PROFESSOR POLLACK & PARTNERS
Dr Simon Thomas explains how anglers and charter skippers have got together with two Universities to find out more about a worrying decline in the size and number of pollack
Recent scientific assessments of pollack stocks, along with observations by anglers, have suggested a concerning decline and a noticeable reduction in large fish. This led to charter skippers and anglers in the South West to take action by instigating a collaboration with scientists via what is called a Fisheries Industry Science Partnership (FISP) to ensure the sustainable use of pollack stocks and to better understand the population.
This research is led by the University of Plymouth in collaboration with the Professional Boatman’s Association, the Angling Trust and the University of York, with support from Cefas – the government’s scientific fisheries research agency. The aim of the partnership was to leverage the importance of recreational angling knowledge and safeguard the future of this vitally important fish.
The anticipation rises as a shoal of your quarry shows as a cloudy arc on the fish finder screen just up-tide of the structure below the boat. As you wind the handle of your reel, you slowly count the number of turns: five, 10, 15, then you feel a slight pluck at 16 turns, as a fish inspects your lure, but no; it lets go. Then, as you continue to wind, 20, 25 turns, your rod bends into a satisfying curve and the clutch on your reel screams as the first pollack of the day attempts to find sanctuary in the wreck below.
Anyone who has experienced the wreck or reef fishing in the south and west of the UK will know the thrill of the first dive of a decent pollack. These fish are the life-blood of many charter and private boat anglers in these areas.
Pollack (Pollachius pollachius) are prized by many anglers both as a sporting and a table fish and every year I wait in anticipation for the fresh run of these olive-flanked beauties to appear on the Eddystone and other reef systems off the coast of Plymouth in early May, when you can target them with light tackle using either lures or live launce, the baitfish which pollack arrive to hunt. Pollack are ambush hunters, their upward viewing eyes allowing them to silhouette their prey against the pale light of the surface or sense with their prominent lateral lines.
