Brendan Griffin
Question:302 Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33164/12]
View answerTuesday, 10 July 2012
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Written answers
In the 1960s and 1970s Irish bass stocks were very severely depleted due to the overexploitation of the species by commercial fishing. This resulted in the near loss of one of our most important marine sport fish species and the collapse of the accompanying angling tourist industry that serviced this area. As a result of the serious decline in bass stocks, bass conservation legislation was put in place to facilitate the rebuilding of stocks. The south and east coastline have shown an improvement in stocks during the last decade but catches are still down on results experienced in the sixties and early seventies. The west coastline up to Galway Bay has also shown an improvement.
Bass in Irish waters are also protected by a number of measures including the Bass (Conservation of Stocks) Order 1990 which regulates the activities of Irish fishermen within ICES sub-areas VI and VII: commercial fishing for bass is prohibited, the taking of bass using nets is prohibited, and Irish fishing boats must not have bass on board or engage in trans-shipment of bass. This order also sets the legal size of capture for bass at 40cm. The slow pace of stock recovery indicates why all conservation measures and legislation needs to remain in place. Bass is the only marine species which is protected in this way, primarily for angling purposes. Angling for bass is also subject to control and anglers are limited to two fish in a 24 hour period, there is a close season from 15th May to 15th June and bass cannot be sold. Many bass anglers now practice catch and release voluntarily.
The Central and Regional Fisheries Boards and subsequently Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) have always given their full support to the Bass Conservation measures introduced by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Marine and will continue to do so in the future. Bass is a most important and sought after shore caught angling species attracting many anglers from home and abroad. This resource brings in additional sustainable revenue to many rural areas around our coastline. In 2007, angling brought circa 128,000 visitors, 68% of whom stayed between 6-14 nights in the country. The estimated spend by visiting anglers was €87.4m. It is estimated that circa 31,000 of these visiting anglers were sea anglers. In this regard and to underpin the importance of Bass as a key sea angling species the IFI is in the process of finalising a National Policy on the management of the species to ensure that it is only exploited in a sustainable manner into the future.