To All Charter Skippers :

The effect of the current health crisis on Charter Skippers is severe and ongoing, leading to the complete cessation of all our operations, until at least the 19th of April, when it will be reviewed. It could well last much longer than that, ruining the season for us all.

It will be difficult to earn sufficient to cover 2020 operating costs, let alone generate an income, in what will remain of the Summer Season.

The sole good news in this matter is that it would seem that Charter Skippers (self-employed) Operations having been shut down by the Government Regulations (as non essential, tourist/recreational, no groups larger than 4) business, we qualify for the Covid-19 unemployment payment of €350 per week.

When applying for this payment, please have your Charter Skippers Licence available, and quote your Licence number, along with your RSI number,  to establish your entitlement.

On an ongoing basis, the ICSA committee will continue to push for any and all assistance for Charter Skippers, who are facing economic disaster this year. Please follow our website for further details, as this crisis develops.

Good Luck and good health to you all for 2020.

Donal Kennedy
Chairman
The Irish Charter Skippers Association

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For further information and updates please visit our page COVID-19

Chairman of the I.C.S.A. Donal Kennedy attended a meeting in Athlone on the 23rd January 2020 as a member of the Marine Recreational Angling Survey of Ireland Steering Group along with Luke Aston, I.C.S.A. Shannon region representative. The meeting was very interesting and was chaired by Willie Roche, IFI, who are tasked with others to carry out a survey on the catches of recreational fishing in Ireland.

A time frame this survey is to be implemented has not been not fixed yet but when the group put a plan in place it will move with pace. This survey comes on the back of a directive from the EU regulations EC 199/2008 which compels the Irish Government to carry out same. The survey is being funded by the E.U. and Donal Kennedy was delighted to be at the meeting, representing the I.C.S.A. and be part of the steering group along with Luke Aston.
 
Following this meeting it brought back the time where the I.C.S.A. fought to make sure that the E.U. back in 2008 were not going to introduce a quota on recreational fish catches. The I.C.S.A. were successful in having the E.U. state that they were not going to introduce a quota and were basically leaving it up to the Irish Government to deal with the issue.
 
The concern now is, that it has reared its head again under this directive which compels the Irish Government to carry out the survey and following their findings, issue quotas etc or not, should the survey show that recreational fishing is impacting on fish stocks.

We need to be part of this survey so that we can record and have recorded the fish charter skippers catch or release for the season. Doing so will show that what we catch is very small and by no way have impacts on fish stocks compared to the commercial fleet.
 
Also by taking part in the survey we will be able to show what we catch or release and not allow the E.U. dictate what they think we catch or what impact we have on fish stocks. Whereby  the E.U. could put a figure on our recreational fishing catches (which would not be a true reading) and maybe state then, that a quota should have to be introduced. Where would the quota come from? From the commercial sector which in turn would cause issues.

It is important that we get as many charter skippers signed up to the I.C.S.A., take part in the survey so that we have an input on our future.

Click the link below to find out more
Terms of reference (ToR) for the Marine Recreational Angling Survey of Ireland Steering Group

Mathilde Voisin, the Fisheries Policy Officer of the European Bureau for Conservation & Development in Brussels, attended the event “Can fisheries and offshore wind farms co-exist?” which took place in the European Parliament on the 22nd January 2020.

From: Mathilde VOISIN <Mathilde.VOISIN@ebcd.org>
Sent: Friday 24 January 2020 15:20
To: Mathilde VOISIN <Mathilde.VOISIN@ebcd.org>
Cc: Mathilde VOISIN <Mathilde.VOISIN@ebcd.org>
Subject: EVENT REPORT: Can fisheries and offshore wind co-exist ?

 
Dear all,
 
I attended this week the event “Can fisheries and offshore wind co-exist?” that took place in the European Parliament, hosted by MEP Peter van Dalen (NL; EPP group), vice-president of the Fisheries Committee and co-organised by Europêche, VisNed, EMK and Collectif Pêcheurs Artisans. Note that Peter van Dalen is going to be the rapporteur on the own initiative procedure of the European Parliament “The impact on the fishing sector of offshore windfarms and other renewable energy systems”.

• The event brought together different stakeholders, including scientists, wind industry representatives, NGOs, legislators, and small-scale fishers from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.
• Wind energy will become more important in the years to come as the Green Deal foresees a Climate Neutral Europe by 2050. Offshore wind will be essential to the decarbonisation of Europe’s energy mix. Today Europe has 20 GW of offshore wind. But the European Commission estimates a need of 400-450 GW of offshore wind if Europe is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The EU will thus invest a lot in marine energy (wind, tidal, waves)– but this growth of offshore wind will only be possible through collaboration at sea. That’s why the EU needs to manage its maritime space and Member States will have to propose their Maritime Spatial Plans by 2021, according to the directive for maritime and coastal spatial planning.
• On the other hand, the investments made in recent decades to make fishing operations socially, economically and ecologically sustainable is a success story. EU fishers alert that this investment and the long term efforts of the fisheries involved are now under a direct threat, and in some cases already damaged by the uncontrolled development of offshore wind capacity. Namely, sustainable fishing activities require space as does the development and operation of offshore wind farms. The installation of offshore wind farms can disturb the ecosystem and can have some negative effects on the marine life.  

