Gill net advice

[fisheyelens]

Hello all,

I am currently sorting out some coast survival. Got a couple of the fold out pots for crabs etc, and now want to make a Gill net.

Plan is to get a 30m net and I am wondering what size holes to get,

these are the options - 60mm, 70mm - 2 1/3' , 80mm - 3 2/3' , 90mm.

I know it depends on what you want to catch, On my coastal course we caught a couple Sea Bass, some dogfish and a mullet. All tasted amazing.

So what size do people use for what catch? im assuming smaller would be better for survival.

Any thoughts much appreciated

Cheers

Lee

[Andy BB]

Gill-nets? Invention of the devil - nearly wiped out the sea-bass population a few years ago around Cornwall due to irresponsible use of gill-nets. And remember that - once a fish is caught in a gill-net, it will suffer too much damage to the very sensitive gills to survive if released.

You'll have to be careful - if you really MUST use them - about what you catch, as the probability is with smaller holes you'll take juvenile fish of some species - like sea-bass, which you can get prosecuted for.

[marcusleftthesite]

If I see one I'll report it or destroy it.Fact.

[Humpback]

Fisheyelens, Mine is 1.5m deep and 6m long with a 2" (50mm) mesh. The collapsable crab pots from Ronney Sunshine are very useful too.
Alan

[Shewie]

. The collapsable crap pots from Ronney Sunshine are very useful too.
Alan

Lol, beats digging a latrine any day

[Humpback]

Shewie
Coincidently I do have a S*** Box and find it useful on canoe trips:
http://www.thebrowncorporation.com/
However, I meant crab pots this time.
Alan

[Shewie]

Shewie
Coincidently I do have a S*** Box and find it useful on canoe trips:
http://www.thebrowncorporation.com/
However, I meant crab pots this time.
Alan

Lol

We took a s-box to Glastonbury a few years ago, definitely an improvement on the toilets after a couple of days. It lived in the back of my mates Transit van, complete with toilet roll stand and a selection of papers :)

[fisheyelens]

I thought this was the survival forum? I was opening discussion on the size of Gill net opening.

I am aware of poaching and anglers hating gillnets and the legality's of use.

Thanks Tenderfoot, I am not the kind of person who would use one irresponsibly.

Thanks Humpback. is that 50mm a size that works for seabass but doesn't take juvenile fish?

well done to you marcus2, fight the good fight.

[Toddy]

It might well be the bushcraft & survival skills forum, but this question would be better asked in Fair Game ......under hook line and sinker.

Duly moved.

Toddy

[fisheyelens]

Thanks Toddy, the reason I posted it in the survival forum was because I don't consider Gill nets as "fishing" but more a survival skill. I work in ocean conservation and humanitarian projects, I don't eat fish I haven't caught for all the reasons you can think of. My work consists of expeditions on boats and in remote locations. I am making a survival kit which may be used in anger one day a long way from immediate help.

[Toddy]

What you are asking is contentious in a British setting.
Even describing it as 'survival' hasn't stopped that response.

The people who are most likely to be able to assist you will read hook, line and sinker, and we have the standard warnings and disclaimers about the site and non advocation of illegal activity already in place here.

Toddy

[fisheyelens]

Ahh thats cool, thanks mate. I was just explaining as I didn't want to get anyone's hackles up about an information quest. I went for seabass size as that's in size to snapper etc that I have fished for in the tropics :)


Cheers

anymore advice in this forum would be much appreciated.

[marcusleftthesite]

My apologies if I jumped the gun :)

[Joonsy]

personally i think 2'' mesh is a little small, i would opt for 3'', a quarter of an inch either bigger or smaller is ok, i am referring to measurements being taken as ''full diamond mesh'', knot to knot on the full diamond shape, for good advice on fishing nets and size requirements you could contact a good fishing net supplier like Bridport Nets, a quarter of an inch makes a big difference to the size of fish you catch, depending on species of course.

[fisheyelens]

Thanks everyone that's great, I found a guy on Ebay doing net for about £16 delivered, from germany (nets from Japan...would be.). Think ill go for a 30m one, half it for tangle and go for 3 inch. Bit of leadline on the bottom, float rope on the top. Wrap it up and stick it in my kit.

[pango]

I know you've said it's for use overseas, but...
Buying something on the internet doesn't make possessing it legal!
To my understanding, the use or carriage (effectively ownership, depending on location) of any mono-filament net under 250 mm (that's 25 cm) is against the law under the Inshore Fishing (Mono-filament Gill Net) (Scotland) Order, 1997. I assume it's a similar situation in the rest of Britain.

But to put things properly into perspective, those who depend on the fishing for the survival of their very way of life in remote communities on the north west coast and are practicing fishing by sustainable means, rod, long-lining and creel fishing, are being frustrated at every turn in their efforts against commercial boats coming into what are essentially inshore breeding grounds of the shore-line and sea lochs and dredging the bottom. Particular damage is being caused in the interests of putting prawns onto the tables of restaurants from London to Tokyo. I saw the damage with my own eyes when I dived into 30 metres of water off the village of Shieldaig a couple of years ago.
It looked like a farmer had been through it with a plough!

