Latest from DEFRA on Bass

[charlieannear]

Dear Mr xxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your letter of 1 September about bass stocks. I have been asked to reply.

We are very aware of the importance of bass stocks both to recreational and commercial fishermen.

There is no doubt that the latest ICES advice brings the need to achieve an effective management approach into sharp focus.

Defra has been instrumental in continuing to push for effective EU-wide conservation measures to set us on the path to ensuring the stock recovers and becomes sustainable.

We are pleased to report that the need for urgent management measures has now been agreed by all interested Member States, with the aim of reducing fishing mortality from the recent high levels by both commercial and recreational sectors, and bearing in mind recent poor annual recruitment contributing heavily to the stock decline.

This consensus for management action relates to the main bass stock in the Celtic sea, Channel, Irish Sea and North Sea.

The interested Member States (i.e. France, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Portugal) agreed on the following key factors:

· acceptance of the assessment of the state of the stock;

· a total allowable catch (TAC) not being the best option;

· the need for immediate action to reduce fishing mortality significantly, with specific limits on targeted fisheries, both commercial and recreational;

· the need to protect spawning aggregation areas;

· the need to take into account socio-economic factors; and,

· beyond immediate action the need in the medium term for a management plan.


This consensus is important as it now paves the way for action to be taken forward by the Commission, with the intention of including proposals in the Fishing Opportunities Regulation for 2015 for agreement at December Council.

There is still further discussion expected with the Commission on whether the restrictions on commercial vessels will include entry and effort limits or catch limits for vessels, the latter being preferred by the UK.

In addition, the Commission indicated that it would want to provide for closed fishing seasons for the commercial sector, and will be exploring the best legislative means to do so promptly for 2015.

This should mean closing the main spawning aggregation areas in South West waters to directed fisheries, consequently ending the pair trawl fishery during the spring months, targeted fishing which alone accounts for 25% of the EU catch.

The Commission is also likely to propose catch limits for recreational fisheries (e.g. bag limits).

Most of the interested Member States already have some sort of bag limit.

An EU standard would, we think, be a new approach and an appropriate level would need to be set, for example, we have an estimate that a two fish bag limit per fisherman a day would reduce the UK recreational take by a third.

We believe bag limits as well as catch and release is in line with good conservation practice advocated by the recreational sea angling community, so options available to Member States on how to implement this for bass as an EU standard will be important.

We fully understand that the natural corollary of setting an EU bag limit is that you would expect to see clear action taken to significantly reduce the commercial catch, and we believe the measures discussed above will achieve this.

The Commission will gather information on the social and economic implications of different management scenarios for commercial small scale and large scale fisheries and recreational fisheries.

Member States were asked to support this by supplying information, and a data call will be sent out for this purpose.

The Commission will have presented the outcome of this meeting in their scheduled presentation at the North Western Waters/North Sea Advisory Councils’ sea bass workshop in Dublin on 18 September, in order to begin to obtain a range of views from interested parties as the necessary measures are developed.

While the immediate priority is to reduce the current high levels of fishing mortality at EU level, this will need to be followed up with the development of a multi-annual management plan that includes high level targets and provides for improved selectivity in mixed fisheries.

Our scientific experts have highlighted the need for the plan to be dynamic, enabling measures to be adapted in light of changes in the state of the stock.

In the context of EU level discussions, minimum landing sizes were generally considered potentially useful for commercial and recreational line fisheries where undersized fish can be released alive in good condition, but a more difficult proposition for mixed fisheries where few fish could be returned with high survival and where discarding of dead fish would therefore increase.

Development of measures under an EU management plan could therefore consider appropriate changes to gear or spatio-temporal fishing patterns to reduce capture of undersized bass.

An EU management structure and approach, established in the way we anticipate, will provide the context to review our domestic management arrangements.

George Eustice’s confirmation of the previous Ministerial undertaking to review the domestic minimum landing size for bass still stands in this regard.

Against the background of EU developments our domestic management role remains particularly important in consideration of the site fidelity characteristics of bass, meaning local management will make a key contribution.

The Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities, in their role in managing our inshore fisheries, will be key contributors of local knowledge, as well as the recreational sea angling and commercial sectors in contributing to any update of domestic rules.

Meanwhile, this new Member State consensus on a way forward to agree an EU approach is a key step towards tackling the decline in bass stocks, and one that sees a degree of fruition for Defra’s efforts to provide and advocate a model of what that approach should look like.


Yours sincerely,


Justin Thornhill
Defra - Customer Contact Unit

[Neal]

So................

 

No Pair Trawling in the Western Approaches during spawning (25% of the total take per year!)

 

A 2 fish Bag Limit - per Angler per day

 

plus the increase in minimum landing size

 

I wonder how much of that will actually happen.

 

No mention of illegal netting

[Tiderunner]

More good information Charlie,

 

Spawning fish making up 25% of yearly take by pair trawling is bad enough but doesn't take into consideration the future stock lost by this mindless, but no doubt very profitable activity, which has been going on for years.....I already have a self imposed 2 fish bag limit on my boat and increased minimum size but without any action on the above it seems literally a drop in the ocean !

 

All the best,

 

Mike

[Coddy]

Just so that members are aware, Southern IFCA are boarding angling craft both recreational and commercial to inspect catches for minimum sizes.  

 

They recently caught a commercial bass angler with under sized fish. They confiscated the catch & fishing equipment but they don't have the power to retain the craft.

 

The person has been to court and was fined.

 

I am sure this person/boat will be visited again!

 

I was advised that to date, no recreational angler has been found with under sized fish.

 

SIFCA have also been on both piers recently again warning various groups of people NOT to retain undersized fish.

 

Dave