Overview
Back in 2018, the Fisheries Minister instructed the Environment Agency to investigate the possibility of extending beach netting for sea trout in Yorkshire and the North East.
Last year, between June and August 2019, the Environment Agency undertook extensive trials at Amble and Alnmouth in Northumberland, South Shields in South Tyneside and Filey in North Yorkshire of modified nets to determine whether they could be used to catch sea trout preferentially to salmon.
The trial results proved the nets to be successful in their quest to intercept sea trout, whilst only entangling a small number of salmon. The impact on salmon stocks from the modified nets was very low.
Sea trout capture numbers:
On the other side of the equation, the impact of an extended sea trout net fishery on sea trout stocks is less certain, since large numbers of sea trout were caught during the trial period.
Focus:
The majority of the salmon populations in England exposed to the beach net fishery are assessed as ‘probably at risk’. Also seen to be ‘probably at risk’ is a number of sea trout stocks contributing to the coastal net fishery - indicating a precautionary management approach should be adopted.
Supporting material:
Anyone wishing to take part in the consultation can access a number of support documents via this web page including our net trial report; the ‘presenting options for the future management of the net fishery’ report, and links to online videos documenting the nets in operation during the 2019 trials in South Shields and Filey can be found in the ‘Related Links’ section.
Share
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook