Bass Angling Conservation is pleased to publish a review by SeaPlusPlus of the current bass harvest strategy and alternatives.

Review findings

• the current harvest strategy may not be sufficiently precautionary
  
• the Bass Fishery Management Plan objectives extend beyond maximising the tonnage extracted:
  
  • Goal 5: maximise social and economic benefits for coastal communities and fishers, including equitable distribution of benefits across commercial and recreational sectors.
    
  • Goal6: ensure ecosystem health and resilience, including protection of demographic population structure (age/size), spatial distribution, and wider ecosystem considerations
    
• Focusing on tonnage extraction alone, as the current harvest strategy does, is not sufficient to demonstrate delivery of the full policy objective set.
  

A new harvest strategy is needed

The review supports our view that the current harvest strategy will not deliver the excellent bass fishery recreational fishers and small-scale commercial fishers want and deserve. A new harvest strategy is needed to maximise social and economic benefits from the bass fishery and to ensure ecosystem health and resilience.

Transitioning to a new and better harvest strategy

The review sets out how we can transition to a new and better harvest strategy by:

• setting a lower level of fishing pressure, as an interim measure, to ensure a truly precautionary approach in the face of the many uncertainties in the bass fishery.
  
• developing a multi-goal harvest strategy that targets:
  
  • a better fishing experience
    
  • maximising social and economic benefits for coastal communities
    
  • a Large Fish Strategy (LFS) to maintain a robust age/size stock structure and improve resilience
    
  • ecosystem health
    
  • fairness for recreational fishers and small-scale commercial fishers
    

Thank you to our amazing funders!

We are extremely grateful to:

• the 144 donors who together contributed £7,000 of match-funding in a matter of weeks; and
  
• the MMO for providing £20,250 of Fisheries and Seafood Scheme funding.

Without this funding, the review would not have been possible. A list of donors who provided their consent to be named is provided at page 62 of the review.