THEY remain heavily protected by fishing restrictions – but bass appear to be making a comeback…
Stocks of the highly prized fish previously dropped so low that in 2017 recreational fishermen were banned from taking any home.
And the commercial fleet were subject to tough regulations, with a maximum of 12 boats being given a permit to fish for them using rod and line – and they were only allowed to sell their catch locally.
The measures, which were introduced after commercial catches dropped by more than 50%, were steadily relaxed over the next few years.
Under the current rules, recreational fishermen can keep two fish per day from 1 April to 31 January, and anyone fishing outside of that period is limited to catch and release only.
Commercial bass fishing is restricted to a small number of Jersey-licensed vessels with a Jersey Bass Permit.
Chris Isaacs, a marine expert with the Société Jersiaise, said there were tentative signs that bass numbers were now recovering.
‘There have been anecdotal reports from divers and fishermen of an increase in the number of small bass locally,’ he said.
‘Through the Marine Resources Panel I am aware that the Government of Jersey are monitoring bass catches and reviewing regulations accordingly but there is no data on fish which are too small to be caught on hooks or in nets, so it is not possible to confirm their numbers.’
The government has also confirmed that an Infrastructure and Environment project has begun looking at the fertility of bass to see if recent changes in water temperature are affecting when and how fish that live in Island waters breed.
Mr Isaacs added that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea 2022 report showed that bass stocks in the central and southern North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea were ‘displaying small signs of recovery’ but that the breeding stock was ‘still below the level required to maintain a stable population’.
He added: ‘The prediction for 2024 is a slowing down in the improvement rate, so we could still be a long way off seeing the bass fishing restrictions being eased.’
Mick Ward, who runs the Mr Fish tackle shop at First Tower, said he had noticed an increase in bass numbers following the introduction of the restrictions.
‘There are plenty of them out there. I would say we have definitely got more now but they are smaller,’ he added, noting that there appeared to be a larger proportion of juvenile bass than usual.
‘It is encouraging. The restrictions have helped – they can’t not have,’ he continued.
He explained that bass fishing had become ‘very popular’ in the Island and said that those who ‘huff and puff’ about the restrictions were in the minority.
‘I’ve seen it go through lulls where you get a lot of small fish but then you get nicer fish, so I don’t get discouraged.’
European seabass, or ‘Dicentrarchus labrax’, are a relatively slow-growing species – it could take seven years for one to reach Jersey’s minimum catch size of 42cm.
Mr Ward said that a lot of the bass currently being recorded by anglers were between 32 and 38cm, meaning it could take another couple of years before they are of legal take-home size.
