ARTICLE 47

[noztheviking]

Once again the Imfamous Article 47 is raising its ugly head in the European paliament. The English anglers trust thought they had managed to get the Bill watered down to exclude the catches of recreational fishermen from the quota system, but now the non fishing beurocrats have done a complete U-turn and decided to in clude all countries recreational catches in with that nationsfish quotas, this will mean that any boat owner will have to declare any fish caught wether they catch them to sell, give away, or just take them home for their own use, this is one piece of Brussels B*llsh*t that all anglers have to stand up against, wether here in the UK or in a tiny county like Malta, because it will spell the death of recreational as we know it.

[Mahi Mahi]

Fully agree, large scale fishing & sports fishing are NOT comparable.
The former's interest is just to catch more to make more money, whereas the latter usually spend much more money in fuel and gear then what's worth all the fish one can ever catch!!

It is always the same story, wherever there is big money involved in this world, there is no respect for nature and greed comes in with a lot of damage to the natural environment. When the rich get richer and richer to the expense of nature, then the beaurocrats start imposing stupid laws on the common people who have a hobby like fishing to relax during their free time. Like this, they look they are doing something in favour of the environment, when in fact they should have done much more before to whom has made the big damage. But as usual, wherever there is big money involved, everyone has a price!!
Does Tuna fishing with the help of aeroplanes, etc... ring a bell!!

[noztheviking]

hi MAHI MAHI firstly let me point out some thing to you ARTICLE 47 does not repeat, does not,  include commercial fishing. that is already covered by the common fisheries policy !!!!!!!  ARTICLE 47  puts the onus on AMETEUR AND HOBBY FISHERMEN WHO DO NOT MAKE ALIVING OR PROFIT OUT OF THEIR FISHING, TO HAVE to make a declaration on whatever they have caught each and every time they go for a couple of hours fishing.Allso we are RECREATIONAL ANGLERS, not sports fishers, these are the profesional anglers that earn a living by taking anglers out in powerfull angling boats in search of sports fish such as marlin, sword fish tuna. and make a very good living out of it. This bill will hit every man woman or child that goes fishing for a couple of hours of fun,IT will hit shops that sell fishing tackle ,bait, and just about every thing to do with fishing.

[lazyfisherman]

Recreational fishermen/anglers do what humans have been doing since they made their appearance on planet earth - catching a few fish for themselves and their familiy and getting a kick out of it in the process. It is commercial fishing that is often unsustainable, unnatural and an exploitative commercial activity that has depleted fish stocks.

We are now faced with a ridiculous situation where purse seiners are still catching tuna by the thousands while a recreational angler who happens to hook a 30 kg tuna while trolling for smaller fish (and which could represent his best fish ever) will have to release it. If he wants tuna for dinner he will then go to buy a few tuna steaks from the fish shop at 17 euro/kg.

I think that every effort should be made to resist this ridiculous article 47. One thing that I think may hinder this is the definition of recreational fishing. I know that I may be re-opening a can of worms here but angling with a couple of rods from a fishing dinghy and an 'amateur' laying a 500 hook + longline both fall under the category of 'recreational fishing'. But are these really the same? Should they be treated in the same way?

In the Uk you have a clear category of 'anglers' i.e. rod and line hobby fisherman, and it is angling associations who seem to be at the forefront of the fight to try to get rid of the ridiculous Article 47 and exclude 'anglers' from the article's ridiculous obligations. My opinion is that having all sorts of fishing methods falling under 'recreational fishing' can somewhat hinder a convincing case in favour of rod and line fishermen

[Moonwalker]

MFC registrations are not allowed by law to lay surface longlines - only bottom longlines.