Coddy Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Minimum landing sizes are used all over the World and are just one of a number of tools used to manage fish stocks. However, as a common sense approach to conservation and an easy concept to understand (protecting immature fish) they have become particularly favoured by recreational anglers with an interest in conservation and sustainable management of fish stocks. As part of the latest reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy an obligation by commercial fishermen to land all catches was introduced (commonly known as the discards ban). As a result the EU minimum (landing) sizes could no longer apply and were replaced by ‘Minimum Conservation Reference Sizes’ (MCRS). Fish below the new MCRS will have to be landed but cannot be sold at market for human consumption – thereby creating a market force which is intended to disincentivise fishermen from catching smaller, immature fish which must be landed but have very little market value. However, there must also be an incentive to land these fish, if caught, to comply with the landings obligation and not to continue to discard dead fish at sea. Therefore a very fine balance must be struck by the EU which disincentivises immature fish from being targeted while simultaneously incentivising fishermen to land them by providing a limited financial reward. The obligation to land all fish only applies to species for which there is a quota or a total allowable catch (TAC) – apart from in the Mediterranean where all non TAC species will be required to be landed. For other species it is up to each member state within the EU to decide whether or not to maintain minimum landing sizes or include them in the landings obligation at a national level and introduce a minimum conservation reference size. Some exemptions may apply once the final details have been agreed. For instance, species with a high survivability that could be returned alive to the sea and endangered or threatened species for which no landings are permitted on conservation grounds. It is expected that the current minimum landing sizes will be transposed into the new minimum conservation reference sizes. However, the Minimum Landing Sizes set by the EU were said to be "technical measures for the protection of juvenile fish." yet no minimum landing size existed for many species and for those that did the MLS was set below the age of sexual maturity for most species (females) – thereby preventing fish from spawning, completing their lifecycles and contributing to the futures of the stocks. The lifecycles of some species, and the fishing methods used, mean that minimum landing sizes alone are rarely enough to secure good management; More is needed In most cases of successful fisheries management (including the restoration of depleted stocks) where minimum landing sizes playing a key role, other technical measures are used as well e.g. minimum mesh sizes for nets to avoid by-catches of small, immature fish. Our interpretation of the current minimum landing sizes set by the EU is that they only apply to motorised vessels holding a commercial fishing license and not to recreational catches. However, a number of countries rigorously apply the EU MLSs to both commercial as well as recreational fisheries (some countries even have set MLSs for recreational fishing above the EU MLSs, while their commercial fisheries follow the EU MLSs, e.g. the French bass fisheries). The angling Trust encourages all anglers to Give Fish A chance and apply voluntary minimum retention sizes which exceed the EU's and allow all fish retained the chance to have bred at least once. In England the Inshore Fishery and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) have considerable responsibility for managing fish stocks out to six miles from the shore. While the IFCAs still have to adhere to the rules laid down by the EU Common Fisheries Policy they are able, through bylaws, to set minimum landing sizes that exceed the EU's and apply to all fish retained - including those caught be recreational anglers.You can find out what these are by visiting the IFCA websites via the links below. If you are in any doubt about the legal minimum sizes contained within the bylaws or the IFCA area boundaries please check with your IFCA first.Northumberland IFCANorth East IFCA Eastern IFCAKent and Essex IFCASussex IFCA Southern IFCADevon and Severn IFCA Cornwall IFCAIsles of ScillyNorth West IFCAIf an IFCA has not set its own minimum landing size/ minimum consrtvation reference size the following EU sizes apply to a limited number of species caught in UK waters. For many species no legal minimum landing size/ conservation reference size exists.With conservation in mind we have