I have just visited Mr HFW's wall, I don't often as I can't bite my tongue, so i'm afraid i didn't again. Yes we are a dredger, what should I do, go down and ask the scallops nicely to jump in the boat? Anyway here's my rant of a reply, I could write pages (one thing about being a woman, we can rant)
Anything that promotes a fishermen is great, however how about all the fishermen that have lost their lives at sea catching fish and shellfish that the public ate before Hugh's campaign, were they lost for nothing?
The fact of the matter is there will be more fishermen that lose their livelihoods if Hugh has his way, and all the people that eat the scallops we catch , wont be able to have them anymore because we wont exist! they will be priced out of the market and will only be for the ones that can afford them which in this day and age is not a lot! we are an inshore dredger a small one at that, we supply the market AND the public and a price cheaper than meat in the supermarkets.
We have had about 2 days a week fishing since January, we scrape by we dont earn massive amounts!!
The inshore dredgers we know want conservation in place, but nobody hears about that. We already have no take zones which we abide by, we dont fish coral beds as it would destroy the gear and at 3000 a pop we cant afford that! We are not out every day, our boat is just under 12 metres and cant cope with the weather, if all inshore dredging gets banned. What happens to the fishermen, the boats, the families, the wholesalers? what happens to the £53 million pounds that it brings into the economy every year.
Why Does the public not know about the mpas already in place, the no take zones, the trackers on board vessels, the minimum landing size of scallops, the ones that are too small go back ALIVE! Why does no one listen to the fishermen, why does everyone want this?
BECAUSE WE DONT GET LISTENED TOO, WE DONT HAVE OUR OWN PRODUCTION COMPANY, WE ARE NOT CELEBRITIES, WE DON'T HAVE POTS OF MONEY!
Dont you see we have to fight back? Its our livelihoods? would that not make you angry, we just want out in the public eye all the facts, not just what one person wants you to hear. The stress this is causing fishermen and their families is awful, why hate fishermen, why not let us speak, why not make a meaningful full f facts documentary, we are human, we have rights too
Just some of the comments this post received:
Realfishfight SOFC What also makes me mad, is that I grew up in the country my father was a farmer, I helped and did all his books and paperwork. If a farmer has a hedgerow, or a tree, or something on his land which is important to conservation the RPA (rural payments agency) pay them to look after that area every year!. Well hello!! fishermen, do that constantly, why not offer the same?
Eugene Rutter Need to find someone to make a documentary telling the truth
Fiona-Jane Brown you tell em! spk to Tern TV, they made Gutted, abt the death of Broch white fishing. directed by the late and v great David Peat who knew how to tell the fishers' story.
