Police came and stoped spinning fishing

[shanook]

the problem with trawlers is that they bring up a lot of mud that suffocate the fish not just the bottom dwellers but also mid and surface fish.  When we fish for Alungi and the  trawler passes by we just pack up and leave as the whole area is full of mud.

[ramio]

When there is a problem, its always the small fry who gets the beating first. The big fisherman will still get controll but he has to make a living out of it.The amature on the otherhandis is in a different position.
Looking at sports fishing abroad, they are used to a lot of rules. Season, size, tackle etc. This not to mention the fishing licence, which does not come cheap. These are thngs that have to be inposed on us sooner or later. with EU most prob sooner. We had better get used to restrictions.
best is to organise ourselves together and be prepared to discuss any isue with authority if permitted!!!!

Skip, last year wasn't a great one for fishing. Went out about 4 times for alungi with my boat, cought about 5 in all. Two where 11 and 12k. Shanook was with me that time. The rest of the summer we spent it together on his boat fishing St paul's area. My boat I keep B'Buga. This year will start deep drop for the first time. Will welcome any help as regards.

[MartinB]

Hi MartinB

You said that trwalers  are distroying the sea beds the trawlers that i know they troll on the mud bottom which very few or no plants at all will grow. And i think that the fish that grows in 150/350 fathoms is not going to come to shore in the 50 fathom area to be cought by a rod.Any way where do we want them to go  every summer the bottom is bombarded with stone for lampuke. The only palce is left for the trawler is the hard bank and the medina bank which last summer there was'nt that goodRegarding hunting that i am not a hunter.where do we want the birds to breed in a stone quary, because with the drowught thats how the land looks like. The island of comino is a natural reserve an no birds are breading what the poor bird is going to eat satar.The problem is who is going to stand up and tell the goverment to start raising fish and birds and let them lose so the sportsmen will have his day of fishing or hunting[/color]. Maybe one day this web site will be so strong that not the goverment, will listen but the EU.

Hi jessiejames 2,
Last winter i caught 2 scabbard fish/cinturin from the shore & others on the forum have caught them whilst trolling for squid close to the shore so,no even very deep sea fish will come in close to shore to find food!! And also as regards the trawlers being unable to trawl due to stones from F.A.D.s/Cimi as far as i know the run of COMMERCIAL cimi for lampuki have been in the same places/area's for a long time (and are published & advertised where they are) and the only diffrence is who is where as they are drawn by lot (?) and if they are trawling along the 'dilettanti' places then they are way to close to the shore!!
In some places they can be clearly be seen from the shore! im not against somebody making an honest living,in fact it would be a total waste of a natural resource if no trwaling was done..thats not the problem..The problem is they trawl so close to shore to cut down on diesel costs,which again is logical especially with the way fuel costs are spiraling upwards (& TBH i think everyone would do the same if it was their boat/livelyhood!) but unfortunatley not only does it destroy the bottom where they trawl,but they catch EVERYTHING regardless of size ot species.
The worst bit is if they are targeting a specific species (which they all do,& rightly so,to maximise profits),for instance Shrimps/Prawns then due to the limited space on board any vessel they throw all other fish (Dead or dying) overboard!! this is called "bi-catch" and is an unfortunate fact of the trawling business.

If this is done far out a sea its still a shame,but when its done so close to shore around banks in the sea where juvenile fish are most likely found then its nothing but madness!!

The only reason i mentioned Hunting was to emphasise a point,that the authorities (ALL of them im 33 & regards these type of situations 'the song remains the same' ) seem to only point things out which fit to their agenda..like i said whilst the whole issue of bird's no longer breeding due to hunting was being plastered all over the media,(which i agree with what your saying btw i don't know where these "imaginary" birds were breeding as ive never seen any and i grew up and still ive in the countryside) no mention of the gradual destruction of the natural habitat/countryside was made!?!!

I think the idea of the government raising fish to be released in the wild is not gonna happen(unfortunatley ),first & foremost it would seem a hell of a waste of money to too many people to raise fish & just release them in the wild to give sportsman something to catch,maybe it would be better if the same ammount of money could be spent on enforcing the laws we already have to MAYBE give our sea a chance to heal..
Further to what shanook was saying about clouds of sediment this is off the coast of florida..and they are worried about it despite having one of the best sport fishing grounds in the world
Check out this link
http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=738555

[Granitu]

guys just no note, they are thieves when they fish close to shore, THEY GET SUBSIDIES FOR THE DIESEL, THEY SAVE ON THE DESIL SO THAT THEY SELL IT. THIS IS THE REAL THING. THE THING IS THEY ARE THE MANY OF THEM WHO EVADE THE SYSTEM AND IT IS US WHO SUFFER. THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THEIR ACTION.

