03
May
Trawlerman to become charter skipper
The Arbroath Fishermen’s Association, established in 1923 and believed to be the oldest in Britain, is being wound up after its membership dropped from 100+ to 15.
This follows the announcement that after four generations the Smith family have sold their trawler leaving two trawlers left and eight small creel boats working out of Arbroath.
According to Mr Smith, in 1967, there were 25 trawlers working out of Arbroath and by they could find plenty of fish without going any further out than 20 or 25 miles.
Now, he claimed, the North Sea is over-fished and stocks have steadily dwindled since the mid-1980s and you need to go 100 miles out to sea before getting a catch.
Mr Smith now plans to operate a leisure angling business with his brother Alex.
We wish him the best of luck as, like all anglers, unless the existing fisheries management policies and practices are changed and some effective conservation and regeneration measures are put in place, he’s really going to be struggling.
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