Welcome to the SACN-Ireland Online Survey Please read: Thanks for taking the time to participate in our survey. We hope to use the conclusions drawn from the data you and other recreational sea anglers provide to help form political opinion and hopefully effect some changes. In other countries, there is a growing awareness of the social, economic and other benefits that recreational sea angling can provide. As such, anglers in other countries are treated as important stakeholders in the marine environment and are invited to participate in policy formulation. We lack this right at the moment in Ireland but hope that information such as that provided by this survey will help anglers here get to that position. If you are not already a member of SACN, please join here - you do not have to be a member of SACN to respond to this survey, but the more people we are representative of, the greater our credibility. If you so decide, you may submit your email address. This will be encrypted and not be disclosed in any form to anyone, ever. Your email address will not be viewed or viewable by anyone, except in a non-reversible encrypted form. Please do not attempt to submit multiple answers. These will be detected and such entries deleted automatically and without warning.   1. How many days did you go sea angling in 2005?  If not sure exactly, please use your best estimate.      I fished 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027 028 029 030 031 032 033 034 035 036 037 038 039 040 041 042 043 044 045 046 047 048 049 050 051 052 053 054 055 056 057 058 059 060 061 062 063 064 065 066 067 068 069 070 071 072 073 074 075 076 077 078 079 080 081 082 083 084 085 086 087 088 089 090 091 092 093 094 095 096 097 098 099 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 days in 2005. 2. Are you a member of a sea angling club or society in 2005? Some people are in more than one.      I am am not a member of at least one sea angling club or society. 3. If you are in a club or a society (or more than one), what would be your total expenditure on membership fees, to the nearest whole unit? My total yearly membership fees for sea angling clubs and/or societies in 2005 were Euro Sterling    4. If you are a boat owner, could you indicate the yearly running costs of your boat? (Assume currency units as above) Fuels, lubricants etc - if you trail your boat, please estimate the fuel cost used in towing and include here. Insurance - you may also include the cost of any marine related licences/exam fees/ courses. Mooring fees - or if you have to pay to have a trailable boat parked, please include this here. Other consumables - fuel filters, belts, gaskets, spark plugs, flares, fire extinguishers, batteries - anything you've had to replace. Other expenses - Please detail what other expenses you incurred as a boat owner in 2005 below. Other: For Example: (REPLACE WITH YOUR OWN TEXT) 1. Fitted new radar 2. Replaced mooring chain 3. Replaced bearings in trailer 5. Have you chartered or rented a boat for sea angling purposes in 2005? If so, what was your total expenditure? I spent on chartered or rented boats in 2005.   6. What would you say would be the approximate amount spent on fishing tackle, bait and accessories in 2005? I spent fishing tackle, bait and accessories in 2005. (If you bought these as gifts for someone else, please include that value) 7. Have you taken any 'fishing holidays' in Ireland or Northern Ireland in 2005 and if so, how much would you say you spent on travel and accomodation together? (Assume 'holiday' to be where you stayed away from home for at least one night, staying in paid acommodation) I spent on travel and accomodation related to angling tourism in 2005. (Include costs for any family members you brought with you) 8. Given your overall catches in 2005, in relation to the outlay detailed above, do you feel that sea angling in 2005 represented good value for money? I am not somewhat reasonably almost totally totally <\SELECT> satisfied with my catches in 2005 in relation to the cost of sea angling.    9. Do you feel that the overall quality, in terms of size, number of species and number of each species, of your catch in 2005 has gone down on previous years? I feel the overall quality of my catches in 2005 is   much poorer a little poorer about the same a little better much better <\SELECT> compared to previous years.   10.  Please indicate, if you feel there is a decline in fish stocks, which factors you think may be involved. Tick all applicable. Climate change Pollution Overfishing. (by commercial fishing fleet) Overfishing. (by recreationa sea anglers) Poaching or lack of enforcement. A lack of protected marine areas. Poor stock management at a government level. Poor stock management at an EU level   11. Do you feel, as an angler, that your contribution to the exchequer from sea angling-related activities is recognised and valued?  I feel that my contribution to the exchequer from sea angling-related activities   is not at all only a little somewhat quite well very well recognised and valued.   12. Do you feel, as an angler, that recreational angling would benefit from more political recognition? I feel that as an angler, that recreational angling would benefit  nothing slightly somewhat quite a lot greatly   from more political recognition.   13. At the next election, will your choice of candidate or party be influenced by support for recreational sea angling? At the next election, I will will not be supporting a candiate or party that supports policies favourable to recreational sea angling.  14. How important do you feel that recreational sea anglers practicing conservation is in relation to the future of recreational sea angling?  I feel that as a recreational sea angler, that recreational sea anglers practicing conservation is   not at all only a little somewhat quite a lot vitally   important.   15. Do you as a recreational sea angler practice any form of conservation on a regular basis?  Tick any one that applies. All my angling is on a catch and release basis I keep the occasional fish for consumption, releasing the rest where possible I deliberately adjust my tackle and tactics to avoid undersize fish If a species is endangered, I will not target it I use a higher fish minimum size than recommended by most sea angling clubs or government bodies If I witnessed illegal or unethical fishing, I would report it My understanding of conservation extends to the whole marine ecosystem 16. Which of the following options do you feel would be most beneficial to marine conservation in general? I believe marine management is best left to political appointees I believe marine management should be performed by a dedicated body of qualified fisheries scientists I believe marine management should be the responsibility political appointees who actually act on scientific advice 17. Which of these species, if any, do you think should be afforded a recreational-only status? Bass Mullet Flounder Conger Tope Blue Shark 18.  Are there other species, not listed above, that you feel would be of greater economic benefit to the country should they be designated as a protected species for recreational use only - similar to bass in Ireland at the moment? Please list below. For Example: (REPLACE WITH YOUR OWN TEXT) 1. Pollock 2. Wrasse 3. Spurdog 4. Thornback ray 5. Skate 19. There is a movement in the UK which has campaigned (among other related measures) to have the minimum landing size (MLS) for bass increased from 36cm to 45cm (it is now to be increased to 40cm) to allow for stock regeneration and a larger amount of reasonably sized bass for recreational sea anglers.  The current MLS in Ireland is 40cm.  The average size at spawning will be about 42cm.  Apart from possibly those bass which migrate North into Northen Ireland water along the East coast of Ireland, the 'UK' and 'Irish' bass stocks are not thought to mix.  Recreational sea angling related tourism, both domestic and international, depends on Irish bass being among the largest in North-Western Europe.  Some initial informal research indicated that the following were typical comments on this subject.  Please review them and then describe your thoughts on bass protection in Ireland, if any. Ireland should move to exceed the UK 40cm MLS immediately If the UK and Irish stock's don't mix, it does not affect me I do not fish for bass I have no opinion on this issue Ireland should set the lead in bass conservation in Europe by adopting a 45cm MLS as soon as possible I do not fish for bass but I believe we should increase the bass MLS in Ireland to at least 45cm now, to protect tourism I believe that a review of the whole bass management strategy in Ireland is overdue. We should review the MLS, closed seasons, bag limits and fishery protection immediately My thoughts on bass protection in Ireland:   20. What do you think would be the most beneficial way to protect our marine environment and enhance recreational sea angling? A 3 mile zone around the whole coast where no commercial netting is allowed A marine reserve off each county Just a couple of large marine reserves Ban gill nets altogether We have enough legislation, what we need is enforcement We need out of the Common Fisheries Policy - we need to contol our own water If recreational sea anglers were recognised as important stakeholders in the marine environment at a political level My thoughts on marine protection in Ireland: You may enter your email address here if you wish