provided the approximate size of sexual maturity for females of all species using the best available evidence to support this. Where a range was given we have published the upper limit. These are not recommended retention size limits but anglers retaining fish above these sizes can be reasonably confident that these fish will have had the chance to have bred at least once. Specie EUMinimum Landing Size Size of Sexual Maturity Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) 36cm 46cm Bream - Black (Spondyliosoma cantharus) None 20cm Bream - Gilthead (Sparus aurata) None Unknown Brill (Scophthalmus rhombus) None 41cm Coalfish (Pollachius virens) 35cm (see note 1) 70cm Cod (Gadus morhua) 35cm (see note 1) 60cm Common skate (Dipturus batis) None 180cm Conger eel (Conger conger) None Unknown Dab (Limanda limanda) None 25cm European Eel (Anguila anguila) None (See note 2) Unknown Flounder (Platichthys flesus) None 30cm Garfish (Belone belone) None 45cm Gurnard - Grey (Eutrigla gurnardus) None 25cm Gurnard - Red (Chelidonichthys cuculus) None 25cm Gurnard - Tub (Chelidonichthys lucerna) None Unknown Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) 30cm (see note 1) 40cm Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) None 135cm Herring (Clupea harengus) 20cm 3-9 years Horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) 15cm 30cm John Dory (Zeus faber) None 35cm Lesser Spotted Dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) None 60cm Ling (Molva molva) 63cm (see note 1) 100cm Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) 20cm (30cm North sea) 34cm Megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis) 20cm 25cm Anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) None 70cm Mullet - Grey, thick-lipped (Chelon labrosus) None 47cm Mullet - Grey, thin-lipped (Liza ramada) None 47cm Mullet - Golden Grey None 28cm Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) 22cm 35cm Pollack (Pollachius pollachius) 30cm (see note 1) 50cm Poor Cod (Trisopterus minutus) None Unknown Pouting (Trisopterus luscus) None 25cm Ray - Blonde (Raja brachyuran) None 57cm Ray - Cuckoo (Raja naevus) None 59cm Ray - Small-eyed (Raja microocellata) None Unknown Ray - Spotted (Raja montagui) None Unknown Ray - Starry(Amblyraja radiata) None 40cm Ray - Stingray (Dasyatis pastinaca) None Unknown Ray - Thornback (Raja clavata) None 85cm Ray - Undulate (Raja undulate) None (see note 3) 60cm Rockling - Five Bearded Ciliata mustela None Unknown Rockling - Shore (Gaidropsarus mediterraneus) None Unknown Rockling - Three-bearded (Gaidropsarus vulgaris) None Unknown Shad- Allis (Alosa alosa) None See Note 4 below Shad- Twait (Alosa fallax) None See Note 4 below Monkfish AKA Angel Shark (Squatina squatina) None 69cm (see note 5 below) Shark - Blue (Prionace glauca) None 220cm Shark - Bull Huss (Scyliorhinus stellaris) None Unknown Shark - Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) None 285cm Shark - Porbeagle (Lamna nasus) None (See note 6) 220cm Shark - Smoothhound (Mustelus asterias) None 85cm Shark - Spurdog (Squalus acanthias) None (see note 7) 80cm Shark - Thresher (Alopias vulpinus) None 260-465cm Shark - Tope (Galeorhinus galeus) None (See note 8) Unknown Sole - Dover (Solea solea) 24cm 35cm Sole - Lemon (Microstomus kitt) None 30cm Trigger fish (Balistes capriscus) None Unknown Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) None 46cm Tuna - Bluefin (Tunnus tunnus) 30kg/115cm (Excluding trolling and bait boats) See Note 9 below Whiting (Merlangius merlangus) 27cm 30cm Witch (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus) None Unknown Wrasse - Ballan (Labrus bergylta) None Unknown Wrasse - Cuckoo (Labrus mixtus) Unknown Unknown The size of sexual maturity for species from the Gadidae family including cod, whiting, haddock, pollack and coalfish (saithe) can vary wildly depending on a number of factors. The figures quoted represent the size at which 50 per cent of fish of these species have reached sexual maturity. An Environment Agency byelaw prevent anglers from retaining the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). However, they can be retained for weighing or measuring but must be returned alive to the water they were taken from on completion of fishing. For the Angling Trust’s policy on retaining European eels click here Undulate ray are classified as endangered. We recommend that all fish are returned alive Shad are now protected under the (EU - Berne Convention) and all fish must be returned. Monkfish (also called Angel Shark) are listed under UK Wildlife and Countryside Act and will be protected against killing, injuring or taking (section 9(1)) on land and up to 3 nautical miles (nm) from English coastal baselines. These are not to be confused