hi everyone is happy we are in the EU and we are the civilised citizens of the world and all others are....................well compare our way of living with these friends of ours from Marocco.
A friend of mine was in Marocc and he wanted to go fishing with the locals. Everything was set and he woke up as we usually do around 4am. He waited and around 9am he sees them coming down the road. (by the way they communicated by sign language mostly) They didnt have anything with them (yes of course they had clothes on silly), no rods, reels or all the bits and pieces we usually take with us. They arrived on the spot and my friend tried to explain what they were going to fish with. One of them led him to a nearby field and cut 3 pieces of bamboo, they walked back and the other took a line and some hooks from his pocket, they tied the line and hook. They dug a bit in the ground and found a few worms which they collected, and started fishing.
My friend (the Maltese guy) was the first one to catch a 1.5Kg sargu. he was ecstatic with joy, he showed it to the Maroccan and to his amazement the other looked at it shook his head and threw it back, the Maltese guy was flabbergasted he couldnt believe that they had thrown it back (good thing he was alone with the other two as I think he would have punched), they explained by gestures that it was too small. They continued fishing throwing back anything below 2 kg. When they had caught 4 nice sized fish in the 4kg range they stopped fishing took the lines and hooks off stored them in the pocket and left the place, they put the bamboo back in the field. They only took enough to eat and didnt glutton themselves with a lot of fish.
Mind you they can afford to do it as the fish are abundant, wish we could do that here I would definitely let go of all fish below 2 kg knowing that I can catch the ones of 4kg.
But with the number of nets all over the bays and shallow waters where the fish nest it is impossible that it will ever be like that.
Oh for those thinking of going spearfishing....My friend above when they were clearing up after fishing took his top off cleared his pockets and took a dive in the crystal clear waters ........he hadnt even hit the water when the Moroccans started shouting and signalling him to come back ashore.....when he got ashore he was told through gestures that there were a lot fo sharks in the area......opps
I've read of spanish spearos going to morroco to spearfish, all you have to have is a special spearfishing liscence. I also swam in morocco(wasnt warned of sharks), I can confirm that they have a lot of sea life and miles of uninterupted coastline. Is there a place locally which isnt continually interupted ? I guess not !! if I stil have pictures of the fish markets I'll upload them.
nice story shanook!
Quote from: shanook on May 11, 2009, 14:47:35 CET
They only took enough to eat and didnt glutton themselves with a lot of fish.
If only there are more of these individuals with the exact mentality and practices.
QuoteQuote from: shanook on May 11, 2009, 14:47:35 CET
They only took enough to eat and didnt glutton themselves with a lot of fish.
If only there are more of these individuals with the exact mentality and practices.
What a lovely bed time story.....
You wake up in the morning and realise that recreational fishermen are still keeping undersized fish....
I think the min size of fish kept (issued in the recent press release) should be published in all newspapers.... forsi 'Cikku Peppi u Spiru' (ficticious names) won't keep those 3-10 cm Sargi/Xriegen/Pagel/Crien/Dott etc etc etc with the excuse that they make a good fish broth 'aljotta'
Quote from: robby017 on May 14, 2009, 12:22:06 CET
QuoteQuote from: shanook on May 11, 2009, 14:47:35 CET
They only took enough to eat and didnt glutton themselves with a lot of fish.
If only there are more of these individuals with the exact mentality and practices.
What a lovely bed time story.....
You wake up in the morning and realise that recreational fishermen are still keeping undersized fish....
I think the min size of fish kept (issued in the recent press release) should be published in all newspapers.... forsi 'Cikku Peppi u Spiru' (ficticious names) won't keep those 3-10 cm Sargi/Xriegen/Pagel/Crien/Dott etc etc etc with the excuse that they make a good fish broth 'aljotta'
I second your thoughts and may I add the "feeding the cats" excuse. I personally know someone who catches fish that are smaller than the shrimps he cuts as bait. Shame, shame...shame.
Quote from: SPNOTTA on May 14, 2009, 22:10:34 CET
Quote from: robby017 on May 14, 2009, 12:22:06 CET
QuoteQuote from: shanook on May 11, 2009, 14:47:35 CET
They only took enough to eat and didnt glutton themselves with a lot of fish.
If only there are more of these individuals with the exact mentality and practices.
What a lovely bed time story.....
You wake up in the morning and realise that recreational fishermen are still keeping undersized fish....
