Why Bass is a political fish IFM Conference Plymouth 2015 Martin Salter and David Mitchell Angling Trust
Bass hits the Headlines in landmark year
EU takes emergency action
A 20 year campaign
With Heroes and Villians
Lobbying ministers
Briefing MPs
Acknowledging our Supporters
and taking them bass fishing!
as well as doing a bit ourselves
Begun with the battle for a sustainable MLS
Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society The Angling Trust Bass Stock Management and the minimum landing size 2012 Prepared for Richard Benyon MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Natural Environment and Fisheries), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
About Bass Long lived (up to 30 years ) and slow growing (10lb bass is 15+ years old) Late maturing ( 6 to 7 years old, 42cm+ for females) Good commercial value now overfished Premier UK sporting (angling) seafish, with very large economic value Adults disperse inshore in summer and offshore during winter, pre-spawning Juveniles live in or near inshore nursery areas Spawning success very variable ( the last good year was 1997 ) Very poor recent breeding years ( Cefas Solent young bass surveys )
Fisheries management / science - Why 48cm Female bass do not reach sexual maturity until at least 42cm long Source: Sea Bass: Biology, exploitation and conservation, by Pickett and Pawson, - the definitive work by the UK s leading bass experts from Cefas Quote All ripe females were larger than 42cm. This sexual maturity point appears very well defined at above 42cm At that age and size they grow about 5 to 6cm per year Therefore, to be sure that a bass caught at any time of year has had the chance to spawn and replace itself in the stocks at least once before it is taken, the MLS needs to be set at 48cm. i.e. the minimum size for maturity of 42cm, plus a probable maximum for annual growth of 6cm per year.
Economics - Commercial fishing Commercial fishing and landings (MMO and Cefas statistics) First hand sale value 5m p.a. (to the fishermen) Split 40% gillnets, 30% commercial rod and line, 20% targeted otter trawl, 10% pair trawling Represents less than 1% of landings value in UK Less than 400 commercial fishing boats in England land more than 2000 of bass pa The approx 800 tonnes of wild bass landed commercially in the UK each year, competes in the small plate-sizes bass market with approx 80,000 tonnes of bass farmed each year in the Mediterranean. Defra's own Sea Angling 2012 report shows there are 884,000 sea anglers in England who directly pump 1.23 bil-lion p.a. into the economy and upon which 10,400 full time jobs are dependent. If induced and indirect impacts are taken into account these figures soar to 2.1 billion and 23,600 jobs. The VAT alone which is collected from sea anglers dwarfs the entire value of all commercial fish landings in England.
Economics - Recreational Sea Angling The most popular sea angling species to target is bass, with nearly half of (800k) sea anglers choosing this as their main target species (Defra, Charting Progress 2) Safe to assume bass anglers number in excess of 300,000 The value of the bass sport fishery is now estimated by the government to be in excess of 200m p.a. despite severely depleted stocks of larger bass The research conducted by respected fisheries consultancy, MRAG, showed that anglers fishing in Sussex spent 31.3 million on tackle, charter boats and hotels to catch bass in 2012 and created 353 full time jobs. In comparison, commercial sea bass landings in Sussex generated only 9.25 million and 111 full time jobs. The value of bass angling to the economy was highlighted by the Cabinet Office report Net Benefits back in 2004 which recommended - Fisheries departments should review the evidence supporting arguments for re-designating commercially caught species for wholly recreational sea angling, beginning with bass by the end of 2004
Management lessons from abroad - North East USA Striped Bass In 1982 Striped Bass stocks were at an all time low of 5 million small fish - stock managed wholly for commercial fishermen Stock restoration measures enforced - stock actively managed primarily for Recreational Sea Anglers By 1996 stock restored to 50 million fish of large size Total Allowable Catch split 80% recreational, 20% commercial, with commercial catch back to 1960 s levels Angling spend increases from $85m to $560m, 25x as much as commercial economic value over that period By 2003 angling direct spend was $2.4bn, with an total economic value of $6.6bn (the Southwick study) - 26x greater than commercial fishing, or on a per pound harvested basis, 8x greater The Americans are very good at economics and business (but it took a crisis to get them there)
Management lessons from abroad - Southern Irish Bass Southern Ireland has the same Bass species as us, but 20 years ago foresaw the economic problems and opportunities For 20 years Eire has had a total ban on commercial fishing for Bass in it s territorial waters, with recreational angling controls via bag limits, minimum landing sizes and a close season The result is the best Bass angling in Europe Bass Angling in Ireland is estimated to be worth 15m p.a. with about half that from visiting anglers (compare that to the total value of all commercial Bass landings in England and Wales of 5m p.a.) Very recently the Irish government have re affirmed the wholly recreational status of bass, rejecting a two year campaign by the commercial fishing lobby to allow commercial exploitation of bass Northern Ireland is moving to a management regime very close to that of Southern Ireland.
Ignoring ICES ICES advice shows steeply declining catches since 2006 ICES said in Sept 2011 ICES reiterates its previous recommendation that implementation of input controls (preferably through technical measures aimed at protecting juvenile fish, in conjunction with entry limitations into the offshore fishery in particular) should be promoted ICES, Sept 2011 based on precautionary considerations, ICES advises that catches should not be allowed to increase in 2012 Scientific advice issued by ICES in June 2014 recommends a staggering 80 per cent cut in landings of bass across the EU for 2015. This follows advice for a 36 per cent cut in 2013 which was not acted upon. For 2016 ICES advises that when the MSY approach if applied, total landings (commercial and recreational) should be no more than 541 tonnes
CEFAS Evidence In 2011, UK catches flat on previousyear, but down 25% in Dorset (MMO) Since the start of the 90 s, numbers of 10yr+ old bass in catches have dropped to very low levels (except for a spike around 1999/2000/2001) Spawnings over the last 20+ years have only had 2 good years, 1989 and 1997 Autumn 2011 Solent young bass survey indicates a serious failure of recruitment in 2008 and 2009
Will it be enough? The closure of all targeted pelagic trawling of bass from February until April 30 th 2015. New bass mls of 42cms Three fish bag limit for RSA New restrictive monthly catch limits for commercial vessels targeting bass
What we need to see Strengthening and enforcing the UK's network of bass nursery areas. Taking steps to incentivise the line-caught fishery to improve selectivity Decreasing the catch limit per commercial boat per week to ensure we achieve the 85% necessary Slot size limits to protect bigger, more fertile, trophy fish
What we would like to see
We can but try Bass as recreational only species One fish bag limit MLS of 50 cms Max of 60cms No commercial bass fishing within 12 miles
The Struggle Continues
Thanks for Listening!