BASS Catch Recording Scheme 2024
The BASS catch recording scheme has now been running for 4 years – in this blog we are summarising the 2024 data and sharing the KPIs emerging from the data over the duration of the scheme. The full report and data for each year is available to BASS members.
Participation in the scheme continues to grow. 35 returns were received from BASS members fishing around the United Kingdom (UK) coastline and estuaries, the Channel Islands (CI), the Isle of Man (IoM), and the Republic of Ireland (RoI). A total of 3,177 fish were caught during 4,609 hours fishing spread over 1,490 trips in 20 Counties. The percentage of legally retainable (42cm and over) bass caught has increased to 50%. The percentage of bass of 50cm and over has increased to 22% and is the highest since the scheme began. The percentage of bass of 60cm and above remains low at 2%. The average time required to catch a bass of 50cm or above (6.5 hours), and of 60cm or above (65.2 hours) have reduced, and are the lowest recorded since the surveys started.
Table 1 below provides Key Performance Indicators from scheme participants fishing in areas with commercial bass fisheries (UK & Channel Islands) for 2024 and the preceding three years of the scheme (where available).
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Returns | 13 | 26 | 32 | 35 |
| No. of Counties | 10 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| Fish caught | 861 | 2290 | 2919 | 3133 |
| Trips | 552 | 1038 | 1490 | 1470 |
| Hours | Not recorded | 3149 | 4121 | 4497 |
| Fish per trip | 1.57 | 2.21 | 1.96 | 2.13 |
| Fish per hour | Not available | 0.73 | 0.71 | 0.70 |
| % Productive trips | 49.8 | 60.5 | 53.7 | 57.3 |
| Ave length (cm) | 43 | 39.8 | 40.2 | 41.1 |
| % 42cm and above | 58.6 | 47.2 | 45.2 | 50.1 |
| % 50cm and above | 19.9 | 15.5 | 17.0 | 22.0 |
| % 60cm and above | 4.2 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
| Hours per 42cm+ fish | Not available | 2.9 | 3.1 | 2.9 |
| Hours per 50cm+ fish | Not available | 8.9 | 8.3 | 6.5 |
| Hours per 60cm and above | Not available | 68.5 | 91.6 | 65.2 |
| % fish retained | Not available | 1.8 (est) | 4.9 (est) | 5.6 |
Table 1 Key Performance Indicators 2021 – 2024 for UK & CI
| Age | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | N/A | Total |
| Number | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 57 |
Table 2 Numbers at age of scale samples received in 2024.
Fig. 1 below shows the frequency at length for all fish caught by scheme participants in the UK and Channel Islands during 2024.
Fig. 1 Fish length and frequency of capture – UK & CI
Fig. 2 below shows the numbers at length (in 5cm increments) of fish caught during each of the 4 years of the scheme (UK & CI). Because of varying total numbers of fish in each year, the number of fish at each increment has been expressed as the number per 1000 to make comparisons more valid.
Fig. 2 Fish length and frequency per 1000 fish 2021 – 2024 corrected – UK & CI
Robin Bradley BASS Science Lead
Contact: sciencegroup@ukbass.com
