The UK Government has not sought to water down the EU decision to protect
bass stocks agreed in the EU fisheries Council on 15 December 2015, as suggested
in the petition title. The terms of the petition are either a misrepresentation
or misunderstanding of the EU process and the UK Government’s approach.
It is actually the UK Government that has consistently pressed for EU action
to address the decline of the stock, and we secured emergency action in 2015. We
were not the authors of the recent proposal for 2016, however – this was a
Commission proposal – nor indeed of the derogations offered in the compromise
deal tabled at Council. However the agreement for 2016 is tougher on most
sectors than that for 2015.
The UK Government did manage to achieve some key outcomes to adjust both the
proposal and the related compromise deal. These help to protect the EU bass
stock’s progress to sustainable fishing and the interests of both recreational
and small scale commercial fishermen as EU bass fisheries move towards that
goal, as follows.
We fought for and secured continuation of a recreational catch and release
fishery for recreational sea anglers during the 6 month moratorium on bass
catches, which was under threat in the Commission proposal wording. This means
that anglers and charter vessels can continue sport-fishing activity throughout
the year, subject to the ban proposed by the Commission on keeping bass during
the first six months, coupled with a single fish daily bag limit per person in
the second half of the year.
While accepting the principle of the proposed 6 month moratorium and a
subsequent catch limit of 1 tonne per vessel per month for most commercial
fisheries, we aimed to avoid disproportionate impacts on the lower impact,
small-scale inshore hook and line and inshore fixed gillnet fisheries during the
first 6 months. But as the UK Government position was for a more modest
derogation than that offered on the day, we sought to reduce the impact of this
on bass stocks.
The 42cm MLS is probably still insufficient. A female bass of 41 cm at
start of the spring spawning period will not be a viable spawner, as
their sexual maturity is around 46cm. By the time the following annual
spawning period arrives, she will be approx. 46 – 48 cm and she will
spawn for the first time. IF, with a 42 cm MLS she is caught during that
12 month period and retained (perfectly legal) she will have been
killed BEFORE ever spawning. To ensure all females have at least one
spawning, a MLS of 48 cm (2 lbs – 10 oz) is required. ???
Government response continued...
Our negotiating position was based on different fisheries’ relative impacts
and reflected several factors. Hook and line has the highest degree of
selectivity for the right size of bass taken – though gillnets also perform well
compared with other fishing methods. We also needed to consider the proportion
of the bass catch taken by UK vessels using these methods: although the nets
gear group has previously accounted for half of the annual UK bass total
landings (46% average from 2011-2013), drift-netting is estimated to account for
up to 90% of this, as the Commission are aware, and drift-netting was not agreed
for inclusion in the derogation.
In the final compromise these two commercial fisheries (hook and line and
fixed gillnets) were given identical derogations for all Member States fishing
for bass (February-March moratorium and 1.3 tonne catch limit all year). The UK
Government negotiating position in advance of the Council decision had been to
press for lower – and differentiated – catch limits for derogations to apply for
these two EU fisheries (excluding drift-netting) during the moratorium. But
while the compromise offered higher monthly catch limits for netting, matching
the limits for hook and line, these are not applicable to the majority of UK
netting activity and are combined with the complete closure for two months.
It was necessary to agree EU-level measures for bass in this way because we
share the fishery with other Member States who need to be fully signed up if we
are to achieve stock recovery. We now at least have a firm timetable with Member
States’ and Commission agreement, to achieve sustainable fishing of bass by
2018, and the EU’s interim management package will increasingly be complemented
by regional measures, including in the context of multi-annual management plans
driven by the Member States concerned, as well as national ones.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Click this link to view the response online:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/116747?reveal_response=yes
Thanks,
The Petitions team
UK Government and Parliament