I think the min size of fish kept (issued in the recent press release) should be published in all newspapers.... forsi 'Cikku Peppi u Spiru' (ficticious names) won't keep those 3-10 cm Sargi/Xriegen/Pagel/Crien/Dott etc etc etc with the excuse that they make a good fish broth 'aljotta'
I second your thoughts and may I add the "feeding the cats" excuse. I personally know someone who catches fish that are smaller than the shrimps he cuts as bait. Shame, shame...shame.
Really is a shame too..the shame being that 95% of these idiots don't know how to fish and would S**T a brick if they hooked into anything decent ::)
Certu nies...... www.xejnsewwa.com ha nghidlek >:(
Agreed 100%. It would also be be nice if these 3-10 cm Sargi/Xriegen/Pagel/Crien/Dott etc disappear from the M'xlokk market too. Professional fishermen are also guilty of the same crime, often at a much larger scale.
Quote from: lazyfisherman on May 15, 2009, 10:34:11 CET
Agreed 100%. It would also be be nice if these 3-10 cm Sargi/Xriegen/Pagel/Crien/Dott etc disappear from the M'xlokk market too. Professional fishermen are also guilty of the same crime, often at a much larger scale.
Agree 100%. Furthermore IMO doing it recreationally is worse, though on a much smaller scale. My point is that if some cannot control their recreational greed, how are we to expect the commercials to lower their sales?
QuoteInsert Quote
Agreed 100%. It would also be be nice if these 3-10 cm Sargi/Xriegen/Pagel/Crien/Dott etc disappear from the M'xlokk market too. Professional fishermen are also guilty of the same crime, often at a much larger scale.
When talking about this matter, one takes m'xlokk market for granted, after all its' one of the main nemises, as, after all.... i've seen many undersized fish, even in big fishshops (whose names i will not mention here for obvious reasons)
Yes spnotta, catching undersize fish for recreational purposes may be in itself worse, but the impacts of the same crime by the professionals is much worse in terms of impacts on fish populations and the long-term sustainability of fishing, whether recreational or commercial. For conservation to be effective, commercial fishing simply cannot be let off the hook.
Quote from: lazyfisherman on May 15, 2009, 13:55:16 CET
Yes spnotta, catching undersize fish for recreational purposes may be in itself worse, but the impacts of the same crime by the professionals is much worse in terms of impacts on fish populations and the long-term sustainability of fishing, whether recreational or commercial. For conservation to be effective, commercial fishing simply cannot be let off the hook.
I second the above, in fact in my post I stated "though on a much smaller scale".
a new meaning to catch and release.... a well known fish shop in gzira, practices this famous catch and release with a passion..... if you happen to catch a 20cm cerna with your speargun, he releases it into his aquarium half dead...... and what about the 30cm dott a fisherman caught in his nets and was still alive ??? that's right.... released in the same aquarium.... and the story goes on..... 11-15cm spnotta, some bobin, ckall and lobstes for sale........ all in one aquarium..... and if im not mistaken, the ratio is 1 square foot of water/aquarium space per 10cm of fish...... were are the authorities........ oh yes...... and the same owner was the one screaming LIAR LIAR LIAR at the film The End of the Line we watched last week........ The Shamless Greedy *&&&***..... Beep!!!!...(for some reason it sounds better Rob!!))...
PS
was there last Wednesday so i hope he had the dignity to remove the cerna, unless it wasn't intended fishfood for the lobsters etc......
Then why not draw up a list of recommended minimum landing sizes & publish it on this forum? We have Regional Sea Fisheries Committees here in the UK, & they are allowed to pass bye-laws which vary from the national MLS (for example the national MLS for bass (spnotta?) is 36cms, our local MLS is 37.5cms).
The Federations that control sea angling in the UK enforce an even higher MLS on their members competitions etc e.g. spnotta? minimum 40cm before you can weigh it in at a competition, or you can have it witnessed by a steward then returned alive.
