To summarise then, there is nothing illegal about selling bass caught on rod and line from the shore, there is nothing illegal about selling bass caught on rod and line from licensed boats. From a sport angling perspective, of course, any rod and line fishermen capturing and selling bass from shore or boat is quite simply a commercial fisherman and most clearly and demonstrably not a sport angler. The proposals to introduce bag limits for bass on recreational boat anglers as a means of facilitating enforcement of current legislation, are wholly inappropriate. As I have already told the Minister, the recreational sea angling sector has suffered enormously as a result of over fishing. Charter boat operators are finding it increasingly difficult to attract paying sport anglers because of the lack of fish to motivate demand for angling opportunities.
Anglers still see no sign that overfishing is being robustly addressed.
To now impose restrictions on sport anglers who are already suffering from the activities of others, without a viable restoration plan package for the depleted resources, would be most unfair. Rest assured, anglers will definitely be willing to play a full role in any plans to meaningfully restore bass stocks. They will of course wish to participate fully in the process of deciding on a package of measures to restore bass stocks and under such circumstances would not rule out bag limits.