with the unprotected Anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) whose tails are marketed as Monkfish. Porbeagle are critically endangered in the Northeast Atlantic. We recommend that all fish are returned alive Spurdog are classified as critically endangered in the Northeast Atlantic and we recommend that all fish are returned alive Anglers should be aware that there is a national restriction on landing tope caught from a boat, which includes kayaks, by rod and line. Any boat-caught tope are legally required to be released as soon as possible after capture. Details of the Tope (Prohibition of Fishing Order) 2008 can be found here In order for bluefin tuna to be caught directly, each Member State must apply for quota and then apply a second specific quota for recreational fishing purposes. The UK does not currently have a quota for the direct commercial or recreational fishing of bluefin tuna. Therefore, direct fishing for bluefin tuna is not allowed in the UK under current Regulations. Article 12.5 of Regulation 302/2009 states that “Each Member State shall take the necessary measures to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the release of bluefin tuna caught alive, especially juveniles, in the framework of recreational fishing”. Therefore, recreational sea anglers are obliged to do everything they can to ensure any by-catch is returned to the sea alive. Sizes of sexual maturity shown here have been gathered from the best available evidence at the time. If you have more information and can provide referenced studies to update this information then we would love to hear from you. Please email us at admin@anglingtust.net charlieannear, Mal Thomas and Stuie 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlieannear Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks for posting this Coddy. Members, please consider going by the 'Size of Sexual Maturity' when deciding whether to keep fish, rather than just the legal minimum size. As we can see from the table above, and as has been campaigned against for Bass for a number of years, the MRCS (previously known as MLS) for many species is actually smaller than the size of sexual maturity- i.e. fish of many species are being landed which have not yet had the chance to breed. This obviously has a negative effect on fish populations. By releasing fish which are between the MRCS and the size of sexual maturity, you are doing your part (please try not to think about what everyone else is doing ) to help maintain healthy populations of breeding-size fish. 2006holmwood 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'm surprised as there is no min size for breams, no wonder skippers let anglers take any bream no matter how small they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 MPs for black bream is 23cm in our southern ifca (bylaw): https://secure.toolkitfiles.co.uk/clients/25364/sitedata/files/SIFCAWebsite_PageContent_U.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 MPs for black bream is 23cm in our southern ifca (bylaw): https://secure.toolkitfiles.co.uk/clients/25364/sitedata/files/SIFCAWebsite_PageContent_U.pdf Someone better tell some of the skippers over at Littlehampton, I know of ppl who took sh*t load of small breams home, and the skippers never said a word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Jim Someone at work was out on their boat last night. ( Weds 29th July 2015 ) They came through Poole bridge just before 11:30 They reckon there were about 20 fishing rod & lines hanging over. There's a sign on the bridge saying " No Fishing " and they are probably targeting any size Bass. Anyone know where to forward this ? Where's the point in having a Minimum landing size & Bag limit when people are " Hammering " the nursery ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich185 Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 I was coming back in one night a couple of weeks ago about that time too jim and they were fishing all along the bridge, nearly got caught up in there lines. rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Martin Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Jim Someone at work was out on their boat last night. ( Weds 29th July 2015 ) They came through Poole bridge just before 11:30 They reckon there were about 20 fishing rod & lines hanging over. There's a sign on the bridge saying " No Fishing " and they are probably targeting any size Bass. Anyone know where to forward this ? Where's the point in having a Minimum landing size & Bag limit when people are " Hammering " the nursery ? Jim http://www.southern-ifca.gov.uk/ is who you need to report to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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