50 signatures reached
To: George Eustice MP
No restrictions on UK bass angling
Please exclude UK recreational anglers from restrictions on taking bass (Dicentrarchus labrax).
Why is this important?
The UK Recreational Sea Angler (RSA) take of bass is a fraction of the amount of the EU combined bass take for RSA and commercial fishers and is significantly well below the RSA take of France, Holland and Belgium (per capita) that already have restrictions (based on the latest ICES and STECF and Sea Angling 2012 reports). For example, UK RSA on charter boats landed an estimated 31 tonnes of bass in 2012, this was significantly less than 1% of the EU total catch for that year. Similarly, UK RSA, fishing from the shore returned 80% of all bass caught.
Anglers have been fishing responsibly for years, please allow us to continue to do so.
