Mullet - Cork Harbour

A further update from a previous thread.... My spot never recovered during 2014. Not a single mullet was caught there or even seen there after it was netted ONCE in April - which reinforces the argument that mullet - while they are here - are indigenous to particular area. If they are netted in that area - they are gone, probably for decades - period. Take note if you think there is a future in a mullet sport fishery - you can have an exceedingly short lived commercial fishery (which so far is non existent in general terms) - or - you can have a catch-and-release sport fishery which should last indefinitely - BUT you cannot have BOTH.

In other words have the state fisheries managers bring it under control now rather than wait until we get to where me usually are..... of shutting the door when the horse is long gone

In the last week mullet seem to be getting scarcer and are probably getting ready migrate South.
Hopefully there will not be a repeat of 140 ton shots of mullet being caught- by mistake - by pelagic trawlers. An occurrence which is incomprehensible given that 40 years ago pelagic fishermen had no trouble distinguishing herring from sprat or mackerel on their paper and stylus sounders. A mistake which could lead to many hours of back-breaking work cleaning gilled sprat from a herring brailer. In the intervening period sounder and fish finding electronics has increased by light years in sensitivity which means that mistaking a shoal of mullet markings by their shape and distribution in the water column for shoal of herring is a demonstration of spectacular sounder reading incompetence.

I suppose that I, like yourself, have been loosely monitoring the mullet population at various locations around the harbour during the year. It is fairly shocking, the absence of mullet from many areas.
I have spoken to many anglers who's would have fished each year in areas and this year they did not even bother....no fish present.

It is a frustrating exercise. I have spoken to many people involved with science and government and there is not light at a the end of the tunnel. There is no straightforward way to get a species "on the agenda". We as anglers do not have representation nor lobbying power.

In the interm, I am going to try and publicise the facts closer to the anniversary. I will resurrect the thread from my facebook page ( it should be compulsory reading... Some of the "commercial" attitudes are unreal). I will write an article for TopFisher.eu and who knows might even get it into mainstream....

Maybe the likes of IFI might notice....

I suppose that I, like yourself, have been loosely monitoring the mullet population at various locations around the harbour during the year. It is fairly shocking, the absence of mullet from many areas.
I have spoken to many anglers who's would have fished each year in areas and this year they did not even bother....no fish present.

It is a frustrating exercise. I have spoken to many people involved with science and government and there is not light at a the end of the tunnel. There is no straightforward way to get a species "on the agenda". We as anglers do not have representation nor lobbying power.

In the interm, I am going to try and publicise the facts closer to the anniversary. I will resurrect the thread from my facebook page ( it should be compulsory reading... Some of the "commercial" attitudes are unreal). I will write an article for TopFisher.eu and who knows might even get it into mainstream....

Maybe the likes of IFI might notice....

On the question of IFI

If I was still on the board - I would be permanently on my feet on that issue. It is not good enough for IFI to wait for representation from angling interests or tourism to press for protective legislation. Good governance is that the calibre of the staff of IFI ensures that protection is in place because it is REQUIRED - regardless of all other issues. At present, measures to protect mullet are a simple stroke of the the pen. There are no existing fisheries to take into account and compensate. If it is not done - a serious examination of the credentials of those that represent Irish anglers is required.

Again I've said this before, the state are now issuing licences to fishermen who are out of work, mullet licences... They have issued some in cromane harbour and I betcha if you search deep enough they have issued ones to cork harbour... I am not making this up, I was told directly by a fishery officer from south kerry, I reported a net and the officer rang me cause the local guys were off sick or something at the time, when he rang we stayed talking for the bones of an hour and I had a very interesting conversation.. He told me it was political and the mullet are being sold by the tonne as fish meal...

Again I've said this before, the state are now issuing licences to fishermen who are out of work, mullet licences... They have issued some in cromane harbour and I betcha if you search deep enough they have issued ones to cork harbour... I am not making this up, I was told directly by a fishery officer from south kerry, I reported a net and the officer rang me cause the local guys were off sick or something at the time, when he rang we stayed talking for the bones of an hour and I had a very interesting conversation.. He told me it was political and the mullet are being sold by the tonne as fish meal...

Nothing surprises me too much when it comes to fisheries management or the lack of same.
Politicians who are involved with fisheries are for the most part individuals who shouldn't be allowed to go outside unaccompanied.
The idea that there is an on-going commercial fishery to be established by catching mullet is the sort of bonkers idea that they would be quite likely to go along with.
The place I referred to above was netted only once this year - for the very good reason that there was nothing left to warrant a second visit.

My constantly missed close friend Noel Hackett introduced bream to the Inniscarra reservoir in the 1970's.
As a dyed-in-the-wool trout and salmon fly angler, I thought he was nuts - and told him so to his face. I subsequently had to eat crow when English anglers flew into Cork Airport in plane-loads to fish for bream at Coachford.

Mullet are potentially an angling resource on a far grander scale than bream in the Innisacarra Reservoir that public servants of Noel's calibre would have embraced with an enthusiasm and innate practical knowledge of how to manage fisheries that would have overrun most of the political inertia and bullshit that we have become used to in Ireland.

Master Chef Professional is on BBC2 as I write. Main dish is Grey Mullet.
Tomorrow fish merchants up and down the UK will be besieged by hordes of cookery nit-wits looking for Grey Mullet - a fish that they wouldnt normally feed to their cat.
Need I say more.........

