ANGLERS who catch fish from the Isle of Man's piers and beaches will have no excuse for keeping under-sized fish in the future thanks to an initiative by the Department of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, announced in September.
The department has erected 20 fish identification and size boards at the Island's favourites fishing spots, giving clear advice on the species and minimum sizes.
The first sign was unveiled in September at the Battery Pier in Douglas - one of the most popular venues for anglers for many years.
The remainder are now installed around the Island.
DEFA was concerned that too many under-sized fish were being kept by anglers but they were also aware that no clear guidelines have been in existence previously.
"The purpose of erecting these boards at locations frequented by anglers is to provide valuable information regarding the individual species of fish and most importantly, the minimum legal sizes at which those sea fish may be retained," said Juan Turner MLC, member for fisheries.
"I and my fellow politicians fully support the efforts of the department’s staff in bringing this initiative forward as we are determined to conserve the wonderful variety of angling opportunities in the Isle of Man. These signs will be of great help to anglers, and in particular new or inexperienced anglers who may not be familiar with the regulations regarding the various minimum landing sizes."
The Fish Identification and Size boards depict life-size images of sea and migratory fish regularly caught around our coastline and show the minimum legal landing sizes for each species.
Members of the Anglers Forum were asked for their views on which species should be included on the signs and at the same time, a new minimum landing size of 34 cm for ballan wrasse has been introduced.
This has been particularly welcomed by senior Manx anglers, including Geoff Walmsley of Douglas Angling Club who said that many sea anglers had expressed "serious concerns" about the number of under-sized ballan wrasse being caught.
He warmly welcomed the new identification and minimum size boards and congratulated DEFA on its initiative.
"This is a positive move forwards," he said. "This is not to discourage anglers - it’s to educate everyone and I am very happy to give support."
The boards were professionally manufactured by staff at the Manx Workshop for the Disabled.
