One bass per day for anglers

Wednesday 29 June 2016

Sport fishing practices will now be subject to stricter controls as the States this week passed a raft of new legislation to protect local sea bass stocks

Incoming “bag limits” will limit recreational bass fishermen to one fish, per person, per day and acceptable equipment for recreational fishing will be more tightly defined.

While previously, the catches of recreational fishermen were unregulated, from now on they will be subject to “bag limits” on two species – bass and ormers.

These bag limits will be introduced at a later date but they will be in line with EU standards and set at one bass per day per fisherman and 20 ormers today per person.

There will also be a limit on vessel catches for ormers of 100 ormers, regardless of the number of people on board. 

A newly implemented size limitation for landing bass was unanimously approved by the Assembly this week and will bump the minimum catch size from 36 cm to 42 cm for both recreational and commercial fishermen from next week.

The new laws will cover the recreational fishing of the popular species by boat, line or coastal net.

And vehicles will no longer be allowed to drive fishing gear down onto the beach under parallel legislation from the Economic Development Minister, unless they obtain a special permit.

Landing fish in excess of these bag limits could see offending fisherman fined up to £20,000 and any fish caught beyond these limits must be returned to the sea – even if the fish is already dead.

“Fish must be returned to the water in the same condition, as nearly as practicable, as that in which they are taken,” the bag limits law states. “It is immaterial whether they are dead or alive.”

Failure to comply will be punishable by fine.

Bumping up the allowable minimum size for bass was necessary as “scientific evidence indicates that this size (36 cm) is below the first size at maturity,” according to the amendment adopted unanimously in the States Assembly.

And fishermen will no longer be allowed to transport fishing gear onto the beach by vehicle without a special permit.

“This trend has allowed a significant increase in the amount of fishing equipment that an individual can set which has led to increased catches, of both target and non-target species,” Minister Luce wrote in a letter requesting that the Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture amend a key piece of legislation.

This will take effect next week as will new rules on the maximum allowable number of hooks when line fishing in inshore waters. The legislation notes the practice is popular in winter months.

The maximum hooks or trots will be 50 hooks per person.

And net-fishing on the beach will now be subject to a maximum net size of 100 metres per person and the minimum mesh size of the net is 90-110 mm.

Net and lines going forward must also be clearly marked with names and contact details of the fisherman.

The Minister said these measure will help protect bass within their nursery area.