My recent eNEWS below has prompted several Members to recount their experiences of encountering poorly marked fishing nets. I open this topic to enable Members to share and discuss with others how they see this on going problem.
CRUISING NEWS
RYA HAMPERED BY LACK OF REPORTS OF POORLY MARKED FISHING GEAR
Although the Cruising Association obtained over 3,000 signatures for it’s petition to DEFRA to require fishermen to mark their gear properly, the RYA has only received some 85 actual reports incidents although there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of many more.
Below are extracts from the RYA news item:-
“The RYA takes the view that unless the petition is underpinned by data, it may be seen by the Government as an emotive demand for action based on nothing more than opinion rather than factual informatiom”.
“The RYA have had direct discussions with DEFRA and MMO who have made it clear that they would need solid evidence clearly demonstrating that the safety risk and/or cost of poorly marked fishing gear is unacceptable before taking action”.
“The online reporting form is readily available on the RYA website at http://www.rya.org.uk/go/entanglements
John Claisse
eNEWS Editor