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[email protected], tel: 01252 555213M
ore sailors need to
report incidents of
fi shing gear
entanglement in UK waters if
the Government is to take
action to tackle the problem.
That’s the message from the
Royal Yachting Association
(RYA) following the
Government’s response to a
recent petition by the Cruising
Association (CA), which called
for improvements to the
marking of static fi shing gear.
The petition closed with
10,770 signatures, 770 above
the minimum number
required for a response.
In its reply, the Department
of Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said it
had met with the RYA and was
‘looking at areas in which the
enforcement of regulations
can be enhanced’.
It also encouraged the
reporting of incidents via the
RYA’s fi shing gear incident
reporting form to ‘help identify
any potential solutions’.
A spokeswoman for the RYA
said a lack of data on the true
scale of the problem of fi shing
gear entanglement was
causing diffi culties.
In 2003 the RYA ran a
campaign to gather data on
unmarked fi shing gear. There
were only 99 reports in a
fi ve-year period. In the last six
months, it received just 138
reports of entanglement – 84
of which took place over the
last two years.
“This is not encouraging,”
said the spokeswoman, who
added that DEFRA has
reiterated “the need for as
much evidence as possible
to ascertain the scale of the
problem”.
“Like it or not, Government
will do nothing unless they
are persuaded by hardSailors being urged to report
fi shing gear entanglement
evidence that the cost or risk
is unacceptable and that they
need to do something – they
have said as much in their
response,” she stated.
The RYA believes the
current regulations governing
the laying of fi shing gear
within UK territorial waters
makes enforcement by the
Marine Management
Organisation (MMO) diffi cult.
It says fi shermen are only
required to clearly mark gear
with the letters and numbers
of their vessel, rather than
ensuring the gear can be
seen easily. Unless
enforcement authorities
actually witness unmarked
gear being deployed it is
almost impossible to take
formal enforcement action.
Instead, the RYA believes
the Inshore Fisheries and
Conservation Authorities
(IFCAs) are better placed to
tackle the problem. The IFCAs
have regional responsibilities
within inshore waters, and have
the power to introduce bylaws
which could require fi shermen
to mark gear ‘in such manner
as may be specifi ed’.“However, the view of the
IFCAs is that bylaws relating
to the marking of fi shing gear
for identifi cation do not cover
the requirements for
navigation. Indeed they make
it quite clear that they are not
navigation authorities and
therefore this is something
that is beyond their remit,”
explained the RYA
spokeswoman.
Following the Government’s
response to the petition, the
CA is now pressing for the
setting up of a consultative
body made up of all
stakeholders, including the
National Federation of
Fishermen’s Organisations.
CA president, Judith
Grimwade, said the
Government response
“signals change for the better”.
“Government is now looking
at areas in which the
enforcement of regulationscan be enhanced, but is
also open to, and interested
in, the identifi cation of other
potential solutions,” she
said.
The CA is also
encouraging sailors to report
entanglement to them via
[email protected]
as well as to the RYA online
reporting scheme at:
http://www.rya.org.uk/
knowledge-advice/
safe-boating/look-after-
yourself/Pages/fi shing-gear-
incident-report-form.aspxABOVE Swanage
RNLI help a
sailor with a
fouled propRIGHT Reporting
fouled props is
encouragedMany believe amateur
fi shermen are to blame for
most unmarked gearPaul Cleaver/AlamyGraham SnookRNLI