Patricia Rose Charters

When mother nature tries to scupper your plan with a fresh wind against tide, change tact, ding a Ling

Today, a major new report launches in Parliament: Wildlife and Countryside Link's Hidden in the Haul, the first to lay bare the true scale of what UK commercial fishing kills by accident. It's the fish that often get forgotten. Over a thousand endangered Atlantic salmon a year in a single fishery alone. More than 120 tonnes of Critically Endangered skate and porbeagle hauled up and thrown back dead. Smooth-hound and dogfish caught in their thousands, unmanaged and uncounted.

Take bass. A rule meant to protect it - capping how much of a catch can be bass, recently loosened from 5% to 10% - can end up rewarding boats for landing more low-value smooth-hound and dogfish just to legitimise a valuable haul. That's not sustainable, and it's not just. It's anglers and fish that pay the price.

The Angling Trust is proud to stand behind this report, and we're at the front of the fight to fix it: cameras on every commercial boat, rules properly enforced, and bycatch of every protected fish taken seriously in how our fisheries are managed.

Give it a read. We'll be in Parliament today urging MPs to take action to tackle bycatch - especially for the sake of forgotten fish.

Read the report:https://www.wcl.org.uk/docs/hidden_in_the_haul.pdf
Read our Head of Marine, Hannah Rudd's column for Oceanographic Magazine, The Forgotten Fish: https://oceanographicmagazine.com/features/the-forgotten-fish-what-the-uk-is-killing-by-accident/

Clear out time again. I don't want to do the maths, I know there's a few quids worth of red gills, just getting rid. Most very usable, some need lots of TLC or chucking. I don't care which. No, I won't deliver them or pay for them to be posted.

A massive thank you to all my current and new customers for tolerating the Iran War fuel surcharge. Fuel costs are up 80% from Feb.

Fuel increases just hit a 70% price rise since the end of January!

Last minute availability for 5 to boost a group wrecking booking on Easter Saturday.

Few fish about

Well that was inevitable. Plymouth Charter boats' fuel price now 50% more expensive.

The continued Iranian war has now increased my fuel by a third. I have to add a war subsidy of £5/pp on reef and 20 miles wrecking and £10 on mid-channel. I'll revert ASAP.

Lots of ??s about the Iran war and fuel prices. BLUF. Trips are more targeted and once we find sized, feeding fish we stay on them. 'Never leave feeding fish!' 2026 Prices as published on the website are under constant review with very real threats of 25% then 33% fuel price rises.