"A bit more information on this thead. Some of us might question why we should try and support moves by BASS in the UK. The reason is quite clear, as this quote from the Marine Institute's web site shows:
http://www.marine.ie/industry+services/ ... sts'05.pdf
Ireland?s bass are genetically part of a European panmixia.
The origin of our broodstock is not established
beyond doubt and it is possible that some, at
least, are distributed as eggs and larvae to our coastal
waters from spawning concentrations of the adults
from the south coast of England/north west France.
Looking at the page mentioned above, it is sadly clear that our bass stocks are not doing well at all. Despite a small rise in sea temperature averages over the last few decades, we are very much at the northern end of the bass's range so spawning failures are a constant hazard.
The report also mentions (in sadly mild term) the detrimental influence on the stock of poaching.
An issue particularly close to my own heart is also mentioned - that bass might move more to the north coast if the population were to thrive. they are rarer than hen's teeth here at the moment.
These factors convince me that we need to afford bass more protection here on at least two fronts:
1. We need effective protection from poaching.
2. As some of our stock at least depend on the successful spawning of bass in UK waters, we all ought to wade in to support BASS in their move to get the MLS approved in the upcoming consultation in England and Wales, submissions of support having to be in as early as Feb 08 2006 and Feb 14, 2006 in Wales.
More details are available at:
http://ukbass.com/bassmanagementplan/howyoucanhelp.htmlIf we wish to have a viable bass fishery in this country in the future, this is perhaps our best and last opportunity to set in motion a train of events that will have wide-reaching benefits. Here's why.
IF the UK MLS for bass is adopted, it is most likely that this standard will be adopted on an EU wide basis fairly soon, once the precedent is set.
Even if it took a year or two to become the Euopean standard, we should, in Ireland, be campaigning for increased protection for bass here, which should include, at least, an increase from the current MLS of 40cm to 45cm to match the proposed UK standard. This is judged to be a length at which all bass will have spawned once and may be a factor in why bass around Ireland has failed to increase, despite the legal protections it has been awarded here for years.
Our approach if we wish to protect and enhance bass stocks here should, in my opinion, be twofold.
Firstly, due to the imminent deadline to make a submission, we should write (yup, it'll cost you the price of a stamp) to DEFRA, supporting the consultation.
The address to write to is as below, along with some stuff that really has to go in your letter - the rest is up to you.
Nicola Clarke
Coastal Waters Policy Branch
Defra
Area 7E
3-8 Whitehall Place
London SW1A 2HH
CONSULTATION ON MEASURES TO INCREASE THE NUMBER AND SIZE OF BASS AVAILABLE TO COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN
I am writing to express my total support for Option 2 of the proposal to increase the bass minimum landing size from 36 cms to 45 cms.
It is clear that exploitation of bass in UK waters as it stands at the moment is quite possibly damaging to Ireland's bass stocks, as may be seen in a report by the Marine Institute at
http://www.marine.ie/industry+services/ ... sts'05.pdf
""Ireland?s bass are genetically part of a European panmixia.
The origin of our broodstock is not established
beyond doubt and it is possible that some, at
least, are distributed as eggs and larvae to our coastal
waters from spawning concentrations of the adults
from the south coast of England/north west France.""
I also support the proposal to increase the minimum mesh sizes of nets used to catch bass by licensed commercial fishermen from 90mm to 110mm.I cannot over-emphasise how important it is to try and write your response to the Defra consultation in your own words.
Please remember to
Sign the letter and print your full name beneath your signature, as well as, making sure your full address is legible so that Defra can acknowledge your response and include you in any further consultations. It will also serve to drive home that their actions in regard to this consultation will have repercussions beyond their own borders.
Hopefully, if the UK can set the precedent of recreational anglers being able to drive conservation and protection legislation, we may all then have a good chance of extending this example to other countries/species.
Secondly, we need to start petitioning at home to have the bass MLS incresed to match the proposed UK standard before it gets imposed upon us from the EU - we need to be seen as being proactive in conservation, but I'll deal with this in another post.
A very recent scientific advice by the CEFAS bass expert, Mike Pawson, which was recently printed in Fishing News and is now available on the BASS website at
http://ukbass.com/2005/12/bass-mls-scie ... ew_09.html In general, adult bass now appear to remain near their summer feeding areas much later in the year, and to spawn further north, possibly as a consequence of climate warming.
The most recent tagging study also showed that the winter offshore fishery probably accounts for no more than 10% of the exploitation on bass otherwise taken in fisheries (both commercial and recreational) within UK territorial waters. Overall, there appears to be relatively little mixing between ""UK"" stocks and those along the continental and Irish coasts.
The first step in saving our bass, therefore, has to be help the UK save theirs. Their spawning stock augments our 'native' broodstock.
Please, take 10 minutes and the price of a stamp to draft a response as outlined above.
I'm doing mine today."