Trawling In Northumberland.

[Dave Morton]

Last June I posted a thread on here regarding the possibility of getting a trawling and dredging ban in the Northumberland European Marine Site, which runs from St Abbs down to Just south of Amble and includes many important dive sites. Unfortunately things move very slowly in government circles and now things have progressed a little way.

Whilst the Scottish section of the EMS has such a ban. The English section does not.

Right from its inception Trawling has been highlighted as one of the biggest threats to the EMS. Backed up by further reports in 2001 and 2003. Here we are in 2009 and nothing has been done to try to protect this important site.

At a recent management meeting of the EMS I asked the Sea Fisheries Committee Environmental officer why and the answer was simple. No SFC member has ever proposed such a ban.

So ...as a member of the SFC I intend to propose a ban at either the April or July meeting and have the subject discussed. Herein lies the problem. The committee is made up of 21 members of which the vast majority are commercial fishing orientated. To go it alone it would have about as much chance of success as I have of plaitting fog.

The value of the diving community to Northumberland is well recognised at the council level and it would need the support of the council members on the committee to stand any chance of success.

So what would be the best way to get the diving community to support or even propose a trawling and dredging ban which I would be happy to take to the committee on the proposers behalf? The answer probably lies with the readers of this forum;)

At the EMS management forum last Tuesday there were not any representatives from the diving community however one of the first announcements was that Miranda Krestovnikoff had accepted the position of patron for the EMS. She has offered her help in any way she can to get this proposal off the ground and I will be forwarding all relevant details to her to see if there is any way she can help.

If anyone else feels they can help please feel free to contact me. It may be worth pointing this thread out to your club officers and see if they have any suggestions.

Ideally this proposal should come from a national organisation or even a joint proposal from diving groups.

For further details of the EMS and its aims please have a look at http://www.xbordercurrents.com and its not difficult to see that there has been a failure by the SFC to introduce suitable protection for the seabed and reefs.

Over the coming weeks I will be contacting the Angling Trust, WWF, Greenpeace, Local dive clubs and as many other organisations as I can to seek their support for this proposal.

Regards
Dave

[Daron]

Good effort mate, hope things work out. Really nice to see an ordinary bloke trying to do something and stand up to the greedy fishermen who have raped our seas for the last 100 years.

[IainC]

Good luck,

Iain.

[Dave Morton]

Thanks for the replies and in particular thank you for the PMS I have recieved so far.

If anyone has pictures / videos (or links to) of damage done by trawling I would be grateful for a link or an email. Maybe there is some pictorial evidence out there of a net round a reef or wreck? Or of the track of a clam dredge.

Does anyone reading this regularly dive St Abbs or the Farne's and take photo's (preferably going back over a few years)

And finally if you are planning a trip up that way this summer maybe you could take a photo or two of unacceptable things going on underwater if you come across any .

Many thanks

Dave

[TooTall]

Good effort mate, hope things work out. Really nice to see an ordinary bloke trying to do something and stand up to the greedy fishermen who have raped our seas for the last 100 years.

That sounds a bit like an inlander who doesn't know any fishermen or the history of it in this country. I'm sorry you have such a narrow view of such things.

[john1959]

Good luck with it, this is important

[paul_c]

personaly i feel that its unfair to hit the fishermen with another blow, its one thing to have a few years no catch and then allow it for a few years off and on to allow stocks to replenish themselves but an outright ban is unfair, unworkable and unneccicery.

[Dave Morton]

Paul,
The proposal would only be related to a small inshore part that is the European marine Site not all of Northumberland.

Its also not a case of protecting fish stocks, its to protect the underwater heritage for future generations the site was originally designated for. Fish stocks can and do recover but can the same be said for a reef that has had several tons of steelwork dragged over it?

Several people I have spoken to on this matter believe there is actually a statutory obligation for legislation to protect the region, but it would appear that the relevant bodiy in this area have never actually looked at introducing any kind of restrictions or close monitoring.

Studies undertaken so far indicate that whilst trawling and dredging does take place within the protected area it is very low effort compared to the rest of the inshore fishery area. This means any kind of ban would have minimal impact on commercial fishermen whilst protecting the financial prosperity of the region by ensuring that tourists (Divers) keep returning to the area for years to come.

Regards
Dave

[Bruce]

Interesting to see some of the negative comments about this proposal.

Fishing exclsuion zones are already in place in several countries and tend to have a positive response from fishermen long term (after initial opposition).

This has happened in New Zealand where the exclusion zones are effectively fish nurseries and the fishermen are experiencing marked improvements by fishing around the edges of these zones. Thus improving catch rates and reducing the intensity of their fishing practices.

Bruce