Sea Anglers' Conservation Network

The fact is that, for species where their is no quota, black fish landings are not a problem for RSA. Whether the market is being supplied legally or illegally makes no difference to the amount of non-quota fish that the market is taking. It merely means that bona fide licensed fishermen have a greater problem selling into an already well supplied market, and get a lower price for their product. Carwyn Jones seems to think that if the black market for bass is stopped that those fish will not then be taken out of the sea, so regards it as a conservation measure. However the market will still be there. By choking off the black market supply it will merely mean that it will be bona fide licensed fishermen supplying that market with those fish rather than unlicensed commercial fishermen (rod and liners as well as netters). So it's really about protecting the market and market price of licensed fishermen, rather than about conservation. And anglers will not benefit from that. Yet in order to protect that market, the intention is to take away the rights of bona fide Recreational Sea Anglers, because the perception is that will make supply to the black market more easy to enforce. If a cap was to be placed on the effort on bass then perhaps a cap on the Recreational catch would be acceptable. But the current bag limit proposals make no mention of a limit on total effort, licensed fishermen will still be able to put out as much netting as they possibly can, leave it in the water for as long as is practical, fish for as many hours as they can manage. And when the black market is quashed, and the price of fish goes up, there is no way that the supply of fish will fall, rather the licensed catching sector will gear up to take up the slack. And that is why the carcass tagging idea is preferable. It not only makes life difficult for those who supply black fish, but it enables a cap to be placed on total effort, increasing the market price and meaning that bona fide licensed fishermen will actually be able to fish less for the same level of income. Not only protecting the market and price of bona fide licensed fishermen, but delivering conservation benefits as well. And there is no need to place unnecesary restrictions on bone fida Recreational Sea Anglers taking home fish for their own use, and to feed their families, though with a cap on commercial effort perhaps an angling bag limit would be more acceptable and equitable . Win Win Win for everyone, and most importantly for the fish stocks themselves.

(Posted on November 18, 2006, 11:12 am Leon Roskilly)

Bass Carcass Tagging - An Alternative to Bag Limits?

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