[Ben Dixon]

HFW is presenting a program on C4 =1 on fishing & fish quotas just not, not sure if it 'll be any good but bugger all else on the box tonight!!

Ben

( Edit = change the title to "Hugh's Fish Fight" )

[Rob Brownfield]

Was very good and a real eye openner!!!

[Mike Barrio]

"Fishing for one species often means catching another, and if people don’t want them or fishermen are not allowed to land them, the only option is to throw them overboard. The vast majority of these discarded fish will die"

"Because discards are not monitored, it is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away. The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch. Many of these fish are species that have fallen out of fashion: we can help to prevent their discard just by rediscovering our taste for them.

Others are prime cod, haddock, plaice and other popular food species that are “over-quota”. The quota system is intended to protect fish stocks by setting limits on how many fish of a certain species should be caught.

Fishermen are not allowed to land any over-quota fish; if they accidentally catch them – which they can’t help but do - there is no choice but to throw them overboard before they reach the docks"

Check out Hugh's website here http://www.fishfight.net/

[Allan Liddle]

Why don't they simply work a total weight caught system?  This way the edible catch (target species) is sold as just now, with all other species, undersized etc sold as fish meal etc.  This means no wastage, all fish caught returning a cash value, reduced pressure on stocks (as quotas would determine 'close season and strict weight limits, obviously other than 'Black Landings') and less pressure on the bait species whuch are currently used as fish meal, fertiliser etc.

Too easy i suppose.

Allan

[Gordon Zola]

I think that is the system they use in the USA Allan
it seems like a good idea to me
gordon

[Jim Eddie]

Anyone watch it last night ? I had to watch 43 poeple being murdered in Midsomer, the most dangerous village to live in the UK, its a wonder anyone is left alive there 

 

Jim

[Dave Mundie]

I watched it I knew there was a lot of good fish thrown over but didn't think it was that much
I know the rules ect but until they get them changed to a better/fairer way why cant they instead of throwing the over quota over the side as waste land them and give them to the starving instead of giving them money, I'm sure they'd rather have a fish than a couple of squid Quid.

Dave

[Jim Eddie]

I watched it I knew there was a lot of good fish thrown over but didn't think it was that much
I know the rules ect but until they get them changed to a better/fairer way why cant they instead of throwing the over quota over the side as waste land them and give them to the starving instead of giving them money, I'm sure they'd rather have a fish than a couple of squid Quid.

Dave

Dave

Thats was the 1st night it was about Tuna last night

 


Jim

[Dave Mundie]

Jim,

Yeh seen both last night as wife had recorded them, I guess there will be 2 guys looking for new jobs after saying they caught dolphins

Dave

[Derek Roxborough]

being going on for years ,they should land every every thing and then tie up , the USA method has caused their fisherman to in crease mesh sizes so they can stay at sea longer with out the discardsm but HFWs heart is in the right place, He managed to baffle the Fisheries minister which probably wasnt too hard, I hope he makes some progress
easgach !

[Rob Brownfield]

As Hugh rightly says though, we the public have to help by starting to eat other fish besides Cod and Haddock.

Last nights programme really was very good. I knew Sandeels and Capalin were used to make fishmeal and then turned into Trout and Salmon feed, but I really did not know it took 3kg of these to grow 1kg of farmed Salmon!

As Sandeels, Capalin and all manner of other small oil fish are the staple diet of so many marine animals, birds and fish, its an absolute crime to feed farmed Salmon for the table on these.

Loved the bit where Hugh was scooping up "discard" in his net...unbelievable that Cod to 20lb+ are just heaved over the side

[Hamish Young]

I have resisted watching as it's all far too familiar to me and will raise my blood pressure higher than it needs to be

Interesting figure of 3kg to 1kg they've mentioned for salmon/trout feed conversion ratios.... personally, I think that's more than a wee bit optimistic. All fish farmers aspire for a return of 1:1 and a hell of a lot of work has been put in over the years to create the ultimate fish feed pellet. High in protein and oils it's an interesting science putting together the ultimate fish feed, but the environmental cost in producing the feed is utterly ridiculous for the gain.
Then think about the knock on effects from all that high protein fish shit faeces lying under cages or in settlement ponds and the euthrophic effect it has. Poisonous algal blooms familair to anyone

Rainbow trout (remember they are a Char, not a trout) are far more efficient at converting pelleted feed to body mass compared to salmon. I don't believe the figures will have changed much since I had anything to do with fish farming and it may peak your curiosity if we look at salmon from first feed to the table the overall food conversion ratio is more likely going to be around 5:1, and that's probably an under-estimate 

The european common fisheries policy has to be one of the most utterly stupid pieces of legislation ever created by man - it defies belief. The quota system is a farce and the waste of perfectly good fish is beyond criminal.

Will anything be done Probably not, I'm very sorry to say.

