Closed Season

[Hylander]

Saw this elsewhere.

 

https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/fisheries/consultation-on-the-review-of-the-close-season/?dm_i=3O4M,J336,CAS96,22BQ2,1

[Vaughan]

I read through their response form but have not replied as I could not find anywhere that asked the question : "Do you think abolishing the closed season would have an adverse effect on the enjoyment of other legitimate users of the waterway?"

[TheQ]

That is certainly one problem we already have.. in the open season...

[Hylander]

I personally like the closed season as it gives other folk peace and quiet as far as mooring of boats in concerned.     Coupled with less boats on the river.    I would vote to keep it.

[wombat nee blownup]

To me the fisherfolk are the "cyclists" of the rivers. Millions of pounds are spent up and down the country providing cycle lanes but still they use the roads!  The anglers have staging / platforms constructed for them but still they set up right in the middle of a mooring. At Postwick during the summer they reverse their cars right up to the mooring out comes a tent, paddling pool,  bbq and such and that's them for the weekend! I've seen a bloke sitting at Brammerton under a tent type thing plugged into the electric with a kettle boiling away while he's fishing. Now, you think he'd move if you wanted to moor?  I think we should keep the closed season but just make it 40 weeks longer.

[vanessan]

“I've seen a bloke sitting at Brammerton under a tent type thing plugged into the electric with a kettle boiling away while he's fishing.”

I hope that wasn’t between March and the end of September!

[NorfolkNog]

22 minutes ago, vanessan said:

hope that wasn’t between March and the end of September

Wouldn't surprise me in the least! 

Wonder if the prospect of a cuppa made him smile just for a moment 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

As a sometimes fisherman, i always take some rods and tackle when we do the Broads. The closed season was originally brought in to allow fish  to spawn. Having been a fisherman for over 40 years, i know all too well that fish will spawn according to climatic conditions, as they can`t read callanders. I`ve seen fish spawning as early as the beginning of February, and as late as August, so the closed season as is is completely outdated and does`nt tie in with the breeding pattern of fish. Add to that the different seasons for Pike and Trout etc, which can quite easily be caught by accident when normal coarse fishing, the whole idea of a closed season becomes a complete farce, so it`s way past time it was abolished. Then we won`t have the banks and moorings  choc a block full of anglers on the 16th June for a couple of weeks.

As for the point of anglers taking up dedicated moorings especially where no fishing signs are in evidence, this practice should be outlawed completely (fishing from cruisers and yachts moored should not be included) because anglers, as mentioned above have had thousands spent on dedicated swims and platforms built especially for them. The BA rangers should have the power to evict anglers from said moorings, and if refused, be entitled to confiscate their tackle, and inform the EA of wrong doing.  I`ve seen a few clips on you tube where people have told people on boats moored to these swim platforms that they should`nt be there, and said if they don`t move, they`ll be reported. What a shame these so called "rule abiding" anglers DON`T patrol dedicated moorings and tell their own kind the same thing?.  The word Hypocracy come to mind.

[rightsaidfred]

As both a boat owner and angler I do get annoyed at the them and us  comments that regularly appear,  yes there are a few anglers that get the rest a bad name there is also a few boaters that get the rest of us a bad name, the close season relates to past legislation not boaters and as such has no bearing on some comments, while they do not make a direct contribution to the broads as toll payers do they do contribute  to the EA with their licence fee, we do not own the waterways and need to understand that they have limited access while boaters have access to the whole system.

Fred

[Malanka]

When I responded to the survey my answers in terms of comments were quite fundamental. 

How can limiting when folks can fish be detrimental to fish ? Surely that’s what’s under discussion or was this about the people doing the fishing rather than the fish? God forbid that was the case!! 

I boat AND fish too and have done since my step grandfather took me fishing for brown trout at the base of Ben More ( same mountain where the phantoms crashed in the 70s) lovely deep plunge pool in peat tainted mountain stream water ( we swam in the summer) that was cold enough to pull out a ten year old brown trout less than 8 inches long. Was a wonderful time and the farmer that he was he led to my interest in Biology and hence my career of now 32 years.

So how can limiting when people fish be detrimental to fish. Oh did I already say that??? Oh well

 

 

M

[ZimbiIV]

treat it like fox hunting, fish without a hook!

paul

[grendel]

19 minutes ago, ZimbiIV said:

treat it like fox hunting, fish without a hook!

paul

babbing?

