Irish bass for sale!!!

Yesterday we were in a Market in Cork. A stall had some bass with quite bloodied heads - unusual for farmed bass!!!
I asked Melissa to ask them where it was from. The guy on the stall told her that all of their fish was from their own boat apart from the trout which was farmed.

no good having a [Mod edit] online you have to report it

you have to report it

That has been done.

Well done Frank lets hope there caught redhanded

Thats a disgrace Frank,just when we thought the bass would be safe for another few months this happens,hopefully the relevant authorities will be able to act on it and get a result.As for the other comment
Tight lines

Which shop was it Frank?

The very fact the guy on the stall told Melissa it was caught on their own boat would lead me to believe otherwise! Do you honestly believe they are going to own up to poaching to a complete stranger

Poached fish are sold under the counter on the black market and always to well known customers, no one would be stupid enough to sell it to a stranger or openly and especially on a market stall in Cork City

Think about it! It is the same as a second hand shop saying something they are selling to you was stolen

BTW wild bass is not illegal to sell in ireland once it's not caught on an Irish registered boat. For example an English registered boat can legally land bass in Ireland. The bass you saw were probably imported or good quality farmed fish!

That guy was probably just telling Melissa what he though she wanted to hear in order to buy some

well done

you have to report it

That has been done.

Which shop was it Frank?

Sending you a PM - the shop was named in the original post but the name was edited out by the moderator.

The very fact the guy on the stall told Melissa it was caught on their own boat would lead me to believe otherwise! Do you honestly believe they are going to own up to poaching to a complete stranger

Poached fish are sold under the counter on the black market and always to well known customers, no one would be stupid enough to sell it to a stranger or openly and especially on a market stall in Cork City

Think about it! It is the same as a second hand shop saying something they are selling to you was stolen

BTW wild Bass is not illegal to sell in ireland once it's not caught on an Irish registered boat. For example an English registered boat can legally land Bass in Ireland. The Bass you saw were probably imported or good quality farmed fish!

That guy was probably just telling Melissa what he though she wanted to hear in order to buy some

No.1 Past track record of the shop/boat
No.2 Melissa is American so the guy on the stall probably reckoned there would be no fallout from admitting it was Irish bass.
No.3 Fresh blood around the bass heads, definitely not typical for farmed bass.
No.4 Slightly bigger than typical farmed bass.

Which shop was it Frank?

Sending you a PM - the shop was named in the original post but the name was edited out by the moderator.

The very fact the guy on the stall told Melissa it was caught on their own boat would lead me to believe otherwise! Do you honestly believe they are going to own up to poaching to a complete stranger

Poached fish are sold under the counter on the black market and always to well known customers, no one would be stupid enough to sell it to a stranger or openly and especially on a market stall in Cork City

Think about it! It is the same as a second hand shop saying something they are selling to you was stolen

BTW wild Bass is not illegal to sell in ireland once it's not caught on an Irish registered boat. For example an English registered boat can legally land Bass in Ireland. The Bass you saw were probably imported or good quality farmed fish!

That guy was probably just telling Melissa what he though she wanted to hear in order to buy some

No.1 Past track record of the shop/boat
No.2 Melissa is American so the guy on the stall probably reckoned there would be no fallout from admitting it was Irish Bass.
No.3 Fresh blood around the Bass heads, definitely not typical for farmed Bass.
No.4 Slightly bigger than typical farmed Bass.

Still doesn't add up to me! Why and especially if they had been caught before if that's what I understand from your post would they risk selling it on a stall! Poachers operate on the black market the fish would never make it to a stall to be offered to the public the poacher would have a market for the fish before he even set out to catch em... If the stall is in the place I think it is I have heard butchers there telling women they hand rared the cow themselves in their garden then the cow even had a name to sell them meat, it's all part n parcel of the place

Now think about what he said to Mellisa I'll quote it for you

"The guy on the stall told her that all of their fish was from their own boat apart from the trout which was farmed"

That's some boat that can catch every species of fish on that stall on a trip with the single exception of the farmed trout, me still thinks he was pulling her leg hoping she'd buy! Also the SWRFB fisheries officers check that place regularly he would need to be a complete idiot to have illegal bass on the stall

That's some boat that can catch every species of fish on that stall on a trip with the single exception of the farmed trout,

The stall was not that well stocked compared to another in the market. There was nothing on it that could not be caught locally.

