How was sea bass managed in the EU until now?
For years France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium have managed sea bass nationally. National management measures varied: voluntary minimum landing sizes in France, closed areas to protect nurseries in the UK, a ban on recreational fishing for bass from 15th May to 15th June in Ireland, a maximum bag limit for recreational anglers in Ireland and the Netherlands, full prohibition for commercial fishing in Ireland.
Today scientists warn that these measures are inadequate for sustainable management. All countries now agree that a common approach is needed.
What does the common approach consist of?
The common approach for 2015 has rules for each of the actors involved, so that all contribute in a fair way to saving this stock:
1. Commission emergency measures prohibit pelagic trawling on spawning sea bass, to alleviate the immediate threat to the stock from fishing during reproduction season;1
2. A Council regulation sets a bag limit of 3 fish per recreational angler, per day2
3. In May 2015 the Commission will propose further measures to limit the catches of commercial fisheries and to increase the minimum landing size for both recreational anglers and commercial fishermen from the current 36 cm to 42 cm, so that sea bass are not caught (or if caught they are released) before reaching reproduction age.
What will be proposed under the third part of this package?
The section to be proposed in May 2015 will contain concrete measures to limit the catches of all commercial fishing activities that currently have an impact on sea bass. Demersal and pelagic trawlers, pole and line fisheries, gill netters and purse seiners all catch sea bass – and it is important that all contribute fairly to rebuilding this valuable stock. The proposal will need to be discussed between EU Member States. The Commission expects the Council of Fisheries Ministers to adopt the proposal before summer 2015.
The Commission will also propose to increase the minimum landing size from the current 36 to 42 cm.
1 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/111 of 26 January 2015 establishing measures to alleviate a serious threat to the conservation of the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) stock in the Celtic Sea, Channel, Irish Sea and southern North Sea
2 Council Regulation (EU) 2015523 of 25th March 2015 amending Regulations (EU) No 43/2014 and (EU) 2015/104 as regards certain fishing opportunities
Sea bass landings are increasing from year to year, what will the Commission do to tackle this?
The Commission’s proposal will be based on the latest scientific advice on the state of sea bass.3 The Commission will also be collecting catch data from the Member States concerned in order to have an informed view of the real situation on the ground. Should these catch data confirm an increase in catches, then the Commission will not hesitate to propose urgent management measures that allow better management of sea bass in the short term and avoid stock collapse.
Why are recreational anglers covered by the measures, when the commercial sector catches the lion share of sea bass?
According to scientific assessment, recreational anglers catch 25% of sea bass4 and therefore have an impact on the stock. Scientists found that we can reduce mortality with a daily bag limit and a greater minimum landing size5. On this basis the Council of Ministers, where all Member States are represented, adopted a three fish bag limit.
The commercial fishing industry catches 75% of sea bass and, while the pelagic industry has been prohibited from fishing for sea bass from end of January to end of April 2015, the Commission will also cover other commercial activities with a fresh proposal to be adopted in May to make sure that they too take a share of the burden and contribute to rebuilding this important stock.
What about the longer term?
Sea bass will be one of several stocks to fall under a multiannual management plan for North Western Waters. This proposal will be adopted in 2016 and will be based on the latest scientific advice.
What happens in January 2016, during the next spawning season of sea bass?
The third part of the package on sea bass should be adopted by the Council by the summer and remain in place until 31 December 2015. The Commission will ensure that a new proposal for sustainable management measures is put before the Council to cover 2016. These could be measures similar to what was adopted for 2015 and will in any case be based on the scientific advice from ICES expected for to June 2015).
3 STECF Plenary July 2014 (http://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reports/plenary); ICES 2014 advice for sea bass can be accessed here:
4 STECF 2014. Request for Services – Sea bass. Commitment No. SI2.680348. Paper for STECF July2014 Sea bass fisheries in Europe and their management. Mike Armstrong (contract lead) and Mickael Drogou, Independent scientific experts, UK and France (background documents on: https://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/plen1402).
5 Request for Services – Sea bass. Commitment No.686192, Paper for STECF; not yet published.
What is the potential economic impact of a further decline of seabass?
