Tony
It looks like the protection for Irish bass is under threat, have a look at this.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0308/1224265792478.html
The Irish Times - Monday, March 8, 2010
Concern over possible new threat to bass stock
ACCORDING to usually reliable resources, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Tony Killeen, may be facing challenges for the withdrawal of the conservation ban on commercial bass fishing.
From an angling perspective, even the suggestion of a reversal should be sufficient to arouse the strongest possible lobby to ensure the existing order stays intact. Bass is a highly prized and valuable species and a major attraction for home-based and overseas anglers.
In 1990, the then Minister for Marine, John Wilson, announced tough measures aimed at conserving bass because stocks had dropped dramatically and were at a dangerously low level. Happily, these restrictions still apply today.
The measures included a complete ban on commercial fishing by fishing boats and on the use of nets for bass fishing and a complete ban on the sale of bass (except for imported bass).
Tough measures were also imposed on anglers with a minimum size limit of 40cm; introduction of a bag limit of two bass per person per 24-hour period and a close season extending from May 15th to June 15th of each year.
Commercial fishing for the species was blamed for the decline; reports of 200 tonnes brought in by commercial boats from the Kerry coastline were well founded. Exportation to Europe had become a lucrative business.
Ireland's indigenous bass population is slow-growing and late maturing compared with European stocks. Bass can be up to eight years old before spawning for the first time and more than 20 years old at 4.5kg (10lb) weight. Their vulnerability is increased by the fact that Ireland is at the northern limit of its range and there are many years when our waters are too cold for successful spawning.
In 1997 these conservation measures came under attack from the commercial sector. At the time, the Minister of State at the Department of Marine, Eamon Gilmore, fought to maintain existing standards despite a growing lobby to have them abolished.
Following this outstanding effort to defend any attack on bass stocks, Gilmore received the W Rawles Memorial Award from the English-based Bass Anglers' Sportfishing Society, which also has members in France and the Channel Islands.
The award was indeed an extraordinary expression of gratitude from an overseas body of anglers to a country that is mindful of its tourists and aware of the importance of promoting and protecting this valuable bass as a sustainable angling resource.
"The contribution by Minister Gilmore will be felt for years to come and will show there is a way to use a resource without causing its demise," said journalist and bass expert Bob Moss, when presenting the W Rawles award.
At last month's Irish Specimen Fish Awards, Dr Edward Fahy spoke eloquently on the absolute need to maintain the suite of bass conservation measures already in place. He said it was clear it could not be sustainably managed for commercial purposes, largely due to its behaviour. Instead, it has been successfully managed as a recreational species.
"Commercial exploitation is not the best use of this resource. The Federation of Irish Fishermen is going through hard times because they have fished down virtually every other species. I appeal to anglers to make representations to their councillors, TDs and ministers to ask that the current status of bass remains untouched and that the law be enforced," he said.
"Fish stocks of Ireland are for the people of Ireland and should not be reserved for the powerful and politically well-connected," Fahy said.
Dr William Roche, fisheries biologist with the Central Fisheries Board, said the science, in terms management of bass, in Ireland is limited with regard to the data availability. Angling on a mainly catch and release basis (very limited take) is sustainable. Historical evidence suggests that commercial fishing is not, he said.
Further details at www.irishbass.org.
And Sir Ian There is nothing wrong with a "Mass debate"
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