The group have called the CWT report premature, because the concerns and issues raised by the fishermen who took part in the 'banana pinger' trials were either skimmed over or omitted in the report and the so called ‘draft report’ was not given to the participating fishermen until it had been widely circulated, not just to DEFRA but other interested organisations despite assurances that their comments and conclusions would be properly documented.
The fishermen feel that they have been misrepresented in a report hastily put together with unsupported sweeping recommendations that banana pingers should be deployed in all under 12m gillnet vessels.
It is a pity that after working harmoniously for several months and with a local organisation (the CWT) that for whatever reason they should wish to marginalise the fishermen’s input and short-cut the final discussions by circulating an inappropriate draft report, said the group.
The group claims that there are inconsistences and weaknesses in the CWT report that are identified in the following pages (see full report).
