On Tuesday 4 September, the European Commission adopted a proposal to introduce more flexible rules for the recreational fishing of seabass (North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, Bristol Channel and the Celtic Sea). The Commission is allowing for one fish per fisherman per day to be retained in recreational fisheries taking place from October to December 2018.
In December 2017, the Council introduced stricter measures banning (apart from derogations) the fishing of seabass in the EU. A ban on the recreational fishing of seabass was planned except for the catch-and-release practice (see EUROPE 11925).
France, the United Kingdom and Netherlands called for these strict rules to be made more flexible if scientific recommendations allowed. On 2 July 2018 the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) submitted revised advice for European seabass fishing in the northern zone. This indicates that in order to be in line with the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), total commercial and recreational removals in 2018 should be no more than 880 tonnes. Owing to these measures, biomass is expected to increase in 2018.
In this advice, ICES also indicates that there will be a lower fishing mortality from recreational fisheries and a higher survival rate from the catch-and-release practice (fishing mortality rate of 5%) than previously estimated (15%).
It is therefore appropriate that one fish per fisherman per day may be retained in recreational fisheries taking place in October – December 2018. This proposal is expected to be swiftly adopted by the Council. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)