Last updated 09:47, Friday, 11 July 2008

I read with interest the article on the possible loss of haaf netting on the Solway (The Cumberland News, July 4).

A haaf net fisherman crosses the Solway

I am not a fisherman but I spend a great deal of my time walking the marshes of the inner Solway, especially the estuaries of the rivers Eden and Esk.

In the summer months haaf netsmen are very much part of this landscape and the beauty of this part of the world would be much the poorer if they are forced out of existence.

For many years I have taken a keen interest in nature conservation and struggle to understand that any salmon conservation issues can be attributed to the haaf netters, a practice that has continued unchanged since the time of the Vikings.

It seems rather contradictory that, in the same edition of the newspaper, the fishing correspondent, Mr Chris Bowman, reported: ‘the healthy catches of salmon by rod anglers on the Eden’.

The same reporter ran an article last year highlighting the ‘best run of salmon the Eden has seen in 25 years’.

This all suggests that the Environment Agency’s latest attacks on the haaf netters are not warranted, unless of course conservation is not their true motivator.

A CREMIN
Rockcliffe
Carlisle

• May I point out several facts that Mr Lytollis and the interviewee failed to publish.

I am not a landowner or a “toff” from up river, but I am a working class man from Carlisle and have been fishing the River Eden for over 32 years – for all species of fish including salmon and sea trout.

The reports of haaf net fishermen slaughtering salmon and sea trout in the Solway estuary makes my skin crawl.

In times of dry weather, the haaf netters gather around in a U shape and shoal the fish together in the shallow waters, blocking off any escape route for the numerous fish trapped. .

One haaf netter states that he compares using a haaf net in the Solway to fishing in a swimming pool with a teaspoon. He fails to point out that there can be up to 15 nets standing side by side, each 18ft long equating to 270ft length of net stretching the full width of the channel that the fish run through the estuary. Some teaspoon in a swimming pool.

If the haaf net fishermen were truthful in their catch returns you would find that the numbers of salmon and seatrout that they catch on an annual basis would be over 4,000, none of which are returned, but all killed and the vast majority sold to local game dealers or, in the pub, to mates etc.

The netsmen do not describe themselves as a commercial fishery therefore do not declare their earnings to the taxman. Is this truly a case of loss of livelihood or loss of a wad full of cash?

The average rod fisherman catches 1.8 salmon and sea trout per season and return just under 50 per cent to live another day and make their way to the spawning grounds.

I am not for a total ban on the haaf net fishermen but in these times of decline they too must do their bit to help conserve the future stocks of these marvellous creatures.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

• I read with interest your article relating to the demise of the Solway haaf netters as a fishery on the Eden estuary.

Your article indicated that it was as a result of interference and pressure on the Environment Agency by owners of private fishing beats on the river Eden, which I believe is not true.

I am a member of Carlisle Angling Association and do not fish private beats and would not be sorry to see the demise of the haaf netters.

Your article was written and photographed at a time of year when there are only a few salmon and sea trout entering the Eden estuary and so the fishing pressure is low.

That is the reason Mr Graham was on his own.

Come late August, early September when the main autumn runs are starting and the nets men can be seen standing, shoulder to shoulder, across the full width of the channel that they fish. Incidentally, that is only a couple of hundred metres wide, not the two miles mentioned in the article.

Over the years, the nets men have been guilty of taking large numbers of salmon and sea trout for profit. Rod and line fishermen now cannot keep a salmon until late in the season and they must return all hen fish.

Anglers are now subject to the most vigorous of Environment Agency bylaws there has ever been as far as catch and release is concerned, no such byelaws exist for the nets men, apart from the length of time they can fish, but they should.

If the nets men had shown restraint in years gone by, they would not be in this position and may even have the support of anglers.

I agree there may be issues at sea, but these are out of our immediate control, what we can do however is protect and sustain the stocks that are entering the river, for all sporting fisheries.

NIGEL AUSTIN
Belfry Close
Carlisle

• Following the article on haaf netting, I felt compelled to write a letter of support.

It saddens me that this profession is being wiped out because of decisions driven by a Government agency that clearly has a blatant disregard for an ancient tradition.

These are men who risk their health and safety for little reward, yet they are being persecuted by a bureaucracy which shows no regard for the skill and effort needed to be a haaf netter.

I am also shocked that landowners are reaping the benefits of haaf netters’ misfortune by raising the price of rod fishing on their stretches of the rivers.

I wish the haaf netters well on their quest for justice.

MR S TYLER
Chestnut Grove
Cumwhinton
Carlisle

• I was very pleased to read the article highlighting the plight of the Solway haaf netters.

The continued persecution of this small band of fishermen by the Environment Agency is of serious concern to those of us who are native to this corner of England.

This hardy band of men are carrying on a tradition, which has been handed down from generation to generation for the last 1,000 years. It is an important part of our heritage and as such must be preserved.

Once it has gone there will be no means of reinstating it, as the local knowledge of dangerous tides and sands will be lost with it.

I, with many others, seriously question the motives of the Environment Agency. Why are the officers so hell bent on driving haaf netting out of existence?

I am presuming that the fact that the Environment Agency’s chief fisheries officer, Keith Kendall, who I understand has masterminded the new byelaws, is a keen rod fisherman has nothing to do with it.

There are precious few interests left for young people in rural areas.

Haaf netting is character-building, it gives young people a sense of their heritage and their obligations to the environment, it makes them respect nature and learn patience at a price much cheaper than rod fishing.

We owe it to generations to come to preserve haaf netting.

BRENDA NEWBEGIN
Rockcliffe
Carlisle

• I now live and work in Newcastle, but still cross the Pennines on a regular basis.

Roger Lytollis’s report on haaf netting, was spot on.

I remember fishing and mushroom picking on the firth 35 years ago, cycling to Old Sandfield, with my rod tied to the crossbar. You would see a dozen haaf netters and more.

On the odd occasion, I would catch a grilse or a sea trout and the haaf netters would applaud, albeit half-heartedly.

To lose them would be a sad day, these men do not have any impact on the fish stocks. Let’s all support this tradition.

MARK R MORTON
North Tyneside