Petition to stop cuttlefish fishing in Babbacombe Bay

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by drysuit repair dave

This is not going to be a very popular viewpoint, but here goes..................
Potting for cuttlefish has been going on in Babbacombe (and many other areas along the coast) for a long time. Babbacombe does not represent a coming together of cuttlefish from a wide area, cuttlefish gather to mate in a huge number of places, it is just that Babbacombe is a popular shore dive site so they get seen.
Potting mainly catches cuttlefish after they have spawned (which they only do once in their lifetime, they die soon afterwards) so is unlikely to have any great effect on populations.
There are a great many huge problems in the sea, with overfishing, pollution etc. Cuttlefish may be cute, but a few boats setting a few pots for cuttle is really not that important in the grand scheme of things.
Have their been any cases of these number 10 e petitions actually changing things? In the case of a ban on a particular type of fishing gear inside the 6 mile limit, it is a matter for the local Sea Fisheries Committee (in this case Devon Sea Fisheries Committee) not central Government anyway

cheers
dave
drysuitrepair.co.uk

Dave,
TBH I partially agree with you. But having talked to a few of the divers/photographers that have been going there for years (Alan James for one), it has become obvious that the potting has dramatically increased over the last 3 or 4 years. I don't think anyone is really against sustainable fishing, but in Babbacombe Bay itself it seems to have gone too far. The practices employed means that most of those caught are male, and if you wipe out one sex then there will be no-reproduction. Some get through, but I've been told you see far less eggs nowadays, so it is having a real effect.

I agree with you that BB is most visible to us divers and it probably is just the tip of the iceberg. But just consider that the population has visably collapsed to many divers in a very short period of time.
Rob

[Paul Westhead]

Signed, I really can't believe that the MCS haven't got onto this. I think it's is disgusting that they are fishing grounds that are known as breeding grounds!

[Cussy]

Wow,
The number signed up has virtually doubled this weekend. Still room for plenty more to sign up!
Rob

[Flipside]

signed,

Flipside

[David Wallace]

Sorry, I'm with Dry suit repair on this one.

And just t add another dimension. How would any of those who have signed the petition feel about people petitioning to stop your income?

Going back to the issue - is there any factual evidence to show that proves that more of one sex that another is caught? or is this a emotive red herring to gain more signatures. Having been involved in Cuttle fishing for several years as well as finding them facinating creatures to dive with and film - I cannot believe that only one sex is being caught nor can I understand how the fishing can be blamed as the single cause of depopulation if indeed and depopulation has actually been proved. There are a whole bunch of factors including global and local climate change that can be having a far more significant effect on localised marine life than the effect of a few fishing boats.

regards

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by Paul Westhead

Signed, I really can't believe that the MCS haven't got onto this. I think it's is disgusting that they are fishing grounds that are known as breeding grounds!

That's pretty much the entire fishing area when you start to consider all species.

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by David Wallace

Going back to the issue - is there any factual evidence to show that proves that more of one sex that another is caught? or is this a emotive red herring to gain more signatures. Having been involved in Cuttle fishing for several years as well as finding them facinating creatures to dive with and film - I cannot believe that only one sex is being caught nor can I understand how the fishing can be blamed as the single cause of depopulation if indeed and depopulation has actually been proved. There are a whole bunch of factors including global and local climate change that can be having a far more significant effect on localised marine life than the effect of a few fishing boats.

I never said "all". From the pots we saw first hand most had about 2:1 - 3:1 males:females. I've also made the point that no one is against "sustainable" fishing, but if you observe the pots at Babbacombe it appears that there isn't much opportunity for many to get through and breed. If you read the article Alan James wrote in Dive a couple of years back there is a lot of his observations of the reduced population in it over the years. It's a point also made in Alan Mildren's film.

Global warming sounds like a "emotive red herring" to me.
Rob

[David Wallace]

Originally Posted by Cussy

I never said "all". From the pots we saw first hand most had about 2:1 - 3:1 males:females. I've also made the point that no one is against "sustainable" fishing, but if you observe the pots at Babbacombe it appears that there isn't much opportunity for many to get through and breed. If you read the article Alan James wrote in Dive a couple of years back there is a lot of his observations of the reduced population in it over the years. It's a point also made in Alan Mildren's film.

My point is that the reduced population cannot be scientifically blamed on the fishing

Originally Posted by Cussy

Global warming sounds like a "emotive red herring" to me.
Rob

IT is - but if your going to quote me please quote me correctly I used the words Global and localised climate change which is a completely different issue of which there is virtually no-one in the scientific community denying that it exists.

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by David Wallace

My point is that the reduced population cannot be scientifically blamed on the fishing

There's no proof it can't be blamed on fishing either.

Originally Posted by David Wallace

IT is - but if your going to quote me please quote me correctly I used the words Global and localised climate change which is a completely different issue of which there is virtually no-one in the scientific community denying that it exists.

Acknowledged, I'll more careful next time.

I'm not against fisherman, it's a failing of the UK government and the EU policy on fishing in general. Populations can collapse very rapidly, as happened in Canada with the Cod stocks. There are enough people more informed on this than me that are genuinely concerned that a collapse could be happening in this particular area. Ultimately what I'd like to see is the fishermen and divers working together to preserve what is a totally alien-looking creature.

As for global warming all Cephalopods are ancient creatures (300 - 450 million years old) and the climate has cycled over millions of years (the Milankovitch-cycle), so they have survived changes in water temperature before.
Rob

[Cussy]

For info, Alan James' article is here:
Cuttlefish carnage - DIVE Latest News

This isn't scientific proof, only anecdotal.
Rob