I dont know what many of the fish I catch in Malta are called, so if they are big enough for the barby I take them home, if I had a list of MLS drawn up by MFF I could print it off & take it fishing with me. For example what would the MLS for mullet be? or bream? it would be nice to have it in list form. ;)
I had never actually practiced the catch & release. I have been fishing from shore using telescopic rods and floats since childhood. And I must say that I never had anything to shout for. It's always the same story. The only catches I make are some griewel, sparli and gharusa usually in the 15cm range. Most of the time I go from 7am to 5pm straight. Never had the satisfaction of landing a big fish. The only fish I release are sargi and the occasional cerna. I fish in St Paul's Bay and from shore it's completely dead. And what angers me most are the so-called professional fisherman with big kajjikki lowering their nets (pariti) near the rocks. So what do I expect to catch other than these small fish. If I had the luxury of catching big fish as Shanook's story, than I would gladly release all the small ones. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe I have the wrong mentality, but the 15cm size are the only catches I make. Even with my old frejgatina, the only decent fish caught was by my father, a 30cm lampuka and a 45cm tumbrell in about 7 years. OK we do catch some kahli and sawrell but always in the 20cm range and more often than not, I release all the Kahli. To be totally honest I envy all you guys who catch big fish but that's life. At least I can see them in the gallery and keep dreaming that maybe one day I might do some decent catches. So keep posting pictures
http://maltafishingforum.com/talk/index.php/topic,1752.0.html
attached to skip's post...... attached please find the guidlines.....
Blimey only 25cm for bass! (spnotta) I thought the EU mls was 36cm? & some of those bream sizes are tiny as well. little wonder there are so many small fish on sale in m'lock! >:(
one must also note that those are 'guidelines' for recreational fishing
very nice story....the fact that not everyone practices catch and release is a problem, BUT i think overfishing is an even bigger problem! Sometimes we catch much more then what we need.....and sadly the pictures in this forum show it.
The pictures here may be decieving. You need to realise that some ppl here are Part Time Fishermen (MFB registration), and share their catch with other forum members by posting in the photo gallery!
Quote from: floody on March 10, 2010, 12:31:34 CET
very nice story....the fact that not everyone practices catch and release is a problem, BUT i think overfishing is an even bigger problem! Sometimes we catch much more then what we need.....and sadly the pictures in this forum show it.
hi sorry but I don t agree with you. What did you find wrong in the pics? Pls calculate the dates one went fishing and the types of fish one caught. I agree with the catch and release on the size and the situation. For ezample I don t like the catch and release on tuna cos lot of times it comes up dead and you have to trow it back.
its ok if you all do not agress with me, after all its a matter of opinion.
gaffer - you are right abt the part time fishermen, btu still, sadly we maltese have the mentallity that nothing is ever enough. and its a gd thing you edited your post.
emic, date of pictures noted.
sorry refering to you both by ur nickname. but dont knmow your names. :)
floddy the problem is not that the Maltese had a wrong mentality........its a matter of the government not setting laws and reinforcing them. Example: I dont know ur age but when I was younger we went around the roundabout according to who got there first and how daring u were..now we have rules and they are mostly obeyed by Maltese drivers.
Same with fishing, Gov knows about the depletion of fish and what does he do.....practically nothing.........apart from stopping certain type of useless fishing like parit near the coasts, it would be beneficial if coastline were improved artificially for fish to breed in.......
I agree that catch and release is not much practiced here but if we keep insisting and teaching younger generations than it will get better. A lot of people here on the forum practice catch and release but that doesnt mean that whatever you catch u release either. A lot of members actually give part of the catch to relatives as well as people in need.
it s ok don t worry :)
For me as a spearo I can t practice that in a way, we just select the size of fish we want to spear and stop when we see that it s enough. If I want to go for the catch and release I go scuba diving and stay down there relax for an hour, seeing without tuching. Yes like that I can resist, but cannot go spearfishing and loosing my chance by saying catch and release even if it was "possible".
Having a limit would be another thing and I agree with it. I never over fish the area for lots of reasons, but if i'm not fishing under the rocks i don t see anything wrong with that. Yes it s true that with a good technick and a speargun one can do good catch but check all the pics in the forum and try to count how many fish a spearo can catch. Remember we are dealing by fishing in apnea and our body has a limit too. Spear-fishing seabream, ajs, groupers for us means that you catch 1 from the other 10+ you see.
guys, i agree with you, especially about what shanook said re goverment doing nothing.
the catch and release concept is vital so that future generation can enjoy the little we still have.
BUT i think OVERFISHING is a bigger problem.... we risk killing adult fish that not enough remain to breed and replenish the population.
Freedive it is not our fault that we catch baby swordfish !!!! Many a time the small swordfish come up dead so they cannot be released. We fish using large hooks but still they manage to get caught. It is not like recreational fishing where you have the option to release the fish as it comes to the boat alive. Nearly all the small swords come dead with longlines!!!!
how can a poor husband "catch and release" when his wife eats only fish!
that isnt catch and release its catch and waste.......if the fish is dead its better to bring it in just the same.