 

• During the event, scientists explained that a lot of research is still necessary to have a complete picture of the ecosystem impacts of offshore wind. According to them there are still a lot of uncertainties concerning the impacts of offshore wind parcs on the ecosystems. These uncertainties need to be reduced and research need to be carried on. They presented some technologies, namely the “bubble curtain” system that can help dampen offshore energy sound. Nonetheless, all the wind farms are not equipped with this system and the effectivity is reduced if streams are important.

 

• During the event, EU fishers call on the European Parliament to support their call for a freeze on the development of offshore wind farm capacity, and prevent its extension into new areas, particularly in sustainably managed fishing grounds, regarding the consequences it had in some area and the lack of research behind it.

 
You can find the press release of Europeche attached to this e-mail.
 
Have a good weekend,
 
Mathilde

Click HERE to open the Press Release

A number of unscrupulous people are contacting our members to make a  false booking.

The scam emails usually look like the following or similar:

2017-08-26 21:09 GMT+01:00 James Pearson <dav000111ccc@gmail.com>:
Hello ,
Do you have boat available for booking from 24.October.2017-30.October.2017. The number of guests to expect is 6 people.
Get back to me if you have opening for reservation during my stated date.
James Pearson
Glasgow
Scotland
+447042099660

This is an overpayment scam. The scammer will pay with a stolen credit card and will want you to collect the travel expenses and wire the money to his "travel agent". The "travel agent" is in reality just another character played by the scammer himself to try and steal your money.

If you are on Facebook we post scam warnings as soon as we are aware of it.

The link to our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/irishcharterskippersassociation/

It’s that time of the year again, where we look back over the Season Past and look forward to another year on the “Bounding Main”. It was a season that did most of us few favours on the weather front, in the latter half of the year especially. Here’s hoping we have a calm and sunny season coming, with ample bookings, and sufficiently big catches every day this coming year !


Much of the work of the ICSA was done this last year through members working on behalf of the ICSA on the various Regional Inshore Fisheries Forums (RIFFS). ICSA members were asked to join the RIFF on the basis of their membership of an association representing the Charter Skippers of Ireland, and from there, some were asked to join the Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs), which oversees the disbursement of EMFF funding, to those who apply for it. These are vital areas to have first hand representation for Skippers .

Among the important issues addressed, objections were lodged to efforts to seek a commercial take of Bass, a case was put forward for a scientific Blue Fin Tuna catch and release quota for Charter Boats, and we were part of the consensus to try to reserve inshore waters (within 6 miles of the coast) for sub 12 meters small craft, to the exclusion of the Big Boats.

Members are strongly encouraged to renew their membership for this coming year. The fee is small, and it is important to be part of a National Organisation capable of representing our interests on the National Stage, especially as we are now subject the Common Fisheries Policy.

The best of luck to you all, and best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year in 2018!

Donal Kennedy
​
Chairman
The Irish Charter Skippers Association

We received the following email from one of our members:

Hi all, I'm just writing a note to any skippers in Ireland to warn of a very convincing Swiss conman who had booked some angling trips with me this week. Hi name is Dieter Reusser and owns the website which runs guided fishing holidays to Ireland http://www.begleitete-fischerferien.ch

It looks very legit and he even has a facebook page with c.1300 followers. He said he had paid me a deposit for three trips of e1200, but when the money didn't arrive in my account I began to get worried. He delayed and timed deposit arrival for this so it was close to his arrival date. He did two days fishing here and didnt pay me but insisted money had gone into my account. He then agreed to pay me the balance but failed to turn up to the meeting point or answer the phone, texts, notes sent to his hotel room or emails after that. After confirming with the bank, I discovered the proof of deposit payment he had sent me was fake.
I called a friend of mine in the guards who checked with the hotel he was staying in to see if payment had gone through there. They checked and the card number was rejected as he had given them a card number with nothing on it or was already maxxed out. He owed the hotel e2600 for the entire group, and even booked the hire cars in one of his guests names on the guests own credit card as he said he forgot his card at the airport (all guests had paid him in full for entire trip months previous). He was ready to do a runner tonight.

I ended up having sit outside the hotel for the whole day to catch him when he came back to get his stuff from his room before getting the guards, who took his passport before he agreed to pay. He had no money or cards with him, so had no intention of paying, and ended up having to ring someone in Switzerland to get their card number, and the hotel kindly processed theirs, and my payment through their card reader for me. 

The reason I am sending this is as I know he has a total of three other trips for sea fishing and sharking booked to Ireland this year, all in July, and one of his guests told me he knows people on the trips so these are full also, so he will be looking for a boat for these dates.

I nearly got caught and would hate to see it happen someone else, just beware of this conman. Please circulate this to any skippers or angling guides you know who may get caught with this chancer.

Thanks,
Daryl

Also about Dieter Reusser:
www.fischerforum.ch (in German)