To:
Sec. State, DEFRA Andrea Leadsom
NFFO (Chairman Tony Delahunty)
Permanent Sec. Clare Moriarty
SouthernIFCA (+Committee)
Minister of Fisheries, Mr.George Eustice MP
Madeleine Moon, MP for Bridgend
Suella Fernandes, MP for Fareham
Ref: The Inshore Commercial Bass Fishery
This letter is to all administrators governing the Fishing Industry, including some MP’s who have voice and influence over it. We, the Warsash Inshore Fishermen’s Group who have been supported by our MP, Miss Suella Fernandes, request that the issues expressed in this letter and accompanying material be read, thoroughly scrutinised and addressed and that our questions be fully and genuinely answered.
The House of Commons Parliamentary debate on Recreational Sea Bass Fishing took place on 11.01.2016, see pages 1819-1846 at which our MP spoke on our behalf (pages 1837-1839) and who accordingly delivered to us a copy of that debate. Subsequently, the Warsash Inshore Fishermen’s Group ‘Open Letter’ to Fisheries Minister Mr George Eustice and our accompanying ‘Analysis’ of the RSA Debate was published in full by the Fishing News on the 14 April 2016. The ‘Analysis’ is now available online here.
It has been several months since our publications have been available and open to public scrutiny, with no comment so far from conservation and angling groups such as Bass Anglers Sports Fishing Society (BASS) and many others whose apparent aims are to undermine and manage the bass fishery.
But, we have thankfully received a very supportive response from the Minister Mr George Eustice via our MP Miss Suella Fernandes. He very much encourages small scale, low impact inshore fisheries and methods. Now that the new reformed Common Fisheries Policy is in place – which puts the emphasis on enhancing ports like Warsash – any advancement in fishing gear or methods that will promote sustainability and improve selectivity to achieve the new minimum landing size (mls) of 42cm for bass and help conservation, we also support. Our response has been an expensive replacement of gill net to suit the new measures.
Regarding the House of Commons debate on RSA and some of the criticisms we voiced regarding the spurious and incorrect facts cited by some MP’s in favour of replacing commercial bass fishing with a recreational one, a good example would be from MP for Bridgend, Mrs Moon (page 1829 of the RSA Debate) and her views on gill nets.
Quote: “Those outside this place who have never had the joy of seeing a gillnet should be made aware that it leads to a violation of the EU fish size regulations by allowing for the catch of undersize fish which are then thrown back dead. They do not help conserve fish stocks because the undersize fish, the next generation of fish, are thrown back dead.”
As we have suggested in our ‘Analysis of the Debate’ Mrs Moon, MP, needs to re-educate herself on the subject of gill nets for bass before she makes a public statement in the House of Commons. She later describes them as ‘conservation-damaging’ (page 1829). MP’s were allegedly ‘briefed’ by the Angling Trust prior to this debate. However, in that same briefing no mention of the size selectivity of gill nets were made.