H 

[Derek Roxborough]

I worked in a hatchery during the 80'sand the conversion was then 4:1, but still using sea fish , at the time the Danes were using such fine mesh nets it was called silk stocking mesh, There was a big move to stop this as the ammount of Immature fish being killed was was out of proportion to the end product, the Danes also fed the meal to their pigs and powered power stations with these fish after drying,strangely the Danes have a massive shrimp fishery in the
 Denmark Strait where the salmon go to feed, accounting for the decline of the wild fish,a conversion rate of 1:1 is a goal that the producers would aspire to but will never attain,it was interesting to see that the Shetland site was using fish offal  as part of the feed,  easgach 1

[Jim Eddie]

Living in Peterhead, I am quite close to the issue. There are numerous fish processing factories in the town , all of the off cuts / waste go's for fish meal.

Also at the fish market any unsold fish go's for fishmeal. Basically the boats landing their fish are at the mercy of the fish buyers, its all supply and demand, if the buyers needs are met whats left remains unsold.

Topically serevral locls fishermen and processors are up in court for landing "black fish" fish that should have been discarded.

 

Jim   

[Mike Barrio]

Had a good laugh tonight ...... they got one up on me!

Went to my local chipper and ordered a Fish Supper ( for somebody else at home )
Chipper person asked: Would you like anything else?
I asked "what kind of fish is it?"
Answer "Haddock"
I asked "Have you got any other type of fish please?"
Answer "No, just Haddock"
I said "I was watching the "Fish Fight" programme on the telly last night and just wanted something else .... Do you have Mackerel in a bun?"
Answer "No, just Haddock, or Fishcakes"
I said "That's great, can I have a Fishcake Supper please, since you haven't got any Mackerel"
Answer: "Ok, one Fish Supper and one Fishcake Supper, here is your ticket, it'll be 5 minutes."

This was fine, I was doing my bit, I was happy ........ But when I got home and opened the packs they had given me two Fish Suppers!      

[Hamish Young]

Like it 

[Mike Barrio]

Over 22000 sign ups since 5pm

[Tiam]

I've been watching the series so far, its a disgrace that thousands of tonnes of fish are being wasted. Favourite quote:"Its a damn Disgrace ." Sums the whole quota system up quite nicely  

Tiam

[Offthebard]

A sad reflection on the powers in Brussels - they cannot blame this one on greedy fishermen me thinks.

Good for HFW letting the fish out of the bag and going viral with it.

Sandy B.

[Mike Barrio]

46,000 sign ups since about 5pm, if it reaches 370.000 before midnight that will be 50,000 this evening

You know something ..... I reckon this could reach half a million soon .....

Cheers
Mike

[Alex Thain]

hi guys,  just returned from an eight day fishing trip in the north sea catching  prawns  discarding  cod
for witch i have no  quota ,   crazy way to run a business 

[Ben Dixon]

hi guys,  just returned from an eight day fishing trip in the north sea catching  prawns  discarding  cod
for witch i have no  quota ,   crazy way to run a business 

Hi Alex,

I knew all that discarding stuff went on but I did not realise quite how severe it is.  Very good series of programs.

What would your solution be?


Cheers

Ben

[Alex Thain]

hi ben , im 55 years old and have been a skipper for 35 years, and have never seen cod so abundent  its crazy what we are having to do , to keep viable. In this present climate the way ahead, in my opinion, is to give us days at sea (which we already have) but to catch what we land.

[Mike Barrio]

As an outsider, who really has no idea of how the business is run, I would imagine from what we saw in the Trawler series that each trip must cost an absolute fortune in fuel and if you don't catch enough of what you are allowed to keep within your quota, or species of your quota at the time, you would be running the risk of making a loss on that trip? ..... and yet still be discarding valuable fish that could be eaten?

As that outsider and being the type of person that likes to think that simple is often best ...... would it be possible that a simple quota of weight of fish caught ( all species ) be set per year? So you land everything caught, no matter what species, or value of the species, until you reach your quota in weight and you discard nothing. Anybody seen discarding low value fish would be penalised? Any fish landed that were not of a popular table species could be sold for animal/fish farm type food?

Would this reduce your fuel costs, as you would reach your annual quota sooner by landing all fish and once you reach your quota, you would stay in port until next year? Would this also reduce the risk to your lives at sea? Would this mean less pressure to go out in foul weather?

Just my thoughts
Best wishes
Mike

[Ben Dixon]

hi ben , im 55 years old and have been a skipper for 35 years, and have never seen cod so abundent  its crazy what we are having to do , to keep viable. In this present climate the way ahead, in my opinion, is to give us days at sea (which we already have) but to catch what we land.
Sounds a lot more sensible than dumping things in fact it sounds so sensible that it is guaranteed to be a non starter!!

What is their (authorities) reasoning behind the quota system?  Seem very obvious that fishermen are going to catch stuff accidently but the accidental catch is likely to be something that is required anyway.  We're led to believe that there is virtually no cod left and that stocks are still very low, what data is this drawn from?

Cheers

Ben