Marine conservation areas

[DJS]

Just to add to the discussion, as I mentioned in an earlier email EU law is far from being straightforward....

A cursory glance at the EU pre-lex website regulatory impact assessments indicate that the proposed legislation COM(2008) 324 final is basically aimed at recasting (simplifying and consolidating) existing dozen or so EU legal instruments regarding fishing in EU territorial waters in the North Sea and Atlantic.

This proposed regulation aims to repeal and replace Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31998R0850:EN:HTML

Article 31 of the existing EU law (Council Regulation 850/98) states the following:

Article 31 Unconventional fishing methods

1. The catching of marine organisms using methods incorporating the use of explosives, poisonous or stupefying substances or electric current shall be prohibited.

2. The sale, display or offer for sale of marine organisms caught using methods incorporating the use of any kind of projectile shall be prohibited

From this it seems that the use of 'projectiles' for catching marine organisms was in fact banned in the North Sea and Atlantic back in 1998 when the legislation entered into force!
   

[Arti2]

I think what we are doing here guys is promoting new laws! And giving chance of new ideas for these laws! So lets stop all this. And when the laws are enforced we discuss it. And for the signs, in some way or another they can be removed, or their material used somewhere!!

[Granitu]

for the signs arti, you can drop them to me i need some cicular bars at the moment, and i might as well keep the sign for my room decoration.....

emmm that is i think reuse reduce recyle i guess.......

this is always the maltese gemgem..... there is probably sme sort of person WHO HAS A DIVING SCHOOL, which distributes padi licenses just like buying chesse cakes and wants malta as a diving site..... not for the fish nor for the fauna but for MONEY...
 
if they want to really regulate, they regulate everyone.. i said this too to the fisheries dept... they yelled at me...... and they call it CUSTOMER SERVICE.... if the situation will be deteriorating, and we will be in danger, diving near pariti and knuz, i presumed with him it is only fair that they fully compensate our equipment and passion-which  is PRICELESS and ban spearfishing
I GUESS THEY CAN create areas for spearfisherman only.....

BUT THE TRUE REALITY......GUESS THEY ARE CHICKENS!!!

[Arti2]

In marsascala there was a sign that was intended to show that you cannot spearfish with cylinders, and you can't use artificial light. I saw it down the sea.
And I think the one in Zonqor was put there by the nearby diving school.

So I think you are right BAGHIRA they are trying to 'claim' all the sea for their use.
And to be nice with tourists they produced these signs. They want to preserve thier daily bread sort of.

Even near Exiles in Sliema, they are going to place a wreck for Dive-systems to earn more money!

The thing is they are placing these f****n signs everywhere without any permission.
What can we do? Place other signs such as :

NO SCUBA DIVING HERE! POLLUTED SEA!

OR NET HAZARD!

[Granitu]

i don't bother any signs.... i go at zonqor diving.... parit everywhere and i talked with the diving school in concern, they used to GIVE CYLINDERS TO SCUBA SPEAR-FISHERMAN.... I SAW MANY OF THEM- this just a year ago.

amusing, to say the least.... i haven't seen the sign yet but a week ago i was there

[Arti2]

Yes GRANITU one of my friends fills his cylinders from that diving school. Then he goes spearfishing and they know he goes spearfishing with cylinders! If he does not find fish he catches every single octopus, even small ones in front of him. And if there is no luck with octopus he cleans the sea bed from sea urchins!!!

And once he told me there are few sea urchins! Maybe the thing is going to repeat itself!

This is where laws should be a enforced not on us who take it as a sport and hobby!

[Granitu]

i recall that day i saw him get out from water, he made a genocide out of tiny groupers, had around 8 the biggest not more than 700 grms.... along with a nice gallina(the only decent fish he had), some qarnit

the funny part is that he told me that at those sizes it is the best size of groupers to eat for aljotta!

i think commercial restaurants just do the aljotta with it's head


today zonqor point is not even worth a heck for fishing.... i just go do some apnea training there

[Seahunter]

i recall that day i saw him get out from water, he made a genocide out of tiny groupers, had around 8 the biggest not more than 700 grms.... along with a nice gallina(the only decent fish he had), some qarnit

the funny part is that he told me that at those sizes it is the best size of groupers to eat for aljotta!

i think commercial restaurants just do the aljotta with it's head


today zonqor point is not even worth a heck for fishing.... i just go do some apnea training there

Last year when I was in Gozo there were a lot of restaurants exibithing these tiny groupers in there refrigitarors amongst the other spnott, awrat and cimpulazz.

