Hughs Fish Fight

[davethegas]

just a thought, but although the bycatch is thrown to the sea, it is consumed by fish and birds etc plus the nutrients go back to the sea. Not like a landfill situation is it? Are the trawlermen really upset about the loss of bycatch or loss of money? Is it a moral issue or a monetary one? Giving bycatch away would not last long before one way or another you would be charged thus back to square one. Probably more lucrative than quotas

 

[Storm™]

Sort of true. They sink quite quickly birds have to be fast and the fish are too big to take in one. The birds get the gutting which they would in any scenario. The fish then sink and rot. Seabed worms and crabs get the lions share. Followed by micro organisms. Anything left just increases the seas nitrate levels. Which I suppose is fine as long as it dilutes enough. But as with all things that we Fu k about with when we stop doing what we are doing it causes a huge Eco swing. Which usually means the environment struggles to adapt quick enough. Like course fishing for carp. (I never use these orible things btw) but carp fishermen use huge quantities of boilies. Compact balls of bait. Until the closure of the season. Then the fish starve until it starts again. High nitrate levels from rotting fish bait reduce the worm levels and food is scarce until the fishing season starts again. I remember a few years back when they were asking fishermen in an Essex club to go to the lakes and bait but not fish. Just to help the situation. I guess that was about 1987 ish.

 

[davethegas]

Totally agree storm, used to fish myself, no longer do for belief reasons (& live next to a river) but unless I missed something then why could the bycatch not be returned live? Too much trouble?

 

[BKF Admin]

The cod burst their swim bladder on the way up so are as good as dead as soon as the net pulls them in.

 

[Storm™]

Totally agree storm, used to fish myself, no longer do for belief reasons (& live next to a river) but unless I missed something then why could the bycatch not be returned live? Too much trouble?

Hi Dave,

Admins right. They are so deep down, and are retrieved so quickly when the net is brought in they dont have time to expel the oxygen from their swim bladder. It bursts, and sometimes if I remember from being a kid, it actually forces its way out of the body. So as admin says dead. Some say if left alone it will retract but I dont know if thats true.

What they are aiming for is two options:

1. They increase quoters (which is not a great option)

2. They have no quota but are time limited on fishing.

They say that before the quota system they would fish on average 3 days a week. Now limited to what they can catch and the areas in which they can catch it, they have to fish for longer to catch (for instance) their 10 tonne of pollock quoter. Trouble is where they are allowed to fish for that is a mixed fish area. So in attempting to get their 10 tonne they may catch 20 tonne of cod as well. And other stuff. So not only must the quota system be revoked, but also the species in each area updated to reflect what is in particular areas now. As the data is apparently out of date. It may be better to limit them to a catch all in 3 days a week, keep what you catch system. I am not so sure though. Because that has to apply to Europe not just the UK. And all EU must abide by it as apparently its mainly the UK that do. Spain are a little free with the rule interpretation allegedly.

I dont know what the answer is but clearly discard is criminal. Or discard on this scale at least.

 

[davethegas]

Thanks for the clarification, but if they went to a catch all situation then would there not be a danger of pulling more fish species in than there is popular demand for and then ending up with a glut of waste anyway, or would that never happen, don't forget the public are a fickle bunch.

 

[Russel]

Thanks for the clarification, but if they went to a catch all situation then would there not be a danger of pulling more fish species in than there is popular demand for and then ending up with a glut of waste anyway, or would that never happen, don't forget the public are a fickle bunch.

It's catch 22, at the moment they do operate a "catch all you can" situation not a "Land all you catch" one; the nets don't discriminate between species/quoters etc.

I think it's been said/implied that certain EU members trawler fleets ignore the regs anyways.

Going back to the catch/land all you can in say 3 days would this then lead us to the 3 km nets we saw in Ghana and the hold bursting at the seams. There needs to be some regulation and policing otherwise we/they'll be back to sq 1 in a free for all in over fishing just to get the max £ return.

 

[Storm™]

Thanks for the clarification, but if they went to a catch all situation then would there not be a danger of pulling more fish species in than there is popular demand for and then ending up with a glut of waste anyway, or would that never happen, don't forget the public are a fickle bunch.

Totally agree. Not much else to say to that your totally right. I mean until this I loved haddock and a fish we call Rock Eel. Rock salmon in some places and rock Huss is another name. I like it cause it has no bones just one main one. Salmon and trout. I also love swordfish which I have eaten in Greece line caught, and my favourite is Tuna steak griddle panned with lots of creamy pepper sauce. I use a fish monger. He went out of business because of tesco. He has joined forces with another fish monger now and even they are not aware that soon the local Tesco will be introducing their own fish counter. Which will (outwardly at least) promis ethically caught fish. Until Hughs programme I thought I was doing my best to ensure ethical catching, and supporting the local fish monger. As it turns out I am amongst the worst offenders for species targetting. So I will change my choices and experiment more. Shellfish will be somewhere I look at. If I educate my taste buds I will no doubt find a lot more fish I like. It's not a problem I'd just wish someone had bothered to educate me earlier.

 

[Storm™]

In fact there is another programme on tonight. Dispatches channel 4 - 7.05 pm - fish unwrapped. Just seen it advertised. Not sure i really want to know but I will watch.

