Members of the public may not be aware that the division of the European Commission that deals with fisheries excels in stupidity. Indeed it has taken stupidity to a whole new art form in the last couple of years and has become the darling of the fanatics who dislike the commercial fishing industry.
Scientists have recently expressed concerns about the state of stocks of sea bass in UK waters. There is always room for improved fishery science to establish the true state of any given stock. The Industry has done much in recent years to engage in fishery science projects with the scientists to agree sensible and practical conservation measures where a problem is detected. Therefore when a problem such as the bass arises, one might think the sensible way forward would be for scientists, fishermen, fisheries managers and administrators to sit down and discuss sensible and workable ways to conserve the stock.
The Commission, of course, ever aware of its need to assert and preserve its own unaccountable power base, had different ideas. Just one of the panic measures it decided to introduce was to allow demersal trawlers the right to retain and land just a 1% by-catch of bass against the total catch of the boat. In the south west, trawlers engage in a mixed fishery where they often catch as many as 25 different species per day. Bass are just an unavoidable, occasional but welcome by-catch, welcome because of their high value. In the past of course, trawlers did not have to return any bass to the sea. What would be the point of returning high value,dead bass to the sea that you can't avoid catching? Answers on a post-card please.
The smaller trawlers in the south west, at the moment, are catching an average gross weight of all species of about 400 kgs allowing them to land just 4 kgs of bass. If the boat is lucky enough to accidentally come by just one box of bass (30 kgs), it has to discard 26 kgs of these fish back over the side into the water at a loss to the boat and crew of about £208 at modest prices.
We would simply like to say that the bass would not survive and therefore there are no conservation benefits in returning them to the sea. They are an unavoidable by-catch in a mixed fishery. It really is difficult to understand the minds of the people who introduce such legislation, particularly bearing in mind all the good work being undertaken by the Industry. Three words spring to mind, illogical, stupid and spiteful.