I picked up the latest SAN from Bournemouth Fishing Lodge and during a read I was disturbed by photos in there of happy anglers aboard "Sophie Lea" with 3 or 4 tiny codling each, described as "A typical cod fishing days end".
None of the fish can be bigger that 2.5lb most look under 2lb. When we see and catch the big beautiful double figure + cod that these "codling" could be it is a real shame.
Maybe if they didn't retain these juvenile toddlers their "typical days cod fishing" would produce more than fish finger sized fish.
Would a MLS for cod or all fish be good?
Do cod spawn at 1 or 2 lbs and these are mature fish?
I just feel anglers could do so much more to improve the image of angling an help lead with sustainable methods and techniques.
Rob
Pictures for the Sophie Lea website:
I totally agree Rob .... a pretty anti fishing photograph if ever there was one!
Does anyone catch codling like that round here?
We normally get the lunkers!
Beware,
you'll get the anti regulation mob after you for saying things like that
PJ
tell them nothing
Rob - I believe SAN should shoulder some responsibility as well here for publishing these pictures. The media should consider preserving stocks as well as anglers. In my opinion this is a sad indictment on our sport.
What i find upsetting is the youngster in the second picture who now thinks this is the way to behave!! i hope they are going to publish a picture of Charlies Undulate along with the sporting way it was released,( well done Charlie) Derek, 
That would not have happened under the previous owner/editor
Norman would not print a picture of Sam [aged 11]with three good rays, even though two were put back alive.
Because he believed it was not the right image to portray
Charlie
Do we know where this picture was taken? If in the chanell i'll join you in condeming them BUT if they are on the east coast thats the average size of their cod run. Might be a bit mutch to suggest the felixstowe boats catch take nothing.
Please remember dont judge others by our own standards i fished the east coast for 3 years one winter never saw a fish above 5cm. They get large numbers of smaller fish(but i did get a 3 foot lobster 100m off felixstow docs!)
Do we know where this picture was taken? If in the chanell i'll join you in condeming them BUT if they are on the east coast thats the average size of their cod run. Might be a bit mutch to suggest the felixstowe boats catch take nothing.
Please remember dont judge others by our own standards i fished the east coast for 3 years one winter never saw a fish above 5cm. They get large numbers of smaller fish(but i did get a 3 foot lobster 100m off felixstow docs!)
It is an Essex charter Matt.
Colchester area. Some of their write ups mention that 15lB Cod are the biggest they get. (some may say that's hardly surprising if they take them all before they get chance to grow 
)
I can't agree with you Matt. Just because small juvenile fish are all that is available, doesn't mean you should take them.
That is the sort of mentality that has destroyed the silver eel stocks as they thought netting millions of elvers would be sustainable!
So, they should practice catch and release or target something else. If there is nothing else, then go coarse fishing!
I don't think I really conveyed what I meant with my previous post.
I definitely DO NOT (yes I am shouting) condone taking under size fish just because you haven't caught anything better.
According to DEFRA the minimum landing size for Cod is 35 cm and from various web searches they are sexually mature at 40-50cm (sources vary and I dont absolutely believe any of them) From memory (I am on my work PC so cant get open the link to the photo) non of the fish look under the DEFRA minimum so the anglers havent done anything wrong technically.
I add the technically because I do find group shots of anglers with lots of fish like this quite distastefull.
This post is just to clarify my view I don't want to restart the same debates we have on other threads re minimum sizes, retaining fish etc
As an aside the Lobster was probably only 2 foot long.
Picture now working on my PC, they do look a bit borderline...
Matt,
I wasnt aware of a minimum landing size for cod. What Annoyed me was the fact that all the fish are VERY juvenile. such a shame when these fish are killed at a weight which is probably 10% of the kind of size that do make a good days codding!