 

[davethegas]

Thanks for that, will watch or tape it. I'm the same with fish, salmon, trout, rare tuna etc, going to Madeira again soon where the speciality is Scabbard fish, killed by decompression as it is hauled from the deep, looks like a black pike, fleshy like cod...fantastic! But yes, I'd prefer fish over meat any day.

 

[Storm™]

Well dispatches is repeated now on channel 4 +1. Unless i see a prawn come off a trawler myself I won't be eating any prawns again. Mass need for prawns is creating a really unbelievble series of events to take place in Bangladesh. Prawns from here are exported to the UK. if you love your prawns i seriously suggest you watch this programme. Pestisides poured into the prawn lakes. Toilets drain into the lakes. Left unchilled for hours then sold on. The sheer level of export and lack of man power prevents us from policing it's entry into the Uk. At best we may strike lucky now and again. And they are also injecting them with fluid direct from the ponds using dirty buckets of water to balk them out. OMFG. Nuff said I feel sick.

On with the fish in Tesco amongst others. FRESH FISH COUNTER - in the small print of the label - may have been previously frozen. What's not said is for how long. The answer - up to 9 months. On one occasion a chap was caught having frozen his fish for over 5'uears. Again OMFG. And there are those not so far away that insist that the BBKA's association with chemical companies is benign. Lol. Sorry could not resist. Still this is shocking. I am lucky enough that I am just down the road from miles of coastline and I can catch my own. Which I will be from now on. But Christ the years of putting the so called healthy oily fish in my body and those of my family. Gag I had prawn tails at Christmas. Oh god.

On twitter some plebs are whining that it's all blown out of proportion. Only a small amount of Bangladesh prawns are sold here. Like that matters. Like the other countries arnt at the same tricks. Dire. As my partner says if this goes on we will be stuffing lettuce up our arses if it gets any worse. Happy watching +eating.

 

[Russel]

Has someone at Tesco pizzed CH 4 off or what?

I'm really surprised how naive we all seem to be regards animal welfare and food hygiene in the 3rd world countries that produce our food. How many programs have the BBC, ch4 etc produced exposing sharp practice and wrong doing in the production of pigs, poultry, cattle etc and even the Chinese honey tainted with antibiotics.

Although the plight of the fish is tragic there are many other foods that need serious investigation as to the conditions under which they are produced for the western table from many a country we send aid too. Next time your in the supermarket check the country of origin and ask yourself do you really want it now? But as with so many things in the UK, our apparent collective desire for cheaper produce has moved it all to 3rd world producers.

Pull up Youtube vids on "Catch it kill it eat it" where a bunch of 20 somethings are sent to various countries factory farms to make it on the local pay. Although not broadcast for the same reasons as Ch4 & HW it does show, in many cases, the total disregard for animal welfare and h & s of the consumer.

 

[davethegas]

Russ, couldn't agree more, no good getting all moral about fish or free range chickens unless we scrutinise all meat, fish, poultry rearing methods. Crusade for one, crusade for all. If it ain't congruent, don't buy it. Thats my mantra from now on. Most had turkey this xmas, but how many thought about the intensive farming methods there?

 

[Storm™]

Tonights offering at 9pm channel 4 sees Gordon Ramsey exploring the killing of sharks for their fins. This one will be hard to stomach. And Russ totally agree. But you have to fight each battle as publicly as you can when it's as public as it can be eh.

 

[hedgerow pete]

the strangest thing i have ever heard with a fishy tale is

that you can buy salmom food pellets to feed them with and it has a colour aditive so when you kill your farmed fish you can have the correctly coloured flesh for the supermarket as they only take certain coloured flesh

 

[Russel]

the strangest thing i have ever heard with a fishy tale is

that you can buy salmom food pellets to feed them with and it has a colour aditive so when you kill your farmed fish you can have the correctly coloured flesh for the supermarket as they only take certain coloured flesh

IIRC they have a panel which chooses such things for you, "perfect produce".
How many people here throw away perfectly good, edible bananas just because the skin s going black.
There was a time when you got what was available, there's more to the nanny state than meets the eye.

 

[davethegas]

Fortunately or not, we are all in a world where for most countries there is an abundance of choice & demand of what to eat. If this were not so, the bananas would be eaten black, the salmon would be whatever colour salmon naturally is & animal welfare would improve....cos we'd all have to raise our own. This is the mass produced cost of abundance, choice & demand. Ask any starving 3rd Worlder who wishes they had salmon, never mind a choice of colour.

 

[mbc]

. Ask any starving 3rd Worlder who wishes they had salmon, never mind a choice of colour.

I expect most third world residents would eat the low value by-catch normally fed to farmed salmon rather than processing it then feeding it to a slightly higher value fish to give them less food as a result

 

[davethegas]

Yes. I agree. What I meant is they would be grateful for whatever they could get, such as bycatch which only goes to show how lucky we are.

 

[Russel]

davethegas choice is a bit of a mote point as everything is pre-chosen as to shape, size, colour and taste by the homogenizing supermarket marketing panels that dictate such things to producers on our "behalf" or more likely that it looks "nicer" and lasts longer on the shelves.

It's highly commendable for the likes of HW et-al to stand up for these things and not before time, this has been going on for decades. I'll be surprised if it makes one iota of difference in the way any of these outfits operate.