As far as I could see the only thing they stocked that they didn't catch with their own boats was the trout.

They have been blatantly voliating the laws on bass netting for years - that's well know in angling circles around here.

Not to be adding fuel to the fire but a couple of years ago i witnessed several bass in that stall vicinity that were over 7lbs and when i asked cheekily what beach they were caught from i was told to mind my own Fn business and as if by some miracle an hour later i called back with a friend of mine to show him, the bass had been removed from view Authorities were contacted but never heard a dicky back.
Maybe these guys are stoopid enough to have illegally caught bass on view especially considering the flippant attitude regarding the illegal netting that goes on down this way,and with the talk going on at the minute regarding reopening commercial bass fishing would it really make that much of a differance as its already going on wholesale anyway for years and always by the same offenders,sorry for the negative attitude but thats my feeling on it these days.Yes stocks of small fish are good at the present but where have all the bigger mamas and dadas gone,yes you've guessed it swam away to fishy heaven
Sorry for my post but might have something to do with the jan blues.
Tight lines

That's some boat that can catch every species of fish on that stall on a trip with the single exception of the farmed trout,

The stall was not that well stocked compared to another in the market. There was nothing on it that could not be caught locally.

I think you misunderstood, I didn't say there was nothing that could not be caught locally on the stall I said that's some boat to have caught em all. No boat is capable of that on a single trip as it requires the boat to be changed over for different types of fishing gear so I believe you're taking this guys comment way too seriously, a market trader will tell you anything to make a sale.... I don't think you and believe me you're not alone in this understand the way poachers operate, bass and salmon that are poached are not sold on market stalls they are sold, & bass especially as big orders as in a box or more to well known (to the seller) buyers who would pre order or be the guy who says anytime you have bass give me a call! Placing poached fish on a busy public market stall is something only a complete moron would do and especially if they were well known for poaching bass!

I think the correct thing is to report your suspicions to the relevant authorities but not to bring it up on a public forum where it serves little purpose and usually only causes an increase in anglers reporting legal fishing for a time afterwards thinking they are doing good but in reality are tieing up the authorities and using up their budget mounting needless operations or causing them to not take a real case of poaching seriously enough to mount an operation when it arises

I think if you look at Frank's posts you can see that the relevant authorities were contacted.As regards posting on a public forum,well sort of agree,but there is a certain society in operation that has had success along with failures unfortunately, by reporting illegal activities directly to the people on the ground ie fishery officers and this has all been done by posting on a private forum.
Totally agree that unless facts are 100% correct and accurate [as advised by fishery officers]then it does defeat the purpose of notifying the authorities due to lack of funding and man power to check all suspicions out and yes the boy who cries wolf rings a bell.Illegal fishing for bass etc is a huge operation and these guys who practice it are very good at what they do and very clever to get away with it by having their catches exported abroad and by having very specific buyers on the irish market
Not having ago as i know that you know exactly what you are talking about and its not until recently that myself and a few others have started to get some insight into this "black market".Maybe heavier fines and convictions might deter some but not all as its a very lucrative market and will always take place.Thats why people will have to continue to water watch etc and report to the authorities once their information is up to date and 100% accurate,that way nobody will be wasting their time and blowing hard earned budgets on wild goose chases,just remember to keep an eye over shoulders if going toe to toe with these people

Hi Marlinman,

I believe you're on my wavewength

I'm not having a go off anyone either, hope it doesn't come across that way!! We will always have poachers hopfully what do I mean by that you're all queuing up to ask, well poaching bass and lets not forget some anglers breach bass laws too (you know who you are ) the damage done by the poachers is far less than the damage that will be done if they open up the fishery! As long as the fishery is closed you will have poachers it's a fact of life!

Something most anglers don't realize is that poaching to some people is like a sport, some of the smaller poachers especially ones that poach salmon just do it for the adrenaline rush it gives them

Read you loud and clear and could'nt agree with you more .Here's hoping the commercial thing will never happen as really deep down i believe it will decimate the bass populations and i'll find it very hard to offload my lure and plastic collection
Tight lines