My Catches!

EmicMalta · January 25, 2008, 19:22:12 CET

Before I said, "wait for tomorrow to see".

This eavning Ive been at MArsaxlokk buying some staf from Gorg. Then I went to the Power station to take a look how was the visibility. I counted 7 trowing the net. One of them was so clossed to the shore with the trasperant net that the floats where in the surface. Here some pics

MartinB · January 25, 2008, 20:17:59 CET

Like busumark mentioned there was a couple of posts about this before on the forum and the question of the nets and trawlers is unfortunatley not gonna be solved overnight...there is too much commercial interest involved & also the authorities are not enforcing the law, so obviously the people concerned are not obeying the law when it siuts them not too! its as simple as that.
The markets is another thing where if people are going to buy those fish then they will continue selling them,but i think this is also a case of the majority of people being ignorant of fish species and the conditions of fish stocks etc.
For example i have seen hawkers selling a hanzir as cerna,at marsaxlokk market i saw a big xilpa being sold to some poor woman as kahli!! also the thing emicmalta mentioned of people buying fish in terrible condition and VERY small sizes.

Also i think the thing about the scuba divers is dispicable,personally i have never really liked the idea of spearfishing with scuba gear as i dont think its gives the fish a fair chance,and as far as im concerned its NOT sport at all

ciappinu · January 26, 2008, 09:14:32 CET

Infact guys, I think we have to re-think our strategy with regards to giving exact locations of where the shoals are. I think we should keep this information for ourselves, or at least pass it on only via private messages. Now with the 3 Euro Internet Scheme, even the Fishing Net guys will have internet!

MartinB · January 26, 2008, 20:01:26 CET

Ciappinu to be honest i was talking to a friend of mine about this very point you mentioned and i realise it defeats the purpose of a forum to share information but as you pointed out at least we can send PM's to people who a genuinley intrested in catching a few fish for sport and not to drop a net a catch everything in sight

Granitu · January 27, 2008, 09:02:39 CET

i agree with this.... but the situation is degenerating guys...today all you need is a gps and a fishfinder and you are done... something needs to be done it is ridiculous that we are in 2008 and these f..... are still doing all this. some throw the nets for a reason, that to save up gasoline. it is unfair both with us and their customers that from the occasional fish you find xilep for sale normally at a lm1.50 guys. If by chance i have time to upload some photos I will show you tray full of small awrat... now that's why there is no awrat.

Even for us, the sport fisherman, catches considerations are to be treated dilligently and care must be taken when choosing the fish to take to home. for sargi, for example, I don't take species at home smaller than 500grms. recently we had the opportunity to catch a decent sargu ta l imperjal....we left him living because it is rare in Malta.

These theives are a few people and many of them I know are from the south area (just imagine from where they are...piece of cake) and once they see a sport fisherman catch some fish(mullet,small amberjacks, even some xilep!)..... they throw the nets. sometimes they even send children on small dingies( a friend of mine fishes mullet there nearly everday; he saw them and i know he is not a liar). Recently I was talking to a fishhawker at marsaxlokk...he was angry because the fishfarms at birzebbuga became enclosed recently and he can't throw his nets near the boundaries! he was the guy selling small awrat :-[unbeleivable!

I know many people who are naturalist and are concerned about this situation.... doing something together can save our fish stocks.

any ideas? enough talking guys more action,it can be in vain but worth a try, it s about saving our fish in time.
I was thinking of a petition but does not seem that radical and presenting it to the concerned minister
Regards, Nicholas

jon109 · January 27, 2008, 13:24:20 CET

what about writing a report of these facts and presenting them to the opposition party/tv station in the name of Malta Fishing Forum? Obviosly this has to be done with an agreement with the owners of this forum!

another possible thing would be presenting the report to the Minister of the Environment!

