HOPES of a Government rethink were dashed today when it was announced that the minimum landing size for sea bass is to be increased to "improve and sustain" the fishery.
A Cornish fishermen's leader said today that he stood by his belief that the UK unilateral action will simply hand the bass market to the French.
Speaking to FISHupdate, Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation said: "This will do nothing to save bass and is merely a sop to an elite group of anglers."
But UK fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw today spelled out his determination to press ahead with the move.
From April 6, 2007, fishermen and anglers will not be allowed to land bass any smaller than 40cm. The current limit is 36cm.
Announcing the decision, Mr Bradshaw said: “I have listened very carefully to the representations made and have not taken this decision lightly. I have accepted the arguments for a bigger minimum landing size to help increase the quantity and size of bass. This will also give better protection for the stocks. There may be short term costs from this measure before we see future gains but it is vital that fisheries management takes a long term view.
“The recreational fishing sector makes a major contribution to our economy and it is important that their voice, as well as those of commercial fishermen, is taken into account in fisheries management."
Mr Bradshaw added that in the future he intends to increase the landing size further to 45cm. This will be subject to the results of a review, in 2010, of the effectiveness of the measures he announced today.
The increase to 40cm will bring the minimum landing size closer to the average spawning size for bass (42cm). Defra claims that, as a result, more juvenile fish will be protected and there would be increased recruitment to the spawning stock. It says this will in turn increase the number and size of bass available for capture to both the commercial and recreational sector.
The increase in the minimum landing size is the first in a wider package of measures being considered by Defra in relation to sea angling. Work is currently underway with anglers, commercial fishermen and other interested parties on the drafting of a recreational sea angling strategy for England, and provisions are being considered for the Marine Bill in relation to sea angling.
Further measures in relation to bass are also being considered, including ‘bag limit’ restrictions that would limit the number of fish individual sea anglers can take.
The Minister said: “I have taken on board the concerns expressed during the consultation by the commercial fishing sector about the impact of an immediate increase to 45cm and the need for a reasonable implementation period to minimise the cost of net replacement.
“I hope that both commercial and angling sectors will support this measure.”
To accompany the increased minimum landing size, the Minister has also announced an increase in the mesh size for fixed gear for targeted bass fisheries from the current 90mm to 100mm to reduce potential discards.However trawling will not see mesh size increases.
These measures are being taken forward in the light of recommendations in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit Report, ‘Net Benefits’ on recreational sea angling, and specifically, that fisheries departments consider the redesignation of certain species wholly for sea angling, including bass.
Defra official Anthony Hynes underlined today that the objective of the measure was to increase the number and size of bass available to catch by both recreational and commercial fishermen.
And answering concerns that French fishermen, not the bass stock would be beneficiaries, he said that at present not much French bass landed in the UK.
However there may be in future which was why they would have to monitor the effectivness of the measure.
Mr Trebilcock said today that his view was that the measure would not save the bass stock given that trawlers legitimately using 80mm mesh would still be able to discard the species.
"We will certainly be investigating as to whether this move is prejudicial to British fishermen and in the meantime we have to ask which species will be next and if Mr Bradshaw is now minister for angling rather than for fisheries."
He added that the only things that would increase were fishermen's bankruptcies and discards, not the bass stock .
" There will be massive implications for fishermen targeting bass as well as those who take it as a part of their main catch. This is ludicrous when you take into account that bass is a stock that is being fished sustainably at present according to his own scientists.
"The only things this measure will achieve are to increase discards, bankrupt UK fishermen and hand the domestic bass market to our European competitors of a stock which is being fished sustainably.
"This regulation is unilateral therefore French and Belgian fishermen, who already account for approximately 70% of the total bass landings, will continue to fish legally into six miles off our coast retaining the bass that are supposed to be being protected. Consequently the regulation will be ineffectual as bass will still be taken at 36cm, therefore any supposed benefit to fishermen, anglers and perhaps most importantly the bass stock will not happen.
"If Bradshaw was serious about doing something for the bass stock it should have been done at a European level but I suspect that was too difficult without a sound scientific argument and so he went for the easy target –the UK fishermen to score points with the anglers.
"It gets worse as well as he has stated that he intends to go further and increase the minimum landing size further to 45cm in a few years time, we might as well forget bass fishing if that happens."
www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.
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