whatever we do, it is the law that needs to change.... and fast too... rumors are that European union is already moving on commercial fisherman and they know.... just as i said in some earlier post if you talk to some of them they are very selfish on fishing spots, cause they earn a living, which may be a justification if they weren't subsidized, but they are fully subsidized on the fuel costs.

they know something is moving and they are not happy about it, they prefer the total chaos we are living in right now...

and jessijames, those are the trawlers you know. have you ever dived far 1 mile from hofriet? it was some xcellent place for sargi once but they troll so much that they destoyed much of the sea bed algae, and that doesn't help!!! also pariti can be devastating too!!! it is all of us who need to manage this. Why some keep small fish for their cat? because they say " the other one takes it". we are too jealous of each other, just wait to see you catching something and they will invent ways to fish, not to have fun, which i help many, but TO CATCH A LOT!!! that is not fun in my opinion

the fun is to devise systems yourself, get in lone with nature and fish it with your own knowledge, solving any riddles the sea gives... that is real fishing.... but i guess many maltese are too lazy to learn so they go out with a sport license boat and throw 300metres of parit to catch some fish!!! and i am not living in fantasy land i guess, this is the mere REALITY, we just ignore it and justify as usual....

[ramio]

Well said Granitu. I always said that fishing does not consist of just catching fish. To me spending all winter hard at work doing alterations to the boat, making tackle, searching the web for new ideas......these are all part of it. The best part is when you are out there waiting not knowing when, or what might bite. Even if more likely go back empty handed its still a satisfaction for me.
I enjoy watching other people's catch as much as it was mine, not like some who kill themselves with envy.  but as you said reality is different

[jessijames 2]

Hi Martinb

There is a alot of difference between what you read and the truth. The Maltese fish trawlers they wish to you use the Bi- catch system.One trawler in a whole day trawling in 350/400 fathoms lucky to catch 20 kilos of king praws.The law is there, they have to trawl three miles out, and when they are pulling the net they can't drift in the three mile range.The law was inforcde 1988.Hi shanook if the trawler you saw was trawling mud he really had a bad day.Hi granitu i never dived tal hofriet i use to snorkil for octipus near imgarr harbour years ago preferably at night i use to love it. Some of my friends say it is not like it used to be even the sea urchins are disappearing.Any way at the BBQ, I wish to be there have fun all of you guys. In August I'll be there maybe we will meet.

[MartinB]

Hi jessejames 2,
Like i said ive nothing against trawlers earning a living,but sometimes they are alot closer than 3 miles offshore,simply because they can be seen trawling clearly!
I can see pretty far,but definetly not 3 miles!! The law is there alright but again its not properly enforced so some people ignore it!

And i can assure you all trawler nets have bi-catch my friend! No trawler is going to bring a hold full of fish which has little or no market value and barley covers their costs,or especially if there are more fish of greater market value,then the catch is sorted and the surplus goes over the side dead or dying...this isn't so bad out at sea,but at 3 miles out!! or less...
30 yrs ago my father used to visit a friend after work who was a policeman on the water police in grand harbour (i remember going with him once or twice when i was very young),on the only maltese 'patrol' boat (wooden) 'Druid' & whilst there,many times he used to see Italian trawlers (!) doing this sorting process right at the harbour quay side (having spent the day trawling in maltese waters NOT outside the present 25m exclusion zone),and throwing the surplus straight over the side by the shovel load before unloading for the market!

[Granitu]

guys, i studied their area of cost and i can assure you that they have a very reasonable earning.... it is all an economical strategy... they don't declare all the fish, just what they need to get te subsidy.

normally, they work like this. if he operates a trolling boat, he will troll normally to reach the quote but throw pariti as a part time undeclared job, normally with a sport licenced boat or an mfc license.

it is all hype that they don't earn.. i don't want to launch any allegations, just the real truth that nearly everyone does. estimates of costs are always overrated by 15% normally, depends on negotiations. but then it is the declared fish stocks that don't count.... they catch much more but don't declare... there were RUMORS that they were selling the fish to sicily people but i can't much confirm it, so i deny it. what they normally do of what i know is sellig it in mxlokk market, whick is fish coming directly from pariti and restaurants who often can get discounted prices for these fish

many try to ignore the real truth, but "xejn mhu miexi fuq ir rubini". this is the sorrowfl truth, which is indipendent from the 2 political parties who seek primarily their own interests only, just watch the controlled media in malta, and they call it democracy....

that is the real blow.....

[blabfish]

I attached the list of places you cannot fish.

[blabfish]

I attached the list of places you cannot fish.