There is a big number of members on this forum so maybe we could make a difference!

regards,

Jonathan

Granitu · January 27, 2008, 15:02:16 CET

your idea John is very promising..yet the maritime authorithy should have done reports.my worst fear of a report is that they might say... it is just a piece of paper

placebo · January 27, 2008, 17:06:21 CET

good idea if we start by doing some kind of report.

I will also try get the help of the kingfisher sport fishing club with around 50 active members into the issue.

Granitu · January 27, 2008, 20:29:28 CET

10x placebo that can really help
regards, nicholas

placebo · January 27, 2008, 20:42:28 CET

i suggest we ask and enquire the present rules about fishing with nets.

then we proceed accordingly. I think that if we unite and pressure authorities for sure it is not permissible to throw nets about 3mtrs from land.

we have to make reports to authorities. whenevr i make my report it's always the day after that they come patrol the area. i think they can do it. For example if we target pretty bay there's always a standby patrol boat for illegal immigrants , i guess they can find some time to do so0me good checks about the situation.

jon109 · January 28, 2008, 00:48:11 CET

yeah that would be great! if someone has sometime and has any experience of submitting a report to the authourities please give us some tips... A good petition in addition to the report will be a plus!

I am sure that our argument make sense!

Lets group up and do something before it's too late!!

regards,

jon

PS* the administrators can open a topic with these arguments and move some of these posts on it...

skip · January 28, 2008, 09:39:40 CET

Guys, I'm open to any suggestions ref: new boards or topics on the forum to address this issue. Btw I wanted to clarify that the Fish Alerts section has restrictions in place to try and protect the misuse of some of this info.

They are:

GPS Co-Ordinates limited to Active Contributors only (min 20 posts), plus Friends of the MFF and special designations.

Alerts, Inshore Sightings, and Catch Reports/Experiences are on Basic (min 5 posts). I can if you all feel this is best adjust those to Active (min 20 posts), or even Seasoned (min 50 posts) but that might detract a bit.

The other option to consider is having it as a closed user group, ie. Restricting it to say special members tagged Friends of the MFF. That way its not based on posts but I will have to specifically grant access to individuals and we can keep better track of it and the way in which the information is used.

I am open to suggestions. To be honest I was thinking its about time we had some kind of General Meeting maybe over an Ikla someplace where we can discuss such points.

Let me know.

Regards,

Skip

Granitu · January 28, 2008, 09:49:34 CET

yeah, that seems plausible enough as idea. As many of you may notice, I, together with many others(not talking on others behalf), don't share my fishing places with you, not because i don't trust the forum members, but because I don't trust the system. anyone can reach 20posts.

As other's stated, now internet is and will be readily available for others, including those whom they never accept leaving empty handed like some Mxlokk and Bbugia fisherman who ruined pretty bay.

But i am glad to note that finally this point is moving on. Anyone who needs my help(even for a fish!), just send an email to njf100@hotmail.com and I am more than willing to help to save our seas.

EmicMalta · January 28, 2008, 11:12:06 CET

I agree with both of you, Skip and Granitu. I am an active member, and as I think I one of the most to go diving in apnea. I give gps points in this forum but always with a private msg to members I know that they do only sport fishing. And the places that I tell are always with good fish in certain places and in certain part of a reef.

I like the idea of Skip to meet up in someplace or a meal somewhere. Also we meet in summer and can redo it in winter. We meet here each day, but nothing is nicer to have a talk with each other and a nice meal. Also like this we can see whose in the forum and what kind of members we are.

skip · January 28, 2008, 15:00:54 CET

The easiest thing to do would be a sort of application form to access to the fish alerts section where you have to be referred by an existing member who has access to this section. In this way the existing member is essentially vouching for you, by knowing who you are and what type of fishing you do. In that way more information can be 'securely' posted there as opposed to private msgs.

It would be the type of thing that is discussed in person with everyone before being implemented on the forum. The number of posts concept was a start but as pointed out its easy to get a few posts and then get access to the info.

Skip