UK Government announces new protection measures for Sea Bass – are they enough?
The UK Government (Defra) and its Fisheries Minister, George Eustice MP, has announced 5th August 2015: “ New restrictions on the fishing of sea bass, including the introduction of a minimum catch size, will come into effect from as early as 1st September. This is following action by UK government to protect this iconic and threatened species, Fisheries Minister George Eustice announced today.
“The new controls are the result of continued lobbying in Europe to introduce new commercial and recreational fishing restrictions for bass. These measures will address the long-term decline in bass stocks due to over-fishing and support British fishermen for the future by ensuring sustainable bass fishing and angling.
“From next month fishermen and anglers will be prevented from catching juvenile bass under 42cm in size, giving female bass the chance to grow to an age where they can spawn. This will strengthen our stocks by creating a new generation of fish for us to catch more sustainably.
European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)
Commenting on the new measures, Fisheries Minister George Eustice said: “We’ve been consistent in Europe on the need to protect sea bass and the measures we’ve secured this year are vital to improving the health of our stocks. We can’t be complacent and while these measures are a significant step in kick-starting progress we have to ensure any recovery is sustained. That’s why we’ll be working closely with EU Member States, fishermen and anglers to build on this success and secure long-term improvement in the years to come.”
Defra reports: The UK Government spearheaded the introduction of the restrictions and worked closely with the EU Commission and Member States to develop a package covering:
- A daily 3 fish bag limit per person for recreational anglers.
- Monthly catch limits for commercial fishing vessels.
- A ban on all EU commercial fishing in areas around Ireland, excluding the Bristol Channel and other areas inside the UK’s 12 mile zone.
- A minimum conservation reference size of 42cm to allow female fish to grow to spawning age.
Source: Defra Press Release, 5th August 2015. For further details, see www.gov.uk/government/news/new-protections-for-sea-bass
Marinet observes: Are these changes in management sufficient to bring back the stocks of European Sea Bass from the brink of collapse?
In July 2015 the Marine Conservation Society reported that ICES had called last year (2014) for catches of both recreational and commercial fisheries to be cut by 80% in order to stem the serious decline in stocks, and that stocks had been in serious decline since 2010. MCS reported : “Member states have now [June 2015] reached an agreement on restrictions on catches for commercial fisheries, a three-fish bag limit for recreational fishermen and an extension of the moratorium of commercial fishing for sea bass around Ireland to include all vessels. But the restrictions are predicted to reduce catches by only 60% for pelagicpelagic The ecological area consisting of the open sea away from the coast and the ocean bottom. The pelagic zone contains organisms such as surface seaweeds, many species of fish and sharks and some mammals, such as whales and dolphins. Pelagic animals may remain solely in the pelagic zone or may move among zones. trawlers, 22% for demersaldemersal Living on the seabed vessels, which fish along the bottom of the sea, and 6% for hook and line fisheries, well below the 80% reduction urged by ICES.”
In June 2015 the UK’s Marine Management Organisation reported on what the EU Members States had agreed regarding restraint on fishing. The MMO advised: “On the 24th June 2015 the so-called “third package” of measures to address the stock decline includes the implementation of vessel catch limits for bass and a prohibition on retaining bass in the Celtic Sea came into force.
Vessel catch limits
From 1st July 2015, in the following areas a monthly catch limit will apply depending on the gear(s) a vessel uses:
- ICES divisions IVb and IVc [North Sea], VIId, VIIe, VIIf and VIIh [English and Bristol Channels]
- waters within 12 nautical miles from baseline under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom in ICES divisions VIIa and VIIg [Irish and Celtic Seas]
The limits for each gear type are as below:
Maximum catch of sea bass permitted per vessel per calendar month (in kg)
Mid water or pelagic trawls : 1,500 (kg)
All types of demersal trawls including Danish / Scottish seines : 1,800 (kg)
All drift net and fixed (trammel) net fisheries : 1,000 (kg)
All long lines or pole and line or rod and line fisheries : 1,300 (kg)
Purse seines : 3,000 (kg)
The limits apply to all vessel lengths and apply to the combined catches from any of the relevant ICES areas during a calendar month. For vessels which use multiple gear types during a calendar month the lowest catch limit for any of those gears used will apply.
Prohibition in the Celtic and Irish Seas:
The measures also prohibit vessels to retain on board, trans-ship, relocate or land sea bass caught in ICES divisions VIIb, VIIc, VIIj and VIIk [West and South West of Ireland, including Porcupine Bank], as well as in the waters of ICES divisions VIIa and VIIg [Irish and Celtic Seas] that are outside 12 nautical miles of the United Kingdom.
Marinet observes: Whilst these restrictions set in place by EU Members States (as identified above by the MMO) are clear evidence of change, do they actually constitute the 80% that ICES has stated is required? This is not clear, and it appears that the Marine Conservation Society’s fears may continue to be well founded.
