Contents

• Catch reports 2011

• ‘No take Zones’

• RNLI

• Forum Records

• Tackle Review

Scott and 48lb cod from Norway July 2011

Catch reports 2011

• It has been another good summer for smoothhounds with numerous double figure fish being taken by forum members.

Catch reports 2011

Rays also showed in numbers

Catch reports 2011

• As did the normal summer species

Catch reports 2011

• And lets not forget the bull huss

Marine Conservation Zones

• When the dMCZs (Draft Marine Conservation Zones) become MCZs after the public consultation next year. It's likely that there will be little or no restrictions on angling. More probable that some forms of commercial fishing will be restricted.

(The project teams are now looking at what restrictions might be necessary to protect the creatures and/or features that the Marine Conservation Zones are meant to protect. (Each MCZ will be protecting something different). Once the need for any restrictions has been established, then the impact assessments will be used to take into account socio-economic considerations in deciding whether to apply restrictions. It's more likely that they will be looking for voluntary agreementsbefore creating statutory instruments or byelaws).

On the other hand, Reference Areas (which are much smaller areas than MCZs, will almost certainly have angling bans). These are the areas in the map on the next page that are highlighted in brown.

One thing to remember is that targets have been set to protect a certain percentage of features, so rather than simply rejecting an area it will be necessary to present convincing arguments, along with relevant data, that another area will fulfil the criteria better and/or with less impact on users.

(Part of the remit for selecting draft areas has been to meet the targets with as little impact on users as possible, but they may not of got that right in all cases).

Each EU country is also working to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas, and working together to make the network connected, and are considering how agreements are to be reached so that each will respect the other's MPAs. (UK fishermen are just as worried about some areas the French (say) are putting forward, as French fishermen are about UK MCZs). Remember that IFCAs (and Natural England - NE) will only be responsible for UK MCZs within 6 miles, where no foreign vessels are allowed to fish. MCZs beyond 6 miles in UK waters will be the responsibility of the Marine Management Organisation (and the Joint Nature Conservancy Council - JNCC).

Forum Records

• Bass: 10lb 10oz Lovepasty 2010Black bream 2lb 10oz Luggs 2010Bull Huss 16lb 2oz Mulletmad 2011Gilt Head bream: 4lb 3oz Roker 2009Bull Huss: 16lb 2oz Mulletmad 2009Cod: 11lb 4oz Windy 2008Conger 20lb 2oz Riddlers 2009Dogfish 2lb 12.5ozs Kev R 2009Flounder 3lb 1.5oz Mulletmad 2010Garfish 1lb 10oz Mulletmad 2010Plaice 4:02 Lovepasty 2010Pollack 6lb 0oz Golden balls 2008Pouting 1lb 12oz luggs 2009Blonde Ray 15lb 9oz Cheddarman 2009Golden grey Mullet 2lb 0oz Mulletmad 2009Think Lipped Mullet 5lb 2oz Roker 2011Thick Lipped Mullet 7lb 0oz Roker 2011Small eyed Ray 11lb 3oz Phil 2009Spotted ray 4lb 8ozs Martin 2009Spotted ray 4lb 8ozs Luggs 2010Thornback ray 15lb 4oz Barker 2004Common Smoothhound 14lb 8oz Mulletmad 2011Starry Smoothhound 17lb 8ozs Cheddarman 2008Sole 3b 15oz Speciman 2009Three bearded Rockling 1lb 15ozs Awfly 2009Trigger Fish 3lb 0oz Luggs 2011Turbot 2lb 0oz Martin 2010Whiting 2lb 0oz Barker 2004Wrasse Ballan 5lb 6oz Awfly 2009

RNLI Spotlight: Weston-Super-Mare

• The Weston super Mare RNLI Lifeboat station is situated on the South side of Birnbeck Island. The station

is not open to the public at the present time owing to the very poor state of the main Pier structure and Island. The crew ceased to use the slipway immediately in

front of the boathouse in 2008, when they switched to using their New Eco Friendly Launching Slipway, constructed purely from the existing pebble beach on Birnbeck Island. It proved beyond any doubt that it was the right decision to change to Tractor and Carriage Launching as this new system has given them much improved flexibility in both choice of launch sites and extra availability over the Low Water period.

RNLI Spotlight: Weston-Super-Mare

Shouts 2011 Callouts Year to Date: 20Launches Year to Date: 13Rescued Year to Date: 4

2nd September 2011 17:57 Call 21 of 2011 Two Men in A Dingy27thAugust 2011 14:50 Call 20 of 2011 Yacht in difficulty off Brean 22ndAugust 2011 16:29 Call 19 of 2011 Two Young Children Missing14thAugust 2011 14:52 Call 18 of 2011 Yacht in trouble off Tail Patch Buoy11thAugust 2011 13:36 Call 17 of 2011 Persons thought to be in danger30thJuly 2011 19:52 Call 16 of 2011 Sailing yacht issues a Pan Pan following machinery failure10th July 2011 15:36 Call 15 of 2011 Request for search of 2 females entered water but not seen returning3rd July 2011 15:36 Call 14 of 2011 Reports of shouts for help on Brean Down2nd July 2011 15:25 Call 13 of 2011 People in mud on tideline appear in difficulty30th June 2011 14:50 Call 12 of 2011 Two kayakers in trouble east of Steep Holm - 1 in Water.8th June 2011 21:20 Call 11 of 2011 Report of an Object in the Surf in Sand Bay3rd June 2011 16:24 Call 10 of 2011 Three Persons in the Water just off Knightstone15th May 2011 14:16 Call 9 of 2011 Person Cut Off by The Tide

WEBSITE: http://www.westonrnli.org.uk/index.htm

Tackle Review

• LED LENSER H7 3 WATT CREE HEADLAMP TORCH RRP: £51.95• Product Description

• The H7 is a professional head mounted variable dimmer focusing beam torch. This unique, dimmable Led Lenser torch is ideally suited to exacting work where the ability to change brightness on a variable basis is a must.

• With a long burn time and super bright LED chip and LED Lenser technology you can be sure this fits the bill. This powerful torch comes complete with durable nylon pouch. The beam is visible up to 3000 Metres

Tackle Review

• This headlamp has the added advantage of a variable potentiometer (dimmer switch) on the battery pack, this allows me to turn the light down when doing close work where the reflected light would be blinding on full power. Most of the time I only need 1/2 the light the H7 will give, which extends the life of the batteries. I can fish for 6 or 7 hour without and problem, I do carry spare batteries but haven't needed them yet.

The beam is well-formed, with even light throughout. The focus and brightness controls work as they should. The maximum brightness is startling for such a small lamp. The colour of the light is close to daylight, unlike many torches which have a bluish tinge. Good battery life when used on lower power settings and tremendous long range beam on maximum power. Minor criticisms are lack of top headstrap and fiddly battery replacement but overall very impressed. Shop around and they are being sold for as low as £37:00. Main website: http://www.ledco.co.uk/content/productView.aspx?prodId=18

Seaswest Forum

The Seaswest forum has been running since 2004. It has always aimed to attract those anglers who care passionately about their sport and are also willing to give something back. You cannot browse the forum as a guest and will have to sign up an account to see the posts. Everyone one is welcome but please remember to act in a sensible manner when posting as no ‘flaming’ is allowed.

The link to sign up an account is: http://z9.invisionfree.com/Sea_Fish_South_West/index.php?act=Reg&CODE=00