Fishing for a new way of working together

WHAT a difference a few years make.

Back in 2009, fisherman Rex Harrison and the RSPB were at loggerheads. It was easy to see why. One of the charity’s officers had been carrying out a covert operation on the Yorkshire coast and the results were bad news not just for Rex, but the entire Filey fleet.

Having driven 150 miles from the RSPB offices in Bedfordshire, Mark Thomas, the collar of his dark overcoat turned up against the wind, cut a shadowy figure as he observed the goings on out at sea.

The subsequent blog he wrote also had a touch of the spy thriller about it. “Binoculars, slowly lifted to the eyes, brought a truth to last night’s dreams,” it began.

“There, barely offshore was a thin snaking line marking the top of an otherwise invisible fishing net below the water. Either side of this line, I could make out numerous black objects floating on the surface. Each object lifted gracefully every few seconds with the incoming waves.

“In detail there was nothing at all graceful about these blobs. They were the sharp, pointed wing-tips of dead razorbills, which only a matter of hours before had been at their nests on Yorkshire’s highest sea cliffs.”

As a direct result of the visit, Rex and five other fishermen licensed to catch wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout were told to haul in their nets for a fortnight. The ban cost them thousands of pounds, but for a while it also set them against the RSPB.

“We were aware that we were accidentally catching a number of seabirds in our nets, but we weren’t aware it was a particular problem,” says Rex, five years on from those dark days at Coble Landing.

“It could have been handled better. From our perspective we had just been doing what we’d always done and then someone comes along without warning and says you have to stop. Just like that.”

Rex is on the phone having just flown back from Seattle. He travelled there on a fact finding mission to see how one of America’s big East Coast fisheries has reduced what’s known in the industry as bycatch. And he wasn’t alone. Rex was accompanied by the RSPB’s Rory Crawford and the pair got on famously.

“Yes, things have settled down and we now have a really good working partnership,” he says. “We understand each other much better than we did back then.”

Like his father before him, Rex says he has been fishing “since he was in a pram”. During the season which runs from April to August he used to spend most of his waking hours at sea, so the ban gave him time to think.

When the feelings of anger and frustration subsided, Rex realised he had a choice. He could either moan about the RSPB’s findings or he could do something about it. He chose the latter.

“We had to look at how we were fishing, because if we didn’t we were going to lose our livelihood,” he says. “The main problem had been the introduction of what we call monofilament nets. These were lighter and cheaper than traditional nets so we all thought they were a good thing. The problem was the birds could barely see them and that’s why we ended catching so many.”

While the RSPB was debating its next move, Rex emerged as a bit of a figurehead for the Filey fishermen and began his own experiments to see if using different coloured nets could solve the problem.

“In many ways we went back to the old techniques using darker, heavier nets and we managed to get some funding from the Environment Agency so we could properly monitor what was happening out at sea.

“Some days a boat might catch a dozen birds and the next nothing at all, so we needed to analyse a reasonable period of time to be sure the nets were really making a difference and it wasn’t just a blip.”

Five years on and Rex says that not only have the number of birds being caught in the nets reduced, but catches have also gone up.

“We also changed the hours that we fish. Previously we were out 24 hours a day, but obviously the darker it is, the greater the chance of catching birds accidentally. Now we only go out after 6am and are back by 8pm.

“That reduction of hours has actually been of benefit to us. In recent years the seal population on Filey Brigg has increased a huge amount and during the night they were chewing their way through the nets. I’d invested in an electronic sea scarer, but they are expensive - mine cost £5,000 - and they don’t last all that long.

“By altering our hours we’ve got round the problem and while many of the fishermen thought they would end up with smaller catches, if anything they’ve increased.”

Rex estimates that before 2009 up to 600 seabirds were being caught in Filey’s nets during a season and now that figure has gone down to around 50. As an unintended benefit, he also says they are also catching fewer small fish and crabs.

“We have got smarter at what we do and if one of the guys is out working and sees a big flock of birds feeding in a particular area, he will get on the mobile and let the rest of us know where to avoid. Really all we are doing is working with nature rather than against it.”

For Rory, who is senior policy officer for BirdLife International’s Marine Programme, which is hosted in the UK by the RSPB, the experience of Filey shows just what is possible, but he admits that without proper regulation the future of many seabird populations remains bleak.

“The problem really dates back to the 1960s and the arrival of man-made fibres,” says Rory, who first met with Rex last year.

“Those new nets proved very effective at catching fish, but sadly they also proved very effective at catching birds like razorgills and guillemots. It is never intentional - in fact fishermen would much prefer it if they never caught one bird as freeing them can be very time consuming - but it does have a big impact on populations.

“Part of the problem is that is so difficult to build up an accurate picture of what’s happening out there. You can’t be on every boat, every day, so we need to get fishermen on board. That has happened in Filey, but it’s not true of everywhere.

“Also this is an international problem - every year it is estimated that around 400,000 seabirds die after becoming entangled in gillnets which are designed to be hung vertically to catch fish by their gills. If we are going to get a real handle on it we need to step up the scientific research on a global scale.”

According to a report published by the organisation in 2012 nearly half of the world’s seabird species are in decline, with several species of albatross particularly under threat.

He says this isn’t a problem which can be solved by throwing money at it. “Instead we need to think creatively about how we can protect our seabird population without damaging the fishing industry.”

While the figures from Filey are encouraging, during the last three seasons the RSPB says there have been unusually low numbers of birds coming into the bay in the first place.

The organisation has been unable to say whether the drop is due to sea surface temperatures, food supply or another unknown factor, but it is keen to do more studies in the area.

“Part of the key to making a real difference is sharing best practice,” adds Rory. “That was one of the reasons why Rex and I were so keen to go out to see the salmon fisheries working off Washington’s Pacific Coast.

“This has never been about vilifying fishermen. We recognise that they are just trying to do a job, but it is about making changes that benefit the wider marine environment.”

As for Rex, well he’s now semi-retired and hopes to soon hang up his nets for good.

“These last few years have been a challenge, but they have been rewarding. My son has a boat now and it’s good to think that the work we’ve done will be of real benefit to the next generation of Filey fishermen.”