MULLET

[hurler01]

Its sorry news hearing this.

[lucky13]

well sure arent they just netting mullet when they are after the other silver fellas...

true lad,so true.

[salar]

Ironically, measures to protect mullet are as simple as a stroke of a pen (a template already exists with regards bass). Unlike legislation regarding Atlantic Salmon - or previously the attempt to introduce a trout angling licence - there are no hidden trap doors, compensation to be paid etc etc etc.

Unfortunately whilst our fisheries agencies will pass muster anywhere - at a political level we usually deal with a level of ignorance and incompetence in league entirely of its own. This is mainly due to the Irish penchant for continually re-electing the same bunch of political nitwits - regardless of how many times they demonstrate their inadequacy for the task in hand.

Therefore simple political cost free measure or not , I won't be holding my breath.

[breamers boy]

Absolutely sickened to hear this. It really is news to me that they are good eating. I was told they taste like sh*t by a friend. They are a great sporting species no matter how frustrating to catch and find!! They deserve more protection..


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[hurler01]

Ironically, measures to protect mullet are as simple as a stroke of a pen (a template already exists with regards Bass). Unlike legislation regarding Atlantic Salmon - or previously the attempt to introduce a trout angling licence - there are no hidden trap doors, compensation to be paid etc etc etc.

Unfortunately whilst our fisheries agencies will pass muster anywhere - at a political level we usually deal with a level of ignorance and incompetence in league entirely of its own. This is mainly due to the Irish penchant for continually re-electing the same bunch of political nitwits - regardless of how many times they demonstrate their inadequacy for the task in hand.

Therefore simple political cost free measure or not , I won't be holding my breath.

A lot of the politicians are pretty inept but what about Inland Fisheries Ireland? Could they not be doing more to manage and protect the many fish species in the country and inshore waters?

[hugo]

Ironically, measures to protect mullet are as simple as a stroke of a pen (a template already exists with regards Bass). Unlike legislation regarding Atlantic Salmon - or previously the attempt to introduce a trout angling licence - there are no hidden trap doors, compensation to be paid etc etc etc.

Unfortunately whilst our fisheries agencies will pass muster anywhere - at a political level we usually deal with a level of ignorance and incompetence in league entirely of its own. This is mainly due to the Irish penchant for continually re-electing the same bunch of political nitwits - regardless of how many times they demonstrate their inadequacy for the task in hand.

Therefore simple political cost free measure or not , I won't be holding my breath.

Do you really think legislation on its own has truly protected any species?

IMO, if a market for mullet is growing, the way to take pressure off wild stocks is to encourage mullet farming, which has already started in Egypt. Now i know we all hate fish farming as currently implemented but if serious research money and effort went into it, the problems can be solved. "Strokes of the pen" are only aspirational unless backed up by something else.

[lucky13]

Absolutely sickened to hear this. It really is news to me that they are good eating. I was told they taste like sh*t by a friend. They are a great sporting species no matter how frustrating to catch and find!! They deserve more protection..


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ive never eaten a mullet,but if i had to it wouldn't be one that lurks around waste pipes "eating sh*t" as people put it.the mullet where i fish for them feed on shrimp and small crustaceans...which isn't sh*t the last time i checked...i think that their character is hindered by the fact people think that every mullet in the water eats sh*t...and in general are a dirty fish.sad really,tbh in getting the same buzz out of chasing mullet as i first did with chasing bass,seriously underestimated fishing...

[salar]

Do you really think legislation on its own has truly protected any species?

No.
But some form legislation is infinitely better than NONE at all.

At this stage mullet netting has just started by one or possibly two individuals and a 'quick response' (wishful thinking) would bring it to a sudden halt before it got totally out of hand.

[JimH]

Correct me if I'm wrong - a legal ring net fishery exists for mullet. This fishery is often used to facilitate by-catch of another species.

[salar]

Catching mullet with draft/seine/ring nets has been around for a long time. However mullet have been left alone in the Lower Cork Harbour for a very long time.

