Bass track record hope
17th March 2017
Brussels queries UK bass track record rules. Aim is to stop extra fishing pressure Commission tells LIFE.
The European Commission is questioning the transfer of bass track records from the licence to the boat and the inability to transfer track records that DEFRA/MMO have imposed under the new 2017 bass regulations, reports Tim Oliver.
The measure has angered and worried many bass fishermen, particularly some who have new boats on order and now fear they will not be able to use them for bass fishing, or who have sold their boats and kept the licence.
In response to a query from the Brussels office of Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), the Commission said the intention of the regulation was ‘to restrict additional vessels entering into sea bass fisheries increasing the fishing pressure beyond current levels’.
A Commission fisheries official told LIFE: “I fully appreciate the concerns that this ties the fishing history only to the vessel, so a replacement or new vessel would no longer be able to continue with the current fishing practice. As the aim is to prevent additional capacity, we consider that any fishing history could be linked to the licence rather than the vessel. The Commission will seek to clarify this with the member states.”
The official added, “Article 9 (3) establishes that a derogation enjoyed by one vessel cannot be transferred to another, ie that an overshoot of catch by one vessel is covered by under shooting by another. Our understanding was that this is not to prevent the transfer of track records; we will also seek to clarify this further.”
LIFE chief executive, Jerry Percy, asked the MMO for clarification of the regulations in an open letter to MMO chief executive John Tuckett published in Fishing News (23 February). He pointed out that track records in the past had always been attached to the licence not the boat and asked for ‘a clear explanation of this change in your approach and the legal basis on which you have made it’. He received no reply. He has now written again to Mr Tuckett and copied to him the response LIFE has received from the Commission.
He tells the MO chief: “Your interpretation of the Article has caused genuine consternation and fear for those fishers who ostensibly met the track record requirement but had recently sold their boat but retained their licence.
“In the absence of any explanation being forthcoming as a result of my previous request to you for clarification of your interpretation of the regulation, I asked the Low Impact Fishers of Europe office in Brussels to make urgent enquiries with the European Commission’s fisheries department in this regard.”
Referring to the Commission’s response, copied to the MMO, he says, “It would be really most helpful if you could, without delay, reflect the Commission view of this aspect of the regulation and publish an amendment to your original statement in order to reassure those identified in my opening paragraphs that they will in fact be able to continue fishing for bass within the 2017 legislation.
“I also hope that you will not simply rely on your current appeals procedure to provide a route for those affected. Fishermen that I have spoken to often have an ingrained cynicism with regard to MMO appeals processes and I do believe that you have a duty to publish a written clarification to your original statement without delay, for obvious reasons.”
The measure has angered and worried many bass fishermen, particularly some who have new boats on order and now fear they will not be able to use them for bass fishing, or who have sold their boats and kept the licence.
In response to a query from the Brussels office of Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), the Commission said the intention of the regulation was ‘to restrict additional vessels entering into sea bass fisheries increasing the fishing pressure beyond current levels’.
A Commission fisheries official told LIFE: “I fully appreciate the concerns that this ties the fishing history only to the vessel, so a replacement or new vessel would no longer be able to continue with the current fishing practice. As the aim is to prevent additional capacity, we consider that any fishing history could be linked to the licence rather than the vessel. The Commission will seek to clarify this with the member states.”
The official added, “Article 9 (3) establishes that a derogation enjoyed by one vessel cannot be transferred to another, ie that an overshoot of catch by one vessel is covered by under shooting by another. Our understanding was that this is not to prevent the transfer of track records; we will also seek to clarify this further.”
LIFE chief executive, Jerry Percy, asked the MMO for clarification of the regulations in an open letter to MMO chief executive John Tuckett published in Fishing News (23 February). He pointed out that track records in the past had always been attached to the licence not the boat and asked for ‘a clear explanation of this change in your approach and the legal basis on which you have made it’. He received no reply. He has now written again to Mr Tuckett and copied to him the response LIFE has received from the Commission.
He tells the MO chief: “Your interpretation of the Article has caused genuine consternation and fear for those fishers who ostensibly met the track record requirement but had recently sold their boat but retained their licence.
“In the absence of any explanation being forthcoming as a result of my previous request to you for clarification of your interpretation of the regulation, I asked the Low Impact Fishers of Europe office in Brussels to make urgent enquiries with the European Commission’s fisheries department in this regard.”
Referring to the Commission’s response, copied to the MMO, he says, “It would be really most helpful if you could, without delay, reflect the Commission view of this aspect of the regulation and publish an amendment to your original statement in order to reassure those identified in my opening paragraphs that they will in fact be able to continue fishing for bass within the 2017 legislation.
“I also hope that you will not simply rely on your current appeals procedure to provide a route for those affected. Fishermen that I have spoken to often have an ingrained cynicism with regard to MMO appeals processes and I do believe that you have a duty to publish a written clarification to your original statement without delay, for obvious reasons.”
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