Seas too clean?

[codprawn]

For some time now there have been mass cockle deaths in our local waters. It is ruining people's livelihoods and fish stocks have suffered as well.

The authorities have spent a fortune trying to find out what is going on. I know a few people involved and suggested that maybe our waters are too clean. At first they didn't believe it but after much research it seem that it is the case!!!

Raw sewage has been chucked into the Burry Estuary along with many other locations for a very long time. Certainly since medevial times. Years ago I remember catching bass off a sewage pipe - they seemed to be loving it.

Our waters are cleaner now than at any time since the Industrial Revolution. At the end of the day good old fashioned SH1T is about as natural as you can get - roses thrive on it so why not fish???

[chewy]

The harbour where my boat is used to have cod come in it.
Local fisherman used to throw guts and potbait over the side in the harbour which brought crabs and sprats in, the cod followed. You never had any trouble as the crabs ate the waste.
Now all you get in the harbour is eels!

[Hightower]

Yes, that's probably the case. I used to fish off of Eastney beach in Portsmouth. There is a pier there with a sewage pipe running underneath. It used to be a great fishing area but since they moved the pipe to a more offshore location to help clean up the beaches, it's been crap.

Along the same lines as the cockles there is another instance of decreasing fish stock. This time the humble Flounder is suffering in our local harbours, but not from pollution. This year has been terrible for flounders and is thought to be because of the nursury areas brought in several years ago to protect the Bass stocks. Aparently the increase of shoal bass has wiped out the Flounder fry.

I guess that they will make a recovery in years to come.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Hightower

it's been crap.

No pun intended