 

[ZimbiIV]

No I was think more of tickling at the deepest part of the river.

paul

[BroadAmbition]

we do not own the waterways and need to understand that they have limited access while boaters have access to the whole system

I'm in both camps here and happily so.  However I don't agree that boaters have access to the whole system.  The majority of boaters can't get past 'That Bridge' which gives a huge area to the anglers with very limited river traffic, then there is Cockshoot and Gt Hoveton Broads to name but just two and there are plenty more.  There are also areas that anglers can use but boaters cannot do so

Griff

[Hylander]

15 hours ago, wombat nee blownup said:

To me the fisherfolk are the "cyclists" of the rivers. Millions of pounds are spent up and down the country providing cycle lanes but still they use the roads!  The anglers have staging / platforms constructed for them but still they set up right in the middle of a mooring. At Postwick during the summer they reverse their cars right up to the mooring out comes a tent, paddling pool,  bbq and such and that's them for the weekend! I've seen a bloke sitting at Brammerton under a tent type thing plugged into the electric with a kettle boiling away while he's fishing. Now, you think he'd move if you wanted to moor?  I think we should keep the closed season but just make it 40 weeks longer.

Dont talk to me about cyclists.   I personally think they should start paying road tax,   all the money that is spent on them and they get it for free.

 

 

[rightsaidfred]

7 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

we do not own the waterways and need to understand that they have limited access while boaters have access to the whole system

I'm in both camps here and happily so.  However I don't agree that boaters have access to the whole system.  The majority of boaters can't get past 'That Bridge' which gives a huge area to the anglers with very limited river traffic, then there is Cockshoot and Gt Hoveton Broads to name but just two and there are plenty more.  There are also areas that anglers can use but boaters cannot do so

Griff

I don't wish to get into an argument here as this really only refers to the fishing closed season and the the comments I referred  to concern bank fishing on the navigable waters controlled by the BA  not closed broads or fishing from boats otherwise we could include the Trinity`s etc. as far as the upper Thurne is concerned I don't think there is a great deal of bankside fishing while the restriction on boaters is size of boat able to pass through the bridge mine included not on boaters themselves.

Fred

[grendel]

42 minutes ago, Hylander said:

Dont talk to me about cyclists.   I personally think they should start paying road tax,   all the money that is spent on them and they get it for free.

 

 

and insurance, usually if a cyclist is involved in an accident they come off worse, but some occasions it is their fault, and they damage property (whether it is a car the hit or maybe an individual) the car is then usually blamed for the accident (eg it was the cars fault I pulled out in front of it and it couldnt stop) I have seen some very inconsiderate cyclists on the road (once again its a small minority who give the majority a bad name), so in my mind every vehicle that uses the public highway should have insurance. (and dont get me started over mobility scooter users, we have one round our way who drives at 15mph along the pavements waving her white stick in front of her forcing pedestrians to have to jump into the road or be run over).

[JennyMorgan]

Like Griff I wear two hats, as a boater & an angler. Seems to me that we just need to learn how to live together and to accept each other! Fact of life, we share, we have to.  Us anglers do pay our way, as taxpayers, about 50% of BA income is from taxes.

[Vaughan]

21 minutes ago, rightsaidfred said:

I don't wish to get into an argument here as this really only refers to the fishing closed season and the the comments I referred  to concern bank fishing on the navigable waters controlled by the BA  not closed broads or fishing from boats

I don't want to get into an argument either but the subject of this thread is a questionnaire by the EA about the effect that a change to the closed season might have. That means its effect on everyone, not just fishermen! 

It is not only fishing that is seasonal and the fishermen have the Broads to themselves for at least 6 months every winter, so their "closed" season is shorter than for other users. I know of many people, private and hire, who prefer to come on holiday during the months when they know they will be able to cruise the rivers (and moor up) without the inconvenience, aggression and even menace, caused by inconsiderate fishermen.

They only have themselves to blame for the bad reputation that they have earned over decades and I for one, would vote for the retention of the closed season for just that very reason.

[Paul]

I rather like the analogy and anglers and cyclists, I think that is quite appropriate. Whilst it is true that there are good and bad in both fields in my experience the number of bad has dramatically increased in the last twenty years. No longer can they called the "small minority". I do believe it is still a minority of anglers, albeit not small. I don't think it is a minority of cyclists any longer. To me it is indicative of a change in attitudes which effect boating too. The demise of thoughtful mooring, boats taking up as much space as they can, rather than what they need which is prevalent, non more so than at the afforementioned Brammerton. Peter is right when he says that finding a way to live together is the only solution, but I don't see that happening without the introduction, and most important the ENFORCEMENT of legislation. 

