Man prosecuted for illegal netting of salmon

[beachbuddy]

Well said Kstaff,thats exactly my sentiments.

[dangler]

May I respectfully ask if having more than 2 fish on a boat Is not deemed as good enough evidence that a law has been broken by that skipper?

I'm certain the info is freely available regarding such law breakers, the question being why has no action been taken against them?

While I don't condone any illegal netting on any scale the recent news is far from dealing with the bigger issues in other areas. Let's see a heavy fine imposed on a boat with a few hundred boxes on board then we can all get justifiably over excited about someone being caught.

Can you point to one time when a boat has been caught netting illegally by the relevent authorities and not brought to court? I know lots of people who have witnessed this but unless their caught in the act i.e lifting boxes of illegally caught fish off their boat then nothing can be done about them. Unfortunately eye withness reports will not hold up in court. The fish and gear must be seized and held in evidence which it makes it all the more difficult as quite often the boat will have landed their catch and be gone before the relevent authorities can get to the scene. If the authorities have been tipped off that a boat maybe illegally fishing then it can be watched but again catching them in the act is easier said then done. I totally agree that the fines are not enough. When people are caught commiting the same crime repeately it proves this.

[kstaff]

Hi Dangler,

"Can you point to one time when a boat has been caught netting illegally by the relevent authorities and not brought to court?

I certainly can't but my point related to others who witness the illegal fishing report it and yet it continues.

That is a problem, as for alerts and tip offs etc, I can't see the difficulty in something like this being reported and not acted upon.

the big boat currently inside the harbour is netting Bass, AGAIN!

Others on this thread have confirmed this to be the case!

But a guy with a few salmon and a net may be possibly easier to spot, I could be wrong.

[danbrosnan]

The people that buy these fish are equally culpable.
A start from the top/down approach is needed to help tackle this problem.
It's probably easier for the authorities to pluck the odd poacher from the bottom of the supply chain than to walk into fancy restaurants and hotel kitchens and make arrests.
If there's no demand, supply will dwindle.
Heavier penalties are required throughout the whole poaching/illegal trading of fish shambles.

Restaurants and fish dealers are checked all the time, including fancy establishments... I checked a Michelin star restaurant 2 weeks ago myself.
The problem is it's very hard to get evidence that will stand up in court that a fish has been illegally caught. . I'm not going into why it's difficult to obtain evidence as people might be reading this who would like to know how to avoid detection.
There are a small number of people netting the fish, and this is seen as the major crime. There are a larger number of people willing to buy the fish, rightly or wrongly seen as a much lesser crime. It is easier to target the people doing the actual netting as that is where the most bang for the buck is.

May I ask why would you think a Michelin star restaurant would buy illegal fish? That would be the last place I would look! Michelin star chefs spend there whole life trying to win recognition and gain Michelin stars, the idea of them throwing away a whole life's work over buying buying illegal fish sounds very unlogical to me!

Also how is it difficult to prove if an illegal caught salmon or bass is hard to prove in court, I have worked in kitchens and its very easy to tell the wild bass fron the farmed bass, I have witnessed on loads of occasions restaurant managers buying illegal fish and its always coastal towns...

Take kerry for example where I am from, ballybunion, cloghane, dingle, castlegregroy, kenmare etc.... All these towns have restaurants buying illegal fish, enter the restaurant, ask for the receipts of there fsh suppliers and go through there stock, give me the job and I will get hundred prosecutions in 6 months...

Now you will say its not as easy as that and make up excuses why you can't do that, but it is as easy as that and I am telling you the fishery board are too lazy to do that...

It's known that the majority of fishery officers just want an easy life but those days are gone I'm afraid and I do hope a whistleblower comes out and puts a rocket up there arse... Salaries and pensions is all they care about, no sense or ambition to do what's right...