Halting the decline of sea bass and rebuilding this valuable stock is the number one principle guiding the Commission’s action. Many thousands of jobs in the UK, France, Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe depend on commercial sea bass fishing and for many small-scale fishermen sea bass is the main source of income6. Recreational fishing (including everything from angling equipment to boat rentals) plays an important role as well. There are more than 1.3 million recreational anglers in France and another 800.000 in the UK. Their direct contribution to sea bass catching is hard to quantify, as recreational sea fishing is generally on a mixed species basis. However estimates from surveys7 suggest that the added value is considerable. If the stock were to collapse, the impact would be catastrophic for the livelihoods of many fishermen and coastal communities. It is therefore vital to rebuild sea bass for the benefit of both commercial fishermen and recreational anglers, and the Commission will not shy away from taking any measure that is necessary to achieve this goal.
6 Section 3.5 STECF 2014. Request for Services – Sea bass. Commitment No. SI2.680348. Paper for STECF July2014 Sea bass fisheries in Europe and their management. Mike Armstrong (contract lead) and Mickael Drogou, Independent scientific experts, UK and France (background documents on: https://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/plen1402).
7 Armstrong, M. A. Brown, J. Hargreaves, K. Hyder, S. Pilgrim-Morrison, M. Munday, S. Proctor, A. Roberts, K. Williamson “Sea Angling 2012 – a survey of recreational sea angling activity and economic value in England” Defra,2013 http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/seaangling/finalreport.htm And Blue Marine Foundation: Defining the Economic and Environmental Values of sea bass- Link to publication here.
Background
1. The sea bass fishery
Sea bass is a high-value fish in the North-East Atlantic and particularly abundant in the southern North Sea, Irish Sea and West of Ireland down to the Iberian coast.
In this area sea bass has been declining rapidly since 2012 and according to ICES it will approach its historically lowest level in 2016. The number of young fish adding to the stock (the so-called recruitment) has been falling for a decade now, and has been very poor since 2008, which makes for the longest period of low recruitment on record. By contrast, fishing pressure (the so-called fishing mortality) has been constantly rising since the early nineties and has reached an all-time high in 2013. ICES advises a reduction in catches by 80% to halt the rapid decline in biomass.
Sea bass is targeted by a number of fishing techniques. Pelagic (mid-water) trawlers, contribute more than 25% of the total fishing mortality. Pelagic trawling targets sea bass during the spawning season from December through April, when bass aggregate in spawning areas and are therefore an easy target. Lines and hooks, gill-nets and other gears catch sea bass in different areas and throughout the year.
Ireland, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium have a stake in the commercial fishery for sea bass.
Ireland prohibited the commercial landing and sale of sea bass and closed its sea bass fishery in the early nineties. France fishes 67% of the total commercial catches and has developed an industrial fishery targeting sea bass in spawning areas, during periods when the fish congregate to reproduce. It also has the largest recreational fishery. All other countries have smaller-scale fisheries using different techniques. Some countries have a ban on pelagic pair trawling within their own 12-mile zones.8
Sea bass is popular among recreational anglers. France has the largest recreational fishery for sea bass with 1,3 million anglers, followed by the UK with 800.000 anglers and the Netherlands. Recreational angling contributes approximately 25% of sea bass landings.
2. Economic value
The commercial fishing fleet that catches sea bass includes a wide diversity of vessel sizes, ranges and gears. A large fraction of the fleet is made up of small vessels (below 12m) that are mainly active in the 12-mile zone.
Equally varied is the extent to which fishing vessels depend on sea bass. Small vessels that fish sea bass with lines and hooks can depend considerably more on bass than large vessels using trawls, and often operating in mixed fisheries. In France, more than 220 small vessels using lines, with more than 270 crew, depend on sea bass for more than 50% of their revenue; the same is true for 21 pelagic (mid-water) trawlers and approx. 100 people, although these exercise most of the fishing pressure (25% of total fishing mortality). Of the demersal (bottom trawlers), 2 vessels with 6 crew depend on sea bass for more than 50%.
Another important economic aspect is recreational fishing. In France, more than 1.3 million people undertake more than 9 million fishing trips per year, and sea bass is the main species caught. The total yearly expenditure on angling equipment, baits and boats is estimated at approx. EUR 530m. In the UK, it is estimated that 800,000 sea anglers spent GBP 1.23bn on the sport in 2012.
By comparison, the annual revenue generated by the first sale of sea bass for commercial fishing in France amounts to EUR 43 million (according to France).
8 The South-west Territorial Waters (Prohibition of Pair Trawling) Order 2004 (United Kingdom)
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