.

I hate to sound hard but if there are too many fisherman to earn a decent crust then they have to move on to another industry - that's was happens in most industries. I also find it difficult to believe that a fisherman laying pots in the Solent doesn't actually have another job anyway. Maybe too if its tough to earn a living through pot laying, that might be because there aren't enough fish, so let's ban species to let stocks recover.

Millions of quid support the economy of the Solent area. Virtually all of this is leisure boating (OK a quite a bit of commercial shipping too!), and hardly any of it fishing. Badly market pots or silly oilcans cause hundreds of quids worth of damage/effort and risk lives - all for a few quid's worth of crustacean.

It amazes me that poorly marked pots have been allowed for so long. I say let them fix the problem or be banned

 

[KREW2]

Pity the poor fisherman.
It maybe another fisherman who gets his prop fouled on poorly marked tackle, etiquette, and rules are for the benefit, and saftey of all mariners

 

[PilotWolf]

From a sticky position here so will be careful what I say...

There are certain byelaws relating to fishing gear and how and where it is set depending on the time of year, time of low water, postion and certainly in the Sussex area lobster pot bouy are required to be marked with the lobster permit number...

Again depending on where you reside/boat then perhaps a call to the local Sea Fisheries Commitee might get you some answers on the legality and even an offer to have a friendly word of advice from the fishery officer.

W.