Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society

Fighting for Bass and Bass Anglers’ since 1973

Our strategy focuses on both conservation and restoration.

Conservation – because part of what we aim to do is to defend and protect the bass fishing we have around the UK and in Ireland.

Restoration – because we believe, and can show, that the bass fishing we used to have was better than what we have now. It was better in terms of both the numbers of bass and the sizes of bass caught, by anglers. Our long term aim is to restore, at least in part, that situation.

Conservation Activities

Some examples of our conservation activities:

Conservation Principles

In taking on bass conservation issues, B.A.S.S. will act both to protect bass stocks and anglers’ legitimate right pursue their sport. We will:

Restoration Activities

Some examples of our restoration activities:

Restoration Principles

In developing our restoration work we will strive to make the case for bass being managed as a substantially recreational species. We will do this through:

Partnership Working

In developing the work described above we place great importance on partnership working. We are committed to sharing knowledge and expertise with other organisations with which we have a common purpose. We also consider it unlikely that B.A.S.S. alone will be able to change the minds of Government and commercial fishing interests, however strong our arguments. We therefore seek active partners. Some examples are:

The Angling Trust – B.A.S.S. has taken an active role in helping the Angling Trust to get going. We believe that it is now becoming as strong a voice for sea anglers as it is for our colleagues in freshwater. Five of the eight current members of the Angling Trust Marine Conservation Group are B.A.S.S. members. We have contributed financially towards the appointment of a full-time Marine Conservation Campaigns Manager and work very closely with him on issues of common interest. It is our expectation that as the skills and experience of the Angling Trust, and their legal arm Fish-Legal, become fully focused on saltwater issues we will be able to tackle many more conservation and restoration issues together.

The Salmon & Trout Association – B.A.S.S. and S&TA have shared information and offered mutual support on a number of matters over recent years; mostly to do with estuary and coastal issues such as inshore netting. S&TA have also facilitated our recent attendances at the CLA Gamefair where we are able to put our message out to a larger audience. We would not have been able to afford to do this without their help. We are currently looking at ways that the two organisations can further develop our relationship.

The Angling Trade – We already have helpful working relationships with Veal’s Mail Order and with Snowbee. We are keen to develop other relationships with parts of the angling trade. Our focus is to understand where the interests of bass anglers and those of the trade find common purpose and to work together in pursuit of these.

Fieldwork, Data Collection and Cefas – The late Donovan Kelly MBE, and the late John Leballeur, along with other friends and helpers from B.A.S.S. have made an enormously helpful contribution to understanding bass biology and ecology. The knowledge they gathered, through years of patient fieldwork, alongside Cefas, has been of inestimable benefit in informing our conservation and restoration efforts. We are committed to keeping this fieldwork going through the efforts of a new generation of B.A.S.S. volunteers.

Academic Partnership – B.A.S.S. is in a position, from time to time, to part fund MSc or PhD students whose research is in an area relevant to our conservation and restoration aims.