You might think this doesn't apply to what you have in mind, but a stranger with a gill-net will spur these people to call in Fisheries Protection. They also know that you have to beach your boat somewhere, and I for one wouldn't choose to go for a pint in the Applecross Inn after a day's gill-netting!

Neither would I recommend taking it for a stroll anywhere near a salmon or trout river or estuary. Don't take my word for it though, try the Border Esk or The Solway!

ps; I know this isn't the appropriate section. My last word on the matter, honest!

[trixx]

Difficult question to answer, because it's going to be tricky for you to use that net in the UK without laying yourself open to possible prosecution - not impossible, but tricky. Here's my understanding - I'm not a lawyer, but I am a professional fisherman.

First, monofilament gill nets of that mesh size are unequivocally illegal to use, possess, or even transport, anywhere in Scotland. Freshwater/saltwater, doesn't matter - if you're caught with it you will likely lose everything you have with you at the time, including a car or a boat.

In England+Wales ((E+W) they are not legal to use in freshwater unless you have a specific licence. Again, the Environment Agency have the power to seize just about anything you have with you at the time.

It is not illegal per se to use them in the sea off E+W unless there are specific local bye-laws, but your use of the net may well attract scrutiny from locals or fisheries officers, and you will need to be whiter than white in keeping yourself on the right side of legal. That means you can't sell any of your catch, your mesh size and method of fishing must be legal for the species that you retain, and any fish you retain must be of legal landing size.

So in principle, and as I understand it, if you were to fish for bass or mullet for personal consumption with a net of legal mesh size (90mm absolute minimum I think, but 115mm (4 1/2 inch) would be better) and didn't retain any undersized fish, any species for which that mesh size is illegal, or any sea trout or salmon, then you would be OK to use it in saltwater off E+W.

You might well decide that it's likely to cause you more grief than it's worth, as sea anglers, local fishermen and fisheries officers have a real downer on unlicenced gill netting and you may end up having some "interesting" conversations even if you are technically complying with the law.

Like I said, that's my understanding, but a lot of this information is not easy to find and changes frequently - particularly legal mesh sizes - so you need to check out the details for yourself. Or even phone your local Fisheries Office - if you explain what you are looking to do and ask them how to stay within the law, you might find them surprisingly helpful.

[coastal survival]

Good to see some one knows what there talking about - I am also a professional fisherman and run the Coastal Survival School (www.coastalsurvival.com)

we use gill nets on our Coast Hunter Course (http://coastalsurvival.com/courses_coasthunter.html) and show you how to construct them, there's a lot more to it than the mesh size, always available to answer questions on such matters and save endless speculation, confusion and possible breaches of the law!

[Ronnie]

Sorry for the thread resurrection.

Can anyone confirm that it is illegal to own a gill net in Scotland? My understanding is that it is illegal to use one anywhere in Scotland, and also illegal to carry one in a fishing boat:

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/legResults.aspx?LegType=All+Le gislation&title=Inshore+Fishing+&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confersPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&sortAlpha=0&TYPE=QS&PageNumber=1&NavFrom=0&activeTextDocId=3005914

I don't see possession prohibited, or anything about it being illegal to carry one in a car.

I'm interested in carrying a small gill net solely as a survival aid for an emergency situation.

[trixx]

I'm interested in carrying a small gill net solely as a survival aid for an emergency situation.

Multi-mono gill nets are OK in Scotland, subject to the disclaimers above: salt water, mesh size legal for fish you retain, don't keep undersized fish. A bit tricky to use without some sort of boat, however. Monofilament gill nets are absolutely illegal to use in fresh or salt water.

[spiritwalker]

the most annoying thing reading this thread (from a fishermans point of view) is the over use of the word Sea bass...
its just bass! or shall we start using the words sea cod, sea herring, sea pollock...People from the USA are excused as they have a freshwater bass :-D

[Toddy]

From wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_seabass

"Debate has been ferocious in Britain in recent years as to the origin of the word "seabass". The traditional word was "bass" but that has changed with the recent popularity of cooking programmes and the expansion of restaurant marketing, both of which have adopted the phrase "seabass". There is only one type of bass in the British Isles and thus the expression "seabass" is probably unnecessary , although the Large Mouth (or Black) Bass indigenous to North America has been widely stocked in Southern Europe with significant breeding populations in many lakes and rivers in South Western France. Thus the distinction is valid in a European context."

I just knew it as bass too, but the times they are a changing :rolleyes:

Toddy

[v-ness]

So fishermen here.... what should be in a basic coastal survival kit?

Anyone got one? And whats in it?

Cheers
Ness :)