Richard Benyon has replied to Dr Stephen Bolt (CEO of the Association of Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities). The original letter from Dr. Bolt can be read here: AIFCA letter . . .
As with any response from a Government Minister there is nothing given away and lots of ‘get out’ avenues: evaluate, sustainability, assess, EU implications.
However mealy mouthed you are it’s impossible to get away from a plain and simple fact:
“taking female bass out of a fishery before they have reached sexual maturity seems to make little sense.”
Really . . . !
Here is Richard Benyon’s reply: