9 June 2014
Reference points: Dover (Kent) to Yarmouth ( Suffolk) For hundreds of years traditional drift netting has been carried out by small to medium sized boats targeting herring and sprat all along the south east coast with no known adverse effect on the environment. In this fishery, there is very little if any in the way of bycatch of non-target species of any kind be it fish, mammal or bird.
In recent
years these fisheries have declined to a few small communities, but none- the-less
this fishery is important to make up boats’ annual income, very often because of
the limited range of these small boats at a time when there is no access to
other species.
In more recent years, since the invention monofilament netting, a small-scale drift
net fishery for bass and mullet has developed and is now the predominant fishing
method of the under-10 meter fleet in the south east region. Within the last 20
years several variations to the drift net fishery have come into the fishery
none more so than the use of drifting trammel nets along the sea bed for Dover
sole. By changing mesh sizes the same
method has proved to be very economical way of catching a variety of
commercially valuable fish species all year round – not just a short seasonal
fishery as being suggested by the Commission With the clean sandy nature of
much of the sea bed in the region this method has replaced the trawl, mainly
due to the ever rising cost of fuel. Boats using drift nets, of one sort or
another, outnumber trawlers by around 10 to 1.
A total ban on all drift netting if implemented would have frightening
consequences for the under-10m fleet of the south east, rendering most
redundant. These boats are designed and built solely for the drift net fishery
and would not be able to revert to other fishing methods. Similarly, the scope
for setting nets on anchors as an alternative, would very limited due to the strong tides and
turbulent nature of most areas fished, along with other issues of catch quality
and discards. Rough ground, suitable for lobsters and crab is limited and
already fully exploited. I suppose some boats could revert back to trawling but
with fuel prices as they are, trawling with a small boat has become less and
less viable.
It could be argued that a drift net with a light lead line tickling along the
sea bed actually has a very low environmental impact.
Long lining, another traditional fishery, has become less popular due to the
price of bait and as far as I am aware nobody has ever made a living catching
Dover sole on a long line.
The reasons for the proposed ban of all drift net fisheries by the EU Commission
are due to by catch of protected species of fish, diving birds , turtles and
cetaceans; most of the references given concern the tuna fishery of the
Mediterranean.
In recent years there have been several quite detailed surveys of the inshore
fisheries of the south-east, including observers monitoring discards and
catches of birds, especially with reference to the red throated diver which
overwinter along this coast in large numbers. As far as I am aware, there have
been no reports of any catches of birds of any species; catches of cetaceans
are so rare as to be negligible and are thought to pose no overall threat to the
populations of these mammals. Discards of fish are at a minimum in some cases
non-existent. All in all, there seem to be no similarities to the drift net
fisheries of the Mediterranean, which seems to be the target for this ban.
CEFAS should have all the data needed to confirm what I have said.
There is no
justification for such a drastic heavy handed approach as a total ban on drift
net fisheries of the south-east.
I would hope that the fishing industry has the full backing of all fishery
management departments to stop this proposed ban becoming a reality.