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, grendel said:

I have seen some very inconsiderate cyclists on the road (once again its a small minority who give the majority a bad name), so in my mind every vehicle that uses the public highway should have insurance. (and dont get me started over mobility scooter users, we have one round our way who drives at 15mph along the pavements waving her white stick in front of her forcing pedestrians to have to jump into the road or be run over).

Runners on the other hand annoy nor bother anyone, which is why everybody should take it up. Mobility scooters are there for runners to race 

Edit... Does nobody else merely point out to anglers that you are about to moor up in a specific spot? I have done and they have always moved along without too much complaining.

Obviously if there is plenty of room to moor I shall do so in a vacant area but if not I've not had too much trouble moving them on from where I want to moor up.

Maybe I've just been lucky.

[rightsaidfred]

40 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

I don't want to get into an argument either but the subject of this thread is a questionnaire by the EA about the effect that a change to the closed season might have. That means its effect on everyone, not just fishermen! 

It is not only fishing that is seasonal and the fishermen have the Broads to themselves for at least 6 months every winter, so their "closed" season is shorter than for other users. I know of many people, private and hire, who prefer to come on holiday during the months when they know they will be able to cruise the rivers (and moor up) without the inconvenience, aggression and even menace, caused by inconsiderate fishermen.

They only have themselves to blame for the bad reputation that they have earned over decades and I for one, would vote for the retention of the closed season for just that very reason.

Sorry Vaughan but regarding the questionnaire you are wrong, while anyone is entitled to answer it is specific to angling and the affect it has on the welfare of fish and any impact on the fishing trade, I personally am quite happy to keep the close season but also accept the argument that it doesn't actually cover the spawning season.

It is not about the broads but every river system in the country and as such is not about boats or anything, as an aside I am sure that the hire boat industry and cottage owners would happily see the close season abolished as it would increase their custom during quite weeks.

Fred

[vanessan]

“Does nobody else merely point out to anglers that you are about to moor up in a specific spot? I have done and they have always moved along without too much complaining.”

There is a world of difference between a hunky fireman asking and a timid lady! (Not that I am a timid lady.......). We also try and avoid any unpleasantness by mooring away from fisherfolk but time and again I read and hear stories of anglers being abusive. Unnecessary, but it does happen. 

[TheQ]

My own experience is most fishermen are good, however from St Benets down river there are often competitions with spots pegged out for hundreds of yards. They are very reluctant to remove their rods when you are struggling against tide and wind to tack up or down the river..

We all know few boaters, of any sort, have read the Broads Navigation  regulations, and I suspect Fishermen even less , Navigation what has that to do with them?

So I'd love to be able to go to each pitch before their competition  and post on it..

 

FISHING 29

(1) Subject to paragraph (2) no person shall conduct any fishing or any associated activity from a power-driven or sailing vessel which is underway or cause or permit any net or fishing line to hang from such a vessel into the water whilst the vessel is underway.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a vessel which is:
(a) engaged in the handling of licensed eel nets; or
(b) under the control of the National Rivers Authority in connection with its fishery duties.
(3) Any person fishing from a boat or the bank shall show reasonable consideration to any other person using the navigation area and shall ensure that his rod or line does not obstruct the passage of a vessel along a channel.

 

Ps Fishing poles with the advent of carbon fibre have got longer and longer, they are now on sale at over 40ft in length and this for me is a large part of the problem.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I can remember a few years back we were moored at Womack staithe, and an angler was fishing on the end opposite the pumpout bay taking up an area wide enough for a boat to moor. Several boats came in looking for a mooring, yet turned around when they saw him fishing. Another boat came in looking to moor, i told him there was a space at the end, but a fisherman might give you an arguement.  The guy started to reverse in, the fisherman shouted words to the effect of "go away, can`t you see i`m fishing here". The guy on the boat shouted back these were moorings, and said "we`re coming in mate, shift". When he got in to the quay, the angler even had his tackle box OVER the mooring ring, and his seat over the other. I heard a "frank discussion" going on, and the angler moved a few feet to make a point. He did`nt stay much longer after that. 

On the other hand,  We went to Sutton one day, and the only space to moore was where a guy was fishing. I said we needed to moor there as it was the only space, to which the guy replied  "no problem mate i`l move". He even took our bow mooring line to help us get moored up.

Yes there are good and bad in every walk of life, but as has been said, in modern life, people are becoming less co-operative, and more selfish, thinking everybody has to accept their view and requirements, and get upset or annoyed if things don`t go their way.

Getting back to the OP, i think the closed season should be abolished, as it serves no purpose. There is no closed season on lakes and canals, unless it is voluntary by clubs etc on their waters. As a result, studies have been done, and it has actually been proved that the vast majority of these fisheries have benefitted by the year round open season regarding the environment.