Marinet observes: A further point which has not been clarified in the MMO statement, and which is equally crucial, is whether the EU Member States have actually decided to prohibit all trawling during the months of January to April in the offshore spawning grounds in the English Channel. This is vital if sea bass stocks are genuinely to be allowed to recover. It is the practice, which remains permissible and still practised under the CFP, of allowing trawlers of EU Members to fish stocks of all fish species when these stocks gather together at certain times of the year to spawn. It is this targeted trawling at the time of spawning which has been so destructive of stocks. One suspects that European Sea Bass has not been exempted from this ruinous practice.
Marinet observes: Of equally fundamental importance, again permitted for all stocks of all species under the Common Fisheries Policy, is the practice of allowing fish to be caught following their first year of sexual maturity. This immediate targeting of adults which are sexually mature for only one year (effectively, “teenage” adults) from such an early age means that stocks no longer contain older adults, and it is older adults which are the most fecund (the rule of thumb is: every time an adult doubles in length, so does its ability to lay eggs/produce sperm). For example, cod become sexually mature at around 6 years, and can live to 25 years. Older fish are therefore very important in the reproductive profile of the stock. However CFP fishing practices (net sizes) have ensured that virtually all cod stocks now contain virtually no adults beyond the age of 6 years. Hence the reproductive capability of cod stocks are seriously compromised, and unlikely to ever genuinely recover until adults can survive beyond the age of 6 years (e.g. to at least 15 years by means of employing larger mesh sizes in nets). This situation also applies to Sea Bass, which can live up to 28 years and attain 80 cm in length. However in their case the situation (until the June 2015 reforms) was that females were being caught at 35 cm and landed before they had even been allowed to reach sexually maturity. No wonder the stock has been collapsing. The reforms now prohibit (by means of a minimum landing size of 42cm) sea bass being landed until they have survived for 1 year of sexual maturity. A reform, of a sort. However allowing them to only live for roughly one year of sexual maturity it is hardly likely to bring about a rapid regeneration in the stock and, like cod and other species, they are now virtually no larger/older sea bass left in the stock. Hence their reproductive capabilities are seriously compromised, and remain so. The Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society has proposed that this situation be addressed by progressively increasing the minimum landing size, and in their Bass Management Plan they propose the following reforms:
B.A.S.S. would propose that the following bass MLS increases are adopted:
45 cm MLS – 1st January 2006
50 cm MLS – 1st January 2007
55 cm MLS – 1st January 2008
Marinet observes: Is there any evidence in the reforms announced by Defra and its Fisheries Minister on 5th August, or by the EU Members collectively in June 2015, that they are prepared to allow older and larger adults to survive in the stock (by progressively raising the minimum landing size)? The answer is, NO. This therefore means that these reforms are essentially flawed, and the prospects for their success highly uncertain. As Marinet has repeatedly observed to the governments of the EU Members of the CFP – you would not expect the human race to be able to survive solely on the reproductive capabilities of its teenagers, so why do you insist on subjecting fish to this absurd and inevitably destructive reality? Marinet has yet to receive a reply to this question. This question needs to be repeatedly and continuously asked, because CFP reform is meaningless until this particular policy changes. Improving the reproductive capability of the stock is a no-brainer, and so serious and genuine action on this point is essential. Until older fish (i.e. stocks contain the age and size profile that is characteristic of a healthy stocks — incidentally, a requirement of the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive), then it cannot be said that genuine action has been taken to restore the reproductive capability of the stock. Hence, we invite you to ask this question of government and to let us know if you get an answer.
Marinet observes: The final question that needs to be asked, and which is crucial throughout the whole CFP reform process and the delivery of its reforms, concerns the question of enforcement. Who is seeing that the promised reforms are actually being implemented and delivered, and where is the evidence of this being recorded? Okay, a fishing vessel may no longer engage in “discarding”, and be restricted to a catch limitation (quota), but who is monitoring and enforcing this? We know from recent court cases (see -1- and -2- and -3-) that illegal fishing is widespread, and that those being caught are merely the tip of the iceberg and, when convicted, are given a sentence that allows crime to pay. We know that EU funds (European Maritime and Fisheries Fund) are being allocated for the installation of “real-time” CCTV and data collection monitoring on fishing vessels in connection with discarding and other CFP reforms, but who is viewing the CCTV films, who is collating the data, and where is the enforcement agency that is “fingering the collar” of the law breakers and those who spurn the CFP’s spirit of reform? Ask these questions of the UK government, and the answer you receive will be less than convincing. Ask these questions of the EU Commission, and you will be told that enforcement is the responsibility of each Member State — and when it comes to pan-EU collation of the data, this is not really possible because each Member State is going about the process differently. So, Marinet observes: “enforcement” is the unspoken elephant in the room when it comes to fisheries reform. Everyone talks about it with great gusto, makes great claims for it, but it is really like a house of cards — it looks very magnificent, but blow a puff of air in its direction and the whole edifice collapses. It is one thing for governments and legislatures to pass laws, but it is quite another thing for them to create and empower a police force to enforce those laws. We do not tolerate this kind of schizophrenia on land, so why should we at sea? Therefore, that’s another question you might like to ask your government and your parliamentary representatives, and let us know what kind of answer you receive.
