ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
Fish Newquay encourages guests to take care of their environment. The coast is one of our most precious natural resources. Fish Newquay offers guidance on how to get involved in preserving it.
Anglers must think about the effect they have on the sea when they are out on the water. Compared to other industries, angling boats causes minimal disturbance to the sea. But this is not a license for complacency. The sea is a beautiful place, but we need to take care when we are there to make sure wildlife does not suffer from our presence. For example, nesting and pupping seasons of many species of animals in the sea coincide with the high season for angling boats.
Experiencing the natural world at sea is a privilege. It is important to remember, however, that boats are excellent platforms for observing wildlife. In our excitement to see wild animals, we may inadvertently disturb them without realizing it. To limit our impact on wildlife, it’s important to become more educated so we can be better prepared.
MINIMISING DISTURBANCE
Some of the more thrilling moments of our time at sea have been when we encountered wildlife. To minimize any disturbance to wild animals and their habitats, we try to follow these basic principles:
Avoid startling or scaring wild animals. Give them plenty of space and allow them to escape without cornering them or blocking their path. Wildlife will be less alarmed and more often calm when they don’t feel threatened by your presence.
Try not to disrupt wildlife when observing it. Look, but then move on so that the animal may go about their usual routine undisturbed. Remember that it is in your best interest to leave the environment undisturbed so that the animal can be at peace.
Seal Colonies
We keep a wide berth of beaches with small pups on them, as sudden disturbances can lead to pups being squashed, or separated from their parents. Common seal pups can go into the sea almost immediately after birth, whereas grey seal pups need about 3 weeks to swim. Seals will often observe boats as they move by, sometimes on a rock or in the water. Newquay Harbour regularly hosts seal visitors because of the food that is found here. These seals may appear tame, but we must re-iterate that they are still wild animals and must be treated as such.
Cliff Nesting Seabirds
If we don’t move steadily, we may spook the baby birds and make them fall from their nests. This is a very difficult time for the baby birds and their parents.
Cliff nesting sea birds such as guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes live most vulnerable times when they are in their nests. If they suddenly get scared off the ledges, their young family members may get eaten by predators.
Birds On The Open Sea
We never want to scare seabirds into flight. Adult birds at sea in late summer are likely to be feeding or resting, so a disturbance might cause them to expend additional energy. If they do take flight, their moulting process will be incomplete and they will be weak and vulnerable.
We enjoy preserving the peace and tranquility of those lovely bird sanctuaries along the coast.
Porpoises, Dolphins & Basking Sharks
The Cornish coast is renowned for its range of cetaceans (porpoises and dolphins) and its increasing numbers of basking sharks. All of these can, in the right circumstances, be spotted from a boat, but it is important that we remain aware of how we can harm the sea life. We will never chase after a cetacean or basking shark. If they want to see us, they may come over and take a look. However, we respect their wishes if they decide to swim away. We don’t want to alter their course because porpoises never show much interest in boats.On the other hand, dolphins are more curious and typically swim over to us, often playing in the bow wave or wake of the boat.
(These guidelines are based on the Scottish Canoe Association environmental guidelines)
Good Fishing PractiCe
Our policy is not to practice “catch and release.” Guests are welcome to eat whatever fish they catch, but we also observe that the law requires us to release any fish below a certain size, as well as any fish that is surplus to the needs of our guests. We respect the seasons for each species to ensure a continuing replenishment of stocks, and we change our fishing locations so as not to fish out one area in particular.
One quality of particular importance to us is sustainability. If you book a cruise, you will not see any litter in the sea. In fact, our motto declares that we encourage our guests to collect anything they may have found in the ocean and bring it onboard our ship for proper disposal — the opposite of what most ships do.