Another thing you said was tat there is a small amount of people poaching, again I'm afraid that is complete nonsense, my name is up here and I not hiding, they are hundreds of people poaching in kerry alone, the dingle peninsula is like the Wild West, there should be a couple of fishery officers alone based there...

Why don't the fishery officers go down to cromane and somebody with a point to prove could drag 50 nights out of the place in one morning... Send me a pm and I will meet you any morning in the summer and I will show ou the nets you what? No problem...

[danbrosnan]

Hi Dangler,

"Can you point to one time when a boat has been caught netting illegally by the relevent authorities and not brought to court?

I certainly can't but my point related to others who witness the illegal fishing report it and yet it continues.

That is a problem, as for alerts and tip offs etc, I can't see the difficulty in something like this being reported and not acted upon.

the big boat currently inside the harbour is netting Bass, AGAIN!

Others on this thread have confirmed this to be the case!

But a guy with a few salmon and a net may be possibly easier to spot, I could be wrong.

How do you know if the big boat is not netting mullet?

[kstaff]

How do you know if the big boat is not netting mullet?

They may be, but being full of Bass is the giveaway!

Regardless, if a "tip off" is given it should be checked?

Again the point being these things are not being checked!

[danbrosnan]

How do you know if the big boat is not netting mullet?

They may be, but being full of Bass is the giveaway!

Regardless, if a "tip off" is given it should be checked?

Again the point being these things are not being checked!

Your dead right, noting is been checked, the reason why I asked is because I believe that there was a quota given out for mullet this year to the trawlers, I stand to be corrected on this but that is what I believe, that means where mullet are being caught its obvious bass are going to be caught also..

Now another thing is tat trawler men need to make a living also its well within there rights to make a living, you can't brush them all with the same brush... They have families to look after...

[Caz-Galway]

Your dead right, noting is been checked, the reason why I asked is because I believe that there was a quota given out for mullet this year to the trawlers, I stand to be corrected on this but that is what I believe, that means where mullet are being caught its obvious Bass are going to be caught also..

I am pretty sure there is no Quota for Mullet. See this link to current SFPA quota update.

http://sfpa.oghamtech.ie/Sea-FisheriesC ... pdate.aspx

In one weird way its a pity there's no quota as it would offer some protection as the commercial landings would come under the SFPA remit. As there is no control commercials can fish away on non-quota species. AFIK there has to be some scientific stock assessment for a species to come under the quota system, showing evidence of overfishing.

On the main topic, there's a big difference between a poacher taking a few fish and wholesale destruction of a fishery be it in freshwater and seawater.Where is the line drawn though. Poaching for commercial gain is totally wrong. If in the future a sea licence is brought in many of us here could be classed as poachers.

Caz

Caz

[danbrosnan]

Your dead right, noting is been checked, the reason why I asked is because I believe that there was a quota given out for mullet this year to the trawlers, I stand to be corrected on this but that is what I believe, that means where mullet are being caught its obvious Bass are going to be caught also..

I am pretty sure there is no Quota for Mullet. See this link to current SFPA quota update.

http://sfpa.oghamtech.ie/Sea-FisheriesC ... pdate.aspx

In one weird way its a pity there's no quota as it would offer some protection as the commercial landings would come under the SFPA remit. As there is no control commercials can fish away on non-quota species. AFIK there has to be some scientific stock assessment for a species to come under the quota system, showing evidence of overfishing.

On the main topic, there's a big difference between a poacher taking a few fish and wholesale destruction of a fishery be it in freshwater and seawater.Where is the line drawn though. Poaching for commercial gain is totally wrong. If in the future a sea licence is brought in many of us here could be classed as poachers.

Caz

Caz

Like i said i wasn't 100% sure about this but i have heard it on a couple of occasions that there was a quota for mullet this year or last year...

[jd]

We're not discussing moderation policies of other sites.

[donal domeney]

This has ran it's course and is now wandering off side.

So the next time you are sipping a pint of Guinness just think of Arthur's Day it will never mean the same thing again