I see a red boat from Cobh with a small dinghy acting as roundup boat fishing the last of the mullet in little island behind FOTA today. It is terrible to se such a resource squandered this way.

That's disgusting,but hardly surprising .Met a chap only last week who is well "connected" from west cork and he was saying the mullet [golden+grey]are been hammered down that neck of the woods as well something to do with an increase in their prices.I just hope the lads who have been haunting that area near fota judging by cars on roadside and facebook activity wont see a decline in the other silver fish that frequent that area as well.

For all the trumpeting that goes on about our bass protection there is no protection of our nursery areas. In the UK, where we think there is a free-for-all, there is a netting ban in most estuaries. The list of areas that are protected is huge. The banning of netting offers some degree of protection to mullet as well. Here it looks like we will fish it to extinction and then wonder what happened.

Well said Jim,but i wouldn't be holding out on any protection measures for mullet.I mean if the benchmark for bass protection is anything to go by then its hardly inspiring in the current climate despite all the BS we constently read and hear about.A couple of greedy money driven individuals are as usual the ones currently reaping the rewards from these easy targets.Rotten to the core from whatever way you look at it.

Imagine some Imagination - http://jimhendrick.com/2015/07/06/sea-t ... n-denmark/

Tangible Results
‘During the first 25 years, Sea Trout Fyn has undertaken almost 300 projects in the rivers and streams of Fyn. For example, more than 200 obstructions to upstream migrations have been removed, opening up 500 kilometres of rivers!
The 55,000+ overnight stays accounted for by sea trout anglers each year are vital to the local economy. It has been calculated that the municipalities’ annual DKK 4 million investment in Sea Trout Fyn produces an increase in turnover in excess of DKK 55 million each year, and the sea trout project has developed some 40 full-time jobs’

Source Sea Trout Fyn

Well, our friend the commercial in the red boat has cleaned out the FOTA area. It is now not worth his while in that area so today I saw him working the shoreline on the back road to Marlog.... The back of the island if you will.
The red boat is anchored up and they were playing out a net from a punt not 100 feet from the shore. I could see mullet splashing about, stuck in the net.
Somebody said they are getting €50 a box. That's the price of our future! I reckon mullet will be close to wiped out shortly. Certainly if this guy continues.

There is nothing illegal going on. He has been boarded by IFI regularly.

It is a great shame that u are probably witnessing the demise of a mullet fishery within the confines of Cork Harbour. Can a team of businesses affected by this problem approach Cork City Council and the Harbour Board and have the benefits of a mullet fishery classed as a Tourist Resource and have some form of protection placed on quantities and/or location within the affected areas???

Our much lauded Minister for fisheries could end this total management nonsense with as much effort as the rest of us would make a cup of tea. Unfortunately he depends on people for advice who equate to blind leading the blind. Commercial fishing for mullet is non existent therefore it could be ended with with a stroke of the pen without any social or political upheaval . Because he doesn't do it is why most of our Scandinavian neighbours consider Ireland as something of a joke when it comes to fisheries management. Can't say that I disagree with that viewpoint.

Somebody should make a call to the news editor of the Sunday Times or the Sunday Mail. They love stories like this, and the quickest way to get action from a politician is to trumpet his failings in print.

I have tried to raise the issue with local politicians. I have contacted IFI, SPFA - There really appears to be no interest in the demise of mullet.
As sea anglers we do not have a decent representative body, we are not represented at all really, neither IFSA nor EFSA are at the races when it comes to this sort of thing. The stakeholders here are diverse when you take, tourism, anglers, business, environmentalist, commercial fishing.

Is to say that it could be stopped at the stroke of a pen over simplifying? I would love to think not. I would imagine the commercials would strenuously object (As they do). They even objected to the recent EU bass measures. I would imagine a local byelaw could help the situation but the interest is not there from the politicians, or should I say the votes are not there.

People may as well email and make contact as much as they can, no harm and it helps. I'd love to have the financial wherewithal to persure...

Getting angling into the mainstream media is great. Only thing is they appear to only want the hard luck stories. We are beginning to look like a bunch of tree hugging whingers
We did a bit on TopFIsher a while back: http://www.topfisher.eu/our-mullet-missing/ - It was widely read and shared about but more than likely by anglers.

Getting angling into the mainstream media is great. Only thing is they appear to only want the hard luck stories. We are beginning to look like a bunch of tree hugging whingers

I wouldnt go at it mainly from an angling point of view, more from an environmental "Save Or Seas" approach - look at the success Hugh Fearnley Whinge-a-lot had in the UK with his fish campaigns. Environmental concerns are pretty mainstream now, certainly with the under-40s. Many non-angling seaside trippers also like to see mullet cruising in harbours and estuaries in summer, and could doubtless be persuaded to sign on-line petitions against them being wiped out.

What ever happened to the 3 mile ban on commercial by trawlers and should it be brought back into force to stop the likes of that red boats skipper from the destruction of our seas.
mickser

JimC is quite correct in asserting that the commercial sector will object to any legislation which encroaches on what they perceive to be their 'interests' or territory. They did so with regards bass even though the vast majority of them have never actually targeted bass - they will do so with regards mullet even though it is unlikely that no more than half a dozen of them could produce a RECEIPT for a commercially caught mullet.

When it comes to the crunch that is all that matters - socially or politically. With regards mullet it effects nobody - rights and livelihoods are not being infringed and therefore legislation is a stroke of the pen in a rationally run society.