Commercial Fishing
The Solent is a mixed sea fishery and the fishing effort varies between a number of different commercial species throughout the year. The inshore waters have an important role as a nursery area for bass, with specific areas identified for protection, and for a range of other fin-fish and shellfish. The various fishing activities which take place include:
- Demersal trawling;
- Drift netting;
- Fyke netting;
- Long lining;
- Set netting;
- Beam trawling;
- Trapping;
- Sea angling. (SEMS, 2004)
Shellfishing is one of the main types of fishery in the Solent. The most significant shellfishery is for the native oyster which represents the largest self-sustaining stock in Europe and is of international conservation importance. Commercial Clam digging for the American hard shelled Clam also takes place throughout the year.
The amount of objective information about most aspects of the fishery in the Solent is very limited. A fundamental reason for this is that the majority of the inshore fleet are under ten metres in length and, therefore, exempt from the requirement to make full catch returns. Research on the fishery is also limited, although annual surveys of the stock levels within the oyster fisheries are made, and there has been extensive work on the populations of salmon and sea trout within the rivers Test and Itchen. The Sea Fishery Committees and Defra have detailed knowledge on the sea-fish and shellfish industry in the UK.
