Ireland

We cannot tell you yet when we’ll be in Ireland for the project,

but in meanwhile we can present you the following text and pictures that John Quinlan, Chairperson Irish Bass Group, sent us. Thank you John.

The Irish sea bass.
Ireland is unique in Europe in having a marine fish, the sea bass, reserved only for recreational angling exploitation. Since 1990 there has been no commercial fishing for sea bass in Irish waters. The reason we have this special law is that our bass stocks were almost wiped out by commercial over exploitation in the 1980’s. Thanks to these laws we once again have healthy stocks of bass. Recent years have seen a big increase in the popularity of bass angling in Ireland.
Angling visitors from the UK, France, Spain and Northern Europe are now realizing that Ireland offers the best chance to encounter large numbers of good sized bass when weather and tide conditions are right. In spite of this increasing popularity, there are still large areas of the Irish coast that are virtually unfished. We have a small Irish angling population in relation to the length of our coastline and there are also many other species of fish to interest the local angler, both fresh and saltwater. This means that the fishing is seldom crowded and many times you will be fishing alone.
In spite of intense pressure in recent years to allow commercial fishing for sea bass, support for our conservation laws is still very strong. Irish anglers have lobbied very strongly to protect our bass and hold on to our special laws.
In 2006 the Irish Bass Group was set up. It’s purpose is to protect and promote our bass fishing.We have met with government Ministers and fisheries scientists to explain to them how important it is to keep our bass laws and not allow commercial fishing to destroy this great opportunity to build a world class bass fishery. So far we have been very successful. Our current Minister for Fisheries has just turned down a proposal from commercial fishermen to land sea bass in Irish ports.
This was a great achievement as our fisheries scientists had also written a report saying that they should be allowed to do so.
We continue to demand better protection for our stocks from illegal commercial fishing.
We also work to promote bass angling as the most sustainable use of our vulnerable sea bass stock and would love to see similar sea bass protection laws in other European countries. At the moment Northern Ireland which is part of the UK is considering changing their laws to match those in the Republic of Ireland.
If you would like to help us you can log on to www.irishbass.org and become a friend of Irish Bass. It costs nothing and you will receive a regular e-newsletter to let you know the latest news and catches.
Thank you,
John Quinlan,
Chairperson Irish Bass Group.