At the present time, there are three main barriers to the development of an alternative tourism strategy based around the European Sea Bass. These are:
There must be fish – Without a prospect of being able catch bass in reasonable numbers and sizes, anglers and their families will not come to these coastal areas. If they can catch fish they will spend money, and return. Presently there is a Fish Availability Threshold which we cannot get over because of unsustainable commercial fishing practices.
Deliberate Exclusion – In Europe, but nowhere else in the world that has valuable sport fishing species, recreational angling interests are deliberately excluded from the processes and structures of fish stock management. It is as if the commercials were perceived as the owners of these stocks. In reality, they are the property of the of the commons.
False Assumptions – about the relative economic and social benefits of commercial and recreational fishing continue to influence decision makers to the detriment of recreational angling and its alternative tourist potential.
We would like the opportunity to develop these arguments further and to discuss the detailed information on which they are based.