irish bass

Any way of finding out if a bass sold commercially as an irish bass is actually an Irish bass?

I know the growth rings would be more numerous for the size of fish. anything else?

not trying to be smart here - but they shouldnt be doing that in the first place

but i reckon they just are irish in any case if they are saying its irish

There are no bass farms in Ireland, and commercial fishing for bass is illegal. So marketing a fish as an Irish bass would be either a) selling illegally caught fish or b) selling imported farmed bass as Irish, which would be a breach of (I think) the Trade Descriptions Act.

I have seen wild bass for sale in a seafood shop in Galway, but it was also marked as imported. Sad to see it, as it might encourage the notion among non-anglers that wild bass can be commercially caught here, or increase market demand for wild bass. Not, however, illegal... :?

Think its illegal to sell any any Irish caught bass. Would be interested in knowing where you saw this. Let us know if you want (maybe via pm) Teacher from the forums here had some contact with a supermarket last year re. the bass they were selling. Turned out they were farmed greek fish. Weren't advertised as irish though.
Any info appreciated.
Dave

As I understand it, it's possible to tell if a bass is farmed or wild, but not where it came from, particularly if it's from the Irish or UK stocks.

You should report this anyway. Also, drop me a PM with the info. IBPAG are trying to build up a picture of the scale of the bass problem, so any information people can provide would be welcome.

Incidentally, anyone who wants to tell the IBPAG about netting or sale of bass but doesn't want to give a name can send a text to 087-6406352. (An unanswered phone, just for receiving texts about bass netting or sale.) There's also a feedback form on the website ([url]http://www.irishbass.org[/url]).

thanks for replies
yes I know that it is illegal to sell and commercially target bass I was out fishing yesterday and someone came over talking to (as they do) I mentioned that you get an occasional bass from there he mentioned that there was a shop in a nearby town that sell irish bass he told me with amazment in his voice that sometimes they get bass from greece when they cannot get the local stuff. so I'm thinking of calling over there and asking do they have bass. I asked him the name of the shop and he said he couldn't remember the name. he told me where it was in the town.
so I'm looking for the shop.. and then hoping to call the swfb.

I was wondering if there was any definitive way of identifying either by microbial, genetic or age of identifying.

Microbial because fish take on the microbes from the environment in which they live.
Genetic: as there is a destinct irish population maybe if it came to it a genetic test could be done to establish if it came from an Irish population.
(Expensive though :D )
Age: I know that farmed bass are kept for 2 years before coming to market. Any fish that is significantly more than 2 years old is almost certainly not farmed but could caught wild in British waters.

Anybody got any other ideas???

Anybody got any other ideas???

I thought annular markings on scales, which might differ in different climates, but apparently that's not a runner and it wouldn't allow you to distinguish between Irish and GB fish.

I don't think there is a distinct Irish population... seem to remember Ed Fahy speaking on this at a seminar once, and the scientific opinion was that Irish, Welsh and South West England bass formed a mixed stock, with fish moving between areas. So genetic analysis wouldn't tell you much, plus you would need a baseline to compare to, and I don't know if any genetic studies have been done yet on bass...

The limited intermixing is mentioned here ...

http://www.marinetimes.ie/Assets/_archi ... ews_09.htm

... but I can't locate Declan Tobin's original work. Do you know of any references?

Fat content in the flesh can be used to seperate, farmed fish obviously having a higher level

Oops forgot to say but a sales note should also be held by the buyer (and he must be registered) showing from whom and where he bought the fish. The seller of the fish must also be licensed/registered.

http://www.marine.ie/NR/rdonlyres/66CB6 ... /0/ns5.pdf

Paper by Fahy


http://www.ifremer.fr/docelec/notice/20 ... ce2401.htm

says

Furthermore, the results indicate some local genetic differentiation in the Irish sample when compared to other samples, possibly indicating a complex population structure of sea bass around the British Isles. This point should be further investigated, but results clearly indicate that sea bass stock management should not be based only upon the currently recognized ICES divisions.

Cheers for that guys

Declan Tobin did his PhD on bass genetics in NUI, Galway Zoology Department. Jimmy Dunne was his supervisor I think. You may be able to get hold of a copy of his original work by contacting Jimmy or perhaps through NUIG library.

Ed.

thanks ed