26 August 2011 15www.fishingnews.co.uk IFCA ON PATROL

gin palace did a U-turn to the starboard side of Watchful heading back out to sea with not one person on board wearing any buoyancy aid.

Conservation“Conservation is a big issue now with the new IFCAs and we are going to do our utmost to make sure we can work towards conservation ends that will

benefit the industry and benefit the environment,” said Charlie.

“What any industry needs is new blood as the older gener-ation of fishermen retires. Everybody involved in the industry wants to see it carrying on as an efficient industry where one can make a living and new blood is the lifeline that is needed.

“It is happening at Brighton, Eastbourne and Rye. The fish-

ermen we met today are young and hard workers. That is so important and something we at IFCA are encouraging with our new plans. We are there to help not to cause friction,” Charlie added.

As we turned back along the coast back towards Shoreham the discussions turned to life-boat crews not having the fishermen they had many years ago.

“They have a local knowl-edge of their areas and this is so important at times when valu-able minutes can be saved by using a proven short cut across a particular sandbank.

“Technology changes and in a lot of cases helps one when at sea, but that hidden knowledge in one’s mind can often play an important part and that is where our inshore fishermen’s experience and background are so important,” Charlie said, adding: “It is something we are well aware of when we have contact with them.”

expansionSussex IFCA is planning an expansion in its own right with more staff joining the team.

“Our current team is close and tight and works well. We are bringing some more into the IFCA committee which will be an asset to us. We are going to very pro-active in the next few years on anything we are working on,” said Alberto.

“From my own personal point of view, and I know I also speak for the crew, it is going to be a very exciting time for all. We have a course to go to next week and have just returned from another one recently.

“We are up for the chal-lenge and are willing to take on new responsibilities that can only benefit the region’s fishing industry in the long term,” said Charlie.

“Mark Hayes has been with us for 12 years and takes over my role when I am absent. Alberto is a marine biologist

and has taken on a slightly different role now as liaison officer who deals with people in the industry along with members of the general public.

“At the end of the day we are all fisheries and conservation officers as well as patrol vessel crew,” said Charlie.

All the IFCA team back at Shoreham can come to sea any time and sometimes do.

Belinda Vause is the fish-eries and conservation research manager. Since the formation of the IFCA she has taken on this new role and is now busy sorting out research work. For example, the IFCA is working hard to secure further informa-tion on the location of certain habitats that will be needed to implement the planned network of marine conservation zones and the patrol boat will be used to conduct some video work in these habitats.

Other members of the team include Tim Daplin, the chief fisheries and conservation officer, who is busy at the helm planning things and attending meetings in London and with other regional IFCA manage-ment teams.

Robert Clark, the deputy chief fisheries and conservation officer, has been very involved in running the re-launch of the IFCA and visiting many of the region’s fishermen explaining what the future plans are.

Back through the lock gates and along to their berth the crew of Watchful come to another end of a day at sea.

Not all is finished though. There is the vessel to hose down and clean, the RIB to check over and prepare for the next day, the engines to check over, fuel usage to be logged, and paperwork to be done before they can leave for home.

Tides need to be checked, and the weather, so they can plan the next day – if not at sea there is plenty more that they can do by visiting local fisheries by road and checking the beach anglers.

CHanGe anD trUstBack at the office, Rob Clark explained how important it is that the IFCA and the fishing industry work closely together.

“This is a period of change in the way that inshore fish-eries are managed. Clearly not all of that change is within the control of the IFCA, but we recognise that a close collabo-ration between IFCA and the fishing community is required in all aspects of our research and management as we will only be successful if we are talking with the community, understanding their needs and involving members of the industry in the research and the decisions that we make.

“I hope that we can build trust and shared aspirations. Frankly we know that we can only achieve that through being open and honest.

“Having seen how repre-sentatives of the Sussex inshore fishermen have so constructively participated in the recent marine conserva-tion zone planning process, I know that collectively we can achieve a great deal if we work together.”

it was nice to see how the other side work. What a

friendly team they make and all seem to get on well together.

i know from the region’s fishermen I have met that they do have respect for what they do and they understand that it has to be done.

there are times when comments need to be made and rulebooks have to be used, but the feeling I have is that there is a mutual respect.

With an exciting future ahead which will involve change and conservation, the new sussex iFCa has challenges that many will want to see work.

I feel they have the right team and the determination to make this succeed. it is now a case of seeing if the European Parliament and our fisheries minister will come up with the goods to help improve the many other problems our inshore fishing industry needs to look at before we can say we have sustainable fishing for our many inshore fishermen around the UK coastline – John Periam

Comment

Mutual respect