[SPNOTTA]

Shanook...wake up man...you throw in the towel too easily.

Arti...don't you think that it is much easier to prevent laws, directives and regulation at the proposal stage rather than discussing after the issue.

Regarding the signs...I know they are thowing bad light on us BUT PLEASE DO NOT ACT IRRESPONSIBLY AND PERFORM ANY ACT OF VANDALISM!!! We don't want the public to consider us savage beasts!!! Remember the bird hunters??? they dug their own grave with vandalist acts...their reputation went further deeper down the drain. Let us not provide hay for the fire to start off. ACT RESPONSIBTY...THINK WITH YOUR BRAINS AND HEART.

Regarding the bubble blower spearos...they still exist and perform their macabre acts in spite it is illegal. Unfortunately they throw bad light on us.

Small groupers <700g...small octa and harvesting of sea urchins...my stomach is upset everytime I hear about these things.

I believe the future is in the hands of our kids...Yesterday my 2 year old son went up to a person collecting sea urchins and innocently asked the individual why the sea urchins are not going to be returned to the sea.

I think we have to learn alot from kids.

[Arti2]

Yes SPNOTTA we can prevent laws but what are doing here is promoting new ones!

As for the signs we can use their material not vandalize them.

And for the sea urchins if some guy catches some to eat himself I think its O.k. But to catch them for business, its another thing!

I know people who are marine vacuum cleaners!!!

Once I saw one with his a boat full of sea urchins. These kind of people need to be stopped and the ones with nets, especially those who have neverending ones!

If law enforcement starts from there, maybe our seas will be better. But one has to start from the main threat.

[SPNOTTA]

arti and others...don't fall into their traps...leave the signs alone...if you wish to remove them...do it the right way...legally...this is not something to joke about...there's our (spearos) reputation at stake. Vandalizing those signs is the worst thing we can do...media will use it against us.

If you do some homework you will realize that we are not promoting new laws but clarifying a situation which already is present in other EU countries. Some member EU politicians are already interpreting article 12 as a ban for spearfishing!!!! It easier to stop this at the proposal stage rather after the avalanche has begun... which is very likely to engulf the med in the future.

I have nothing againt collecting a limited amount of sea urchins to use with spaghetti maraina .mmmmm   I thought it was obvious that I am talking about marine vacuum cleaners.

[Simon G]

kenneth your cousin kenneth was the first to vandalize them !!!!!

[Arti2]

SPNOTTA the way you are talking does not show  you are a spearo you are like one inside some organisation! And one who is pleased to let someone else introduce laws in a supposed indipendent country! You seem like you are inside EU!

As for the signs, if they were placed illegally by diving schools some way or another they have to be removed!

Eh and you need to change your user name GREEN PEACE MAN!!!

[SPNOTTA]

If my cousin vandalized the signs THAN HE ACTED FOOLISHLY (sorry cous)...you fell into their game...

I love that we are in the EU for one simple reason...the EU has control on our local politicians.

Like, finally it is mandatory to reduce 10% of noxious emissions, scuba spearfishing  and at night with torches were banned. These are all good things. Ok not all is good...far from it...actually it does not make sense for small to medium business enterprises but let's not get into politics.

I am 100% spearo.
I do not form part of any organization.

There's nothing illegal about the signs all the information is correct...the only thing is that they could be very well misinterpreted. So the best we can do is ask the authorities concerned to list the protected areas so that there is no room for misinterpretation.

I am not a green peace man...you don't know me...I like to act in an eduacted resonsible manner but if need be...I can be someone's worst nightmare.

[Granitu]

"There's nothing illegal about the signs all the information is correct...the only thing is that they could be very well misinterpreted. So the best we can do is ask the authorities concerned to list the protected areas so that there is no room for misinterpretation."

eee? it is misinterpreting spnotta.... it cant be like that. either you clarify and elimate all the b****** about law codes..... and they were done only for provoking doubt.....

it is true, we can't vandalize them but i was only being ironical.....besides i hate all this bureucracy.... no one from the autorities knows a sh**