Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society

Fighting for Bass and Bass Anglers’ since 1973

How much longer can it go on ?

There have been a significant number of articles in the press recently about the challenges facing our beloved bass. An article in the Guardian here discusses the latest situation.

B.A.S.S. has been campaigning long and hard for many years for recognition of the decline, always fearing that it would need a major stock collapse to finally create the political momentum for change. It’s just such a shame that collectively sea anglers don’t carry the clout that we should when considering our considerable numbers.

Boga's can be useful for kids to hold bass
Will our kids get the chance to catch these beautiful fish in the future ?

We are increasingly looking to strengthen our links with other key stake-holders in order to create change, as we do recognise that it’s not all just about bass, & that the problem deeply impacts other species also (anyone remember Cod ?).

In the specific case of bass, it just doesn’t stand-up to the common-sense test that we can harvest a fish before it’s had the opportunity to spawn. Whenever explained to non-anglers it just seems so simple …. if we don’t allow the fish we take today to have the opportunity to create the fish we want to take in the future, guess what will happen ? They are a slow-growing species, and the legislation in place today doesn’t offer enough protection (nor is it enforced strongly enough in many cases).

We just want more and bigger bass for ‘all’. Is that really too much to ask for ?

How do we pull together to bring about change ? If we all pulled together to try and create some momentum, i wonder what we could achieve.