Bass Unity

“We are still absorbing the measures that were put in place
for this year. It is important that we understand their effect before putting
additional measures forward.”

He added that it is important that the fishing
industry does not splinter and fragment over bass.

“There are signs of splits and fragmentation within the
industry about what to do about bass”, he said, “especially on social media.”

“The science points to a number of poor year classes, and
overall fishing pressure is too high. There is no escaping the reality that we
need to take our foot off the accelerator to ensure that the downward trends
are reversed. However, the focus is in danger of slipping from what sensibly should be done and what steps
taken, to a destructive argument over who is to blame and who should bear the
weight of additional conservation measures. The Commission’s overreaction in
the form of a proposal to apply a moratorium on bass fishing, would carry
devastating consequences right around the coast.”

“We need to stay united as an industry and not dilute our
demand for effective but proportionate, and above all intelligent measures. We know what damage can be done both to the
industry and effective conservation, when political knee jerks win the day: clumsy
measures; unintended consequences; and perverse outcomes, such as discarding of
a valuable resource.”

“A huge number of fishermen are dependent on bass for a
significant part of their annual income. We are all in this together and we
should fight together. The burden of rebuilding the stock should be fairly
shared. Because there is no silver bullet
for bass, rebuilding the stocks will require a range of tailored sectoral
measures to put things back on track. It may take some time but the most
important thing is to ensure that we are moving in the right direction.”

The Federation has written to the Minister on the need for a proportionate response to bass management.