And after the session, John Butterwith, the secretary of the action group opposing the move, said it was significant that the Minister had not yet signed the statutory instrument giving the green light for the bass move from April 6.

The delegation gave Mr Bradshaw a detailed point-by-point presentation on why the bass move was wrong in their view, including the contention that it will lead to more discarding of fish against EU policy and will discriminate against UK fishermen.

And Mr Butterwith, who is also the chief executive of the North Devon Fishermen’s Association, said that Mr Bradshaw seemed genuinely surprised over some of the points made to him.

“The Minister did not appear to know much about many of the points put to him,” he added.

Meanwhile a “powder keg” at the end of the meeting was input from the chairman of the South-west Association of Sea Anglers who told the Minister that it was only a minority of sea anglers who wanted to see the increase. The majority did not want it.

The points made by the delegation would now be put in writing to the Minister and Mr Bradshaw was then expected to respond.

Mr Butterwith went on:“I feel quite buoyed up by the meeting and if we have got a delay in the implementation of this measure, then a lot of people are going to sit up and say we have achieved something.

“If we can get a delay because he has not signed the statutory instrument then that will be a psychological achievement for us.”

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