Last updated 10:14, Friday, 18 July 2008

Following your article on haaf-netting (The Cumberland News, July 4), I would like to make the following comments.

Solway heritage: There is much argument about the damage which local haaf-netters may cause to fish stocks – but correspondents this week have sprung to the defence of those who have carried on the sport for many years in the area

No land-owner along the River Eden manages his or her land for the benefit of the river.

Large amounts of fertiliser, chemicals and slurry are put on the land which find their way to the river. Gravel is still being removed affecting spawning beds. Most of the forestry is still involving non-native trees. Wildlife along the river is not protected.

Haaf-netters, on the other hand, do not kill protected species like ospreys. Maybe a petition should be made to keep haaf-netting in Cumbria – signed first by Cumbria Tourist Board.

JOHN MILES
Geltsdale

• WHEN Roger Lytollis rang me with regard to salmon fishing and netting on the Eden, I opined that the blame for any reduced salmon numbers in our river should not be placed primarily at the door of the haaf-netters.

There is the world-wide concern about the drastic decline of the wild salmon and sea trout and, for that matter, practically any fish in our marine waters.

Uniquely in England, Europe designates the Eden as a Special Area of Conservation especially for its salmon – the Eden represents one of the largest populations of Atlantic salmon in northern England.

Nearby Scottish rivers have far more protection than their English counterparts, and in most world-famous Scots salmon rivers, no fish may be removed at any time.

Ireland recently introduced Draconian measures to protect its stocks including banning drift-netting and angling on a number of rivers where stocks are now dangerously low.

Seen in this broader context, there is no doubt that the future of the migratory fishes of the Solway is dependent on the efforts of those who ultimately bear responsibility for our rivers and seas ie Defra.

It must ensure that declines in water quality and habitat are reversed and salmon numbers are conserved by the proper and fair use of joined up legislation.

HAROLD TONGE
Shap

• CONGRATULATIONS to Roger Lytollis on his article on Solway haaf-netting.

I have lived for many years in a rural community which has had haaf-netting as a central part of its heritage over many generations.

I have never fished myself but have often watched haaf-netting taking place.

The fishermen are already severely regulated with a very short season and are not allowed to fish at weekends.

To bring in further regulations, restricting the activity to almost normal working hours only, will deprive working people and students and the like from participating and will effectively jeopardise the ongoing continuation of the tradition.

Are the Environment Agency’s calculations on which its policy is based, robust and accurate and is the agency being even-handed between haaf-netters and rod fishermen?

G TALLANTIRE
Rockcliffe
Carlisle

• I would like respond to the letters regarding the byelaws that have been introduced affecting both haaf-netsmen and anglers

These byelaws were introduced to increase the numbers of fish spawning in the rivers Eden and Esk.

The measures were confirmed by Jonathon Shaw MP, Minister for Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs in November 2007 following an extensive period of formal and informal consultation.

I would like to reassure readers that these measures are justified on conservation grounds and are proportionate to the conservation need of the rivers Eden and Esk.

DR JOHN COLLINS
Environment Agency

• I feel that I have to reply to Mr Nigel Austin’s letter calling for the “demise of the haaf-netters”, principally to correct some errors.

Rod anglers can take salmon after June 15 (hardly late in the season).

And it is not the case that “all hen fish have to be returned”. This only applies after September 10, by which time the short haaf-netting season has already ended.

The haaf-netting season on Environment Agency-controlled waters is only 13 weeks long, compared to a rod angling season of almost 40 weeks.

Also, most importantly, haaf-netting is not allowed at the weekends or at night, which means that anyone who works normal day hours has almost no opportunity to participate in the activity.

I would imagine that most people in the Solway area would take a far less extreme view than Mr Austin and welcome an approach from the Environment Agency which is measured and reasonable, taking into consideration the views of the haaf-netters. In that way the heritage of haaf-netting could be preserved for future generations.

T BROWN
Glencaple
Dumfries

• In answer to some of your correspondents concerning haaf-netting, the main reason several “facts” were not included in Roger Lytollis’s recent report is that they have no basis in reality.

Following some years as a local coastguard, I can assure your correspondents that it is not possible to stretch haaf-nets across the width of the Solway channel. Where the channel is narrow, the tide runs too hard to stand and where the channel is wide, there are not enough nets to stretch across.

With regard to our catches of salmon, if the haaf-net fishery were catching as many salmon as he suggests then there would be no case to conserve stocks. All independent assessments of stocks suggest a healthy sustainable population of salmon.

MARK GRAHAM
Secretary Solway Haaf Netters Association
Navigation House
Port Carlisle

• I AM a haaf-net fisher and I have fished the Solway for 48 years.

Some time in the late 1960s a friend and I went haaf-net fishing to Burgh Marsh.

It was a lovely summer day, and suddenly we heard and saw the wave approaching.

I happened to look to my right and, to my horror, saw two women with pushchairs and a small child each, out on a sandbar, which we knew would soon be submerged.

We crossed to the women and children, grabbed their hands and dragged them in to the water between us and the shore.

The water was waist deep and running like a sluice.

We struggled through and made it to the other side, wet but safe. Within five minutes the sandbar was gone.

If two haaf-netters had not been on the marsh that day, they would have died. We fished the rest of the tide and caught nothing, but it was still a wonderful day.

F GRAHAM
Dalegarth Avenue
Harraby
Carlisle