Mackerel bashing

[Zigs]

I was just reading a thread on another forum about a guy mackerell bashing at abbotsbury, who filled a cool box full of mackerell but then went on to catch another 200 fish which he put back to die.

 

most of us on here know not to handle mackerell, but as its coming up holiday season, i wonder if the mods could pin this one till the mackerell have gone as im sure a lot of holiday featherers will visit this forum.

 

they quoted this by our Leon ;

 

"Hi Mike,

 

I wonder if you can answer this, or pass it onto someone who can?

 

Frequently the question of returning mackerel alive appears on the various angling internet forums.

 

There is a belief by many that once a mackerel has been touched by an anglers hands, even though the fish may swim away energetically, it is doomed.

 

Something to do with the heat/oil of the anglers hands (where it has been touched can often be seen as a handmark on the fish's skin).

 

Even though only microscopically damaged, the mackerel's skin continues to break down with death inevitable within 30 hours.

 

Shaking the fish off the hook or handling with wetted neoprene gloves is said to prevent the problem.

 

The problem is that when the mackerel shoals are on the beach, anglers will soon catch their self-imposed limit, but can't seem to stop fishing, often changing from feathers to a light spinning outfit and returning every fish they catch.

 

(If the above is correct, then they are better advised to cease fishing for mackerel and trying for the bass beyond/underneath the shoals perhaps, with less guarantee of catching).

 

Although this information is widely quoted, I can't find any authoritive reference to such information, although I vaguely mention talking to someone from CEFAS at the Recreational Angling Conference in Cardiff some years back, who confirmed that was the case.

 

It would be useful to quote an authoritive source to refer people (one way or the other) to when the subject comes up in the future.

 

 

Tight Lines - Leon Roskilly

Sea Anglers' Conservation Network (SACN)

 

SACN Latest: http://www.anglers-net.co.uk/sacn/latest

 

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Leon,

 

You are quite correct, and you've come to the right people!

 

In the late 1970s we carried out several experiments to try to find out why dead mackerel were being found in vast numbers in the SW, co-incident with the purse seine and trawl winter fishery.

 

The short answer is that the fish died due to skin damage interfering with their ability to maintain osmotic balance, and the skin damage was due to abrasion between crowded fish in the nets.

 

We found that mackerel caught on barbless hooks and never handled, just dropped into keep tanks or nets, survived quite well if allowed to swim freely, but holding a mackerel caused enough damage to eventually kill it, sometimes two days later.

 

So, when anglers have caught enough mackerel for a fry or for bait, they should stop fishing for them unless they are using barbless hooks and can return the fish to the water without touching them.

 

Mike P.

 

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Note: The Minimum Landing Size for mackerel is 30cm in the North Sea (that includes quite a bit of the area that anglers may regard as The Channel) and 20cm elsewhere.

 

It is illegal to retain fish under these sizes eg being used as livebait, and Fisheries Officers will take action if you are found in possession of undersized fish of any species.

 

(See list of Minimum Landing Sizes at: http://www.nfsa.org.uk/ntcg/min_sizes_2002.htm

Note that higher local MLS may apply for some specie (ie bass), so check with you local Sea Fisheries Committee if in doubt) "

 

The thread also did a bit of maths - imagine 200 feather chuckers catching 200 fish a day, thats 40,000 fish a day that will suffer damage or die

[DoubleShotDamo]

Won't make a blind bit of difference. I hear the place is a tip with loads of rubbish and line left on the beach, yet there signs telling you not to leave rubbish on the beach! You just cannot educate some people.

Edited June 16, 2006 by DoubleShotDamo

[Zigs]

Won't make a blind bit of difference. I hear the place is a tip with loads of rubbish and line left on the beach, yet there signs telling you not to leave rubbish on the beach! You just cannot educate some people.

 

 

sadly true in a lot of cases, but we can but try. they also mentioned on the "other, other forum"

 

"tell someone & then tell them to pass it on"

 

if we all do this and pick up the litter around our spot on the beach, it WILL make a difference.

 

things can change, only 50 years ago people were charging round the contryside taking birds eggs & butterflies, only a few sick people do it now.

 

how about we all save up the litter on the chesil for 6 months & take it en mass to Dorchester County council, we could get the local papers interested in something like that.

[Davy Holt]

Hiya,

 

It's not all doom and gloom, there was a Mackerel tagging programme run a few years back where the mackerel were tagged by hand and released. Even though these fish were handled by bare hands, a good percentage of them DID survive to be re caught.

 

It could well be that they can in fact survive the initial handling and only die if put under additional stress such as being kept in a live bait well, being transported or kept in Aquariums

[Zigs]

Hiya,

 

It's not all doom and gloom, there was a Mackerel tagging programme run a few years back where the mackerel were tagged by hand and released. Even though these fish were handled by bare hands, a good percentage of them DID survive to be re caught.

 

It could well be that they can in fact survive the initial handling and only die if put under additional stress such as being kept in a live bait well, being transported or kept in Aquariums

 

 

lets hope thats the case Davy, but i would still recomend caution, only touching them with wet neoprene gloves if absolutly nesessary, or shaking them off the hook back into the sea.

 

 

would you take the chance if it were skate at stake instead of mackerel ?

 

 

sorry, didn't mean that last sentence to sound like a dig !

Edited June 16, 2006 by ziggy searchfield

[hembo]

education education education.

 

perhaps it might need a celeb angler to highlight this.but it is only a mattter of time before some innocent is caught on discarded hooks or broken glass and the local press could potentially have a field day.im certain this is a nationwide problem.

as for the greedy majority with mackerel i hope my son is able to catch them in future,try spinning for them it is great fun

Edited June 16, 2006 by hembo

[groyne bandit]

i cant even belive some people sum times ,,ive been to bexy & abbotsbury on a number of times & found bags of dead same day macky by the binz why ,,,

[Davy Holt]

but i would still recomend caution, only touching them with wet neoprene gloves if absolutly nesessary, or shaking them off the hook back into the sea.

 

Absolutely, unless I'm fishing for bait all my mackerel are shaken off the hooks without touching the fish. If I do touch it it goes in the bait bucket just in case.

 

would you take the chance if it were skate at stake instead of mackerel ?

sorry, didn't mean that last sentence to sound like a dig !

 

I certainly wouldn't and no it's not taken as a dig All my fish are treated with the same care and attention as the Skate. It was actually commented on on Monday when I spent 5 min reviving a small 6" Pollack

Edited June 16, 2006 by Davy Holt

[Zigs]

Absolutely, unless I'm fishing for bait all my mackerel are shaken off the hooks without touching the fish. If I do touch it it goes in the bait bucket just in case.

I certainly wouldn't and no it's not taken as a dig All my fish are treated with the same care and attention as the Skate. It was actually commented on on Monday when I spent 5 min reviving a small 6" Pollack

 

i love you davy

[Zigs]

i cant even belive some people sum times ,,ive been to bexy & abbotsbury on a number of times & found bags of dead same day macky by the binz why ,,,

 

welcome to anglers net groyne bandit, i know, its beyond belief, its also why i dont fish matches anymore.

 

as young hembo said, education must be the way forward ( followed by sub machine guns perhaps, oopps, forgot the anti terrorism laws )

 

where is chesters1 when you need him

 

big thanks to the mods for pinning this one

 

i love you mods