You Now Have A Real Chance To Improve Our Bass Fishing

Fishing is forever we like to think, Yes that's true but we have a big responsibility in conserving what we have at present and trying to improve the number of fish swimming in the ocean. One way we as anglers can do this is by catch and release with barbless hook and only harvesting a brace of bass per day. Returning all fish over 5lbs. These bigger fish have a better gene pool and produce more smaller bass. Its not rocket science. Sadly we have many slobs in this world who kill, kill and kill all the bass they catch then sell them on the fish market. In fact we have a few people who fish for bass off the Fylde coast and in Morecambe Bay who practise kill and sell. They have no interest in the future. We don't need these people.

We only need to look west across the Atlantic ocean and how the Sports fisher with the help of various State Government have improved the bass fishing. Its now a multi billion dollar business. Everyone is happy. Hotels, tackle shops, guides, airlines, taxi drivers,. In fact everyone form small kids to grandparents are now catching bass.

We must get together with Marine conservation groups, English Nature and other groups that are fighting for a better marine environment. We should all be members of the Bass Anglers Sports Fishing Society, a group who really do, do a lot to improve the environment for bass. The Government have now put a ban on pairs trawling for bass in the spawning season This wasn’t because the Government thought it was a good idea. It was done by pressure from Bass Anglers Sports Fishing Society who doing a magnificent job in putting a well balanced case to the Government and the Department for the environment, food and rural affairs.(DEFRA) is now holding a public consultation to see YOUR views on the first stage to increase the minimum landing size of bass from 36cm to 45cm. They want to hear from you. If your fed up with catching only small fish or finding nets festooned around your favourite mark, or cowboy commercials ravaging your local stocks. Usually these morons are claiming benefits from DSS which you are paying through your taxes. Now is the time to act and make sure the Government know about your feelings.

Please write to Nicola Clarke Coastal Waters Policy Branch Defra Area 7E 3-8 Whitehall Place London SW1A 2HH Explain how much you spend on your sport. How with more bass to catch, you will visit the coast. More often staying several nights in B&B's at seaside towns and villages. Explain how more fish will benefit tackle dealers, charter boats, coastal tourism, bait suppliers and angling guides.

Also why not join BASS and support their work. Write to John Halton BASS Treasurer Millway Cottage Hoofield Lane Huxley Chester CH3 9BR The current subscription rates remain unchanged and are: Individual (Adult) - £18 Family, Club or Organisation - £27 Junior or Senior Citizen - £9

Pressure from anglers can work. Back in the 1970’s bass fishing on the eastern seaboard was at an all time low. Thousands were put out of work hotels closed down, boat builders laid off staff and tackle stores closed. Eventually a group of anglers got together with the various State Governors along the Eastern seaboard and put in place a plan of action. Lets not forget these State Governors represented Democrats and Republicans who do not usually work together. For bass survival and sports fishing interests these Governors acted in unison.

Congress was primed to pick up the pen and two bills more than anything else saved the bass from going the way of the Dodo. The Emergency Striped Bass study of 1979 and the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act of 1984 For several years bass fishing was stopped to give the fish a chance It worked today with size and catch limits being introduced for anglers the bass is back.

In 1982 Congresswomen, Claudine Schnieder of Rhode Island introduced the first bill, HR 4484 into the 92nd Congress to impose a moratorium on the taking of striped bass. The bill went to the House of Representatives and was changed to first increase the size limit to 24 inches. Two years later they declared a moratorium on striped bass fishing in the Chesapeake bay area.

The legal size limit rose from 24, then 28 then, 32 and then to 36 inches by 1990. By 90 and 91 we had tons of striped bass swimming around and the production in the spawning areas was hitting an all time high now that the females were being protected.

In 1992 to 1995 they once again began to lower the size limits on the fishery and by 1995 they declared the fishery fully restored,. They were playing politics and appeasing the commercial fishery. This fishing dropped back with this lowering of size limits. Thankfully its been increased again.

The biggest advance in improvement of bass fishing was the catch and release policy, restrictions which were put on the number and size of fish which could be retained. They also hit the commercial fishing interests, cutting back catch quotas, increasing the no fishing zones for commercial fishing boats and buying out a of commercial boats. Without doubt the restrictions that were put on the netting of bait fish used for fertilisers gave a big boost to bass survival. The bait fish are of course being the main food chain, lose this and everything disappears. We have witnessed this with the cod. Groups of anglers got together to fight for the bass and make sure the restrictions worked, anglers breaking the rules were given a rough ride by their fellow anglers. Government and tourism industry realised the bass were worth thousands of dollars swimming in the ocean, just a couple of dollars a pound dead.

We in the United Kingdom must not say this want work, or that want have any effect. We don't know because we haven't tried it. Salmon anglers today are returning most of the fish they catch. This year its been the best season in many years for salmon caught and released. As we release more fish, so these fish can reproduce. The bass is a slow growing fish it needs all the help we can give them. We anglers are in the forefront of saving the bass If we don’t do anything, no one else will. Lets take a lead and show we anglers care about the future and practise catch and release. We must also make sure the press and our local MP’s and politicians know what we are doing and making sure everyone is aware that we anglers care about the future. Remember if an MP gets 20 letters from his constituents he might become a worried MP. We should all be writing to our MP about the plight of bass and other marine fish and the environment.