When the river Lee was dammed in late 1950's it took a couple of seasons for the Spring Salmon fishery to collapse. By the early sixties the spring run had all but gone until UDN disease applied the finishing touches.

The result was a lot of draft net fishermen out of an income from February to May

One of the fish exporters in Cork acquired a market for mullet and they became a target. Very soon (a couple of seasons) where you could literally walk on mullet was emptied of them and they never really got back to anything like the same numbers. Which was probably helped by the declining quality of the water in the harbour from the early seventies on.

Which or whether, you can take that mullet do not take kindly to heavy exploitation.

[JimH]

http://www.innovateus.net/earth-matters ... ory-nature

[eoghanb]

I remember cooking up a mullet when I was a young lad it stank out the kitchen and not even the dog would touch it,although it did come from Balbriggan harbour ,maybe if I caught one from a wild surf beach miles from civilisation I'd try it again

[hugo]

Many years ago I drove myself mad trying to hook wild mullet that came into a small salt marsh on spring tides. They toyed with every bait/lure/fly I offered, but took nothing. Eventually, I went demented and borrowed a bit of a net to stretch across their exit at low tide. The cute f***ers jumped over it - all execpt one which I triumphantly carried home and cooked. It was delicious...

Anybody know how mullet fisheries are managed elsewhere e.g. the UK, Med counries etc?

[salar]

One of the few defences that mullet have when it comes to nets is jumping the headline. If one jumps over - all the rest will follow like sheep. Unfortunately they don't do it consistently or we wouldn't be having this discussion. The reality is that their conspicuousness makes them extremely easy to catch - particularly with modern gear materials.

[salar]

This is my last word on the subject since I get a strong wiff of apathy.

From four decades of experience, talking to the political classes about fisheries is like suddenly switching to Cantonese. They have no idea what you are saying. This derives from our much cherished model of democracy which enshrines the idea of the Junior Ministry which is where you put the political village idiot who happens to get a substantial vote in election despite not having enough sense to come in out of the rain.

What they all DO understand is being harangued by hoteliers etc because they are losing tourism business. This is probably the only tactic that is guaranteed to work where mullet (or indeed any other species) is concerned.

[JimH]

S

I'm not exactly sure its apathy you are witnessing, I personally think its a large number of things. As a person who has engaged in bass fishing on a professional basis for the past 10 years, personally speaking its an extremely difficult task.

[salar]

S

I'm not exactly sure its apathy you are witnessing, I personally think its a large number of things. As a person who has engaged in Bass fishing on a professional basis for the past 10 years, personally speaking its an extremely difficult task.

You - and indeed all fishing guides - have my respect in being in an occupation which is engaged in 'inspite' rather than 'because' of the system in Ireland. Our attitude to fisheries in general is why my Norwegian friends are convinced that we are mental.

[JimH]

'mental' is too kind!

[salar]

I was an appointee to the very first Central Fisheries Board. There were no politics involved. The 'then' Minister had in his in-tray the 1979 Fisheries Bill which he decided would be administered to the best of his ability (and presumably reflect favourably on his political cv).
The members of the first board were appointed solely on the basis of track record and ability. My chair represented salmon draft nets.

If I was still a member of the board - for reasons previously outlined - the mullet situation would have been on the agenda of every meeting - ad nauseam - until a recommendation would have been sent to the minister.

Waiting for representation from tourism works slowly but surely (possibly decades) but having representatives at high level is much quicker. People that 'know' from experience what needs to be done and proceed - without PROMPTING - to get it done is what is needed in fisheries (and just about everything else)

If that is not happening, you have to seriously question the calibre of the people who are representing you.

The mullet fishery is an example of a piece of legislation which (up to recently) could have protected a valuable resource without a shot being fired and could have been prompted by people with only basic knowledge of Ireland's available fishing resources.

Have a SERIOUS look at the CREDENTIALS of who is representing your interests.