If authorities really want to do something about over fishing there are ways they can do it but they dont want to lose votes...... although I would prefare that I pay extra taxes, to be given directly to full time fisherman as a payment for not going out to sea..............A few years and the fish population will flourish
agrees with shanook
Infact it was done this year shanook. This year an incentive was given out to all those who opted not to do any fishing in the two months that the swordfish season was closed. The problem is that the season was still opened early and 2 months were not enough. In my opinion the season should be closed from 1st October to 1 April. Like that the fish are given ample time to reproduce and to grow up.
When discussing fish sizes it is also important to keep in mind the reproductive strategy of the species concerned. Many species of fish, including the amberjack and the bluefin tuna produce millions of eggs per mature female in a season. Obviously only a proportion of these are fertilised and will eventually hatch into juvenules. However in most species of fish, including the two examples above there is a huge natural wastage of juveniles. This means that, even if the fish are not caught, only a very, very tiny percentage of fish that hatch will ever reach sexual maturity. Most will die or be eaten by other fish when still very young. So in most cases it is erroneous to think that because a small fish is released it will manage to reach maturity. In most cases it will not. Of course it is equally true that if most of the juveniles are caught when very young it will definitely result in less breeding adults, declining stocks and less future catches.
If we take the position that all fish below reproductive age should be released we might as well forget our lampuki fishing industry which is based exclusively on the capture of juvenile fish. After all I wonder how many people would enjoy eating mature 10 kg or so lampuki as much as they do with the smaller fish that are caught locally. Of course this is not a post against catch and release - far from it. I believe that recreational fishermen should be responsible and only keep what they and their immediate family intend to consume.
However I think that there is nothing wrong in taking home a couple of freshly caught cervjol for consumption, even though these may be relatively small. After all not not everybody has the knowhow, boat, equipment or even the desire to go after the large amberjacks and taking home a couple of cervjol should not threaten the species concerned.
lazyfisherman,you talk sense and i agree with you in general but,i must correct you on the fish called "lampuki".this species is about the only fish that the larger it gets, the tastier it becomes.maybe it is bacause it holds the record of being the fastest growing fish known to science. actually,for a period of time it doubles its own weight!
You may well be right - however I do know people who enjoy the smaller lampuki caught early on in the season while the larger ones caught later (2kg fish or so) are exclusively used for pies. In my case I enjoy them the same at all times and sizes but then I enjoy all sorts of fish - including the humble xilpa and sawrella
best eating puki are the half kg to 1 kg ones....... the rest go into sauces and pies...... in my opinion....... but the best are the small ones fried or bbq...... yum yum :P
I agree the lazyfisherman. The best lampuki for frying are the small ones. The bigger ones we only do for pies. And that's the opinion I hear from many people when I'm shopping for lampuki. I still have to catch some myself but always without luck :)
the difference with lampuki is whether they have been caught in nets or by Konz/rixa. The lampuki caught by Konz/rixa and taken care of that is stored on their back of course cooled not as I have seen many times dried up in the sun, are the best you can eat. the lampuki caught by nets are in my opinion good for pies as their meat is squashed and they taste very oily.
In Gozo u buy lampuki caught by konz/rixa at a much higher price than the ones caught by nets.
Most of fish caught are not properly taken care of and they lose their taste. Another example is tumbrell....... I know its has a particular taste but if when caught u hit it on the front face and let it bleed it will taste a LOT better, oh and of course chill it not just let it stand in a bucket (because its a cold day.......it doesnt mean u dont chill it)
I always keep what's good to eat...before i used to give fish to friends as well but not anymore.Last summer i was at a place and i released over 50 kahli(not very big) and a lot of bottom fish.People came to me and told me are you crazy why are you throwing all the fish back to the sea!!Before i used to catch small bottom fish,leave them in bags in the freezer for months and then throw everything away or give them to friends.Now i only keep occasionaly or when the wife wants a plate of aljotta!!...Mind you the big fish..which i dont catch much ;) i dont throw away or release!!
dik l'accola li qbad bil jigging ma harrabtiex hux ja gidmejmun li inti........
U didnt release that large amberjack eh
@ Shanook..gidmejmun what does it mean ??? ??? :)
gidmejmun jew furban jew makak jew Hax...ixu...imma mhux bil hsieb hazin, imma bil Hbiberija........espressjoni antika.
in-nanniet kienu jighdu lit-tfal gidmejmun! lol! tfisser xitan zghir izda bmod cajtier! tfisser wiehed imqareb.