Save our sea bass campaign: an update

David Curtis has provided this update on our ongoing campaign to bring about the necessary 80% reduction in landings of our bass. It will go out to the thousands who signed our 38 degrees “saveourseabass” petition.

The bottom line is we need to continue to demonstrate we are in this for the long run and we won’t go away. Therefore another simple email sent to those identified below will help greatly.

Summary:

Good news: there is a temporary ban on pair trawlers fishing for bass in spawning areas and the EU has asked Member States to cut bass landings in 2015.
Bad news: the politicians say it is not possible to cut landings by 80% in 2015.
The stock is falling off a cliff already and soon it will fall to a level where there are not enough bass to regenerate the stock. – then it will all be over for our bass.
We need to email the politicians and tell them that we demand that they cut landings by 80% in 2015. This is about the survival of our bass.

“Apologies for not having updated you for a while.

The good news is that our campaign has made a positive impact with the politicians and bureaucrats. George Eustice asked the EU to introduce a temporary ban on pair trawlers fishing for bass in spawning areas until 30 April. The EU implemented this temporary ban in January and then asked the Member States to try to agree further measures to cut bass landings in 2015.

However the bad news is that the politicians and bureaucrats are now saying it is not possible to cut landings by 80% in 2015 and that the normal course of action under the Common Fisheries Policy is to reduce landings in a series of steps across a number of years. The only figure I have heard suggested is in the region of 20% in 2015.

Remember, the scientists have said that landings in 2015 must be cut by 80% in order for the fishing to be sustainable and this is a requirement of the Common Fisheries Policy.

So if they don’t follow the scientists’ advice and cut landings by 80% in 2015, what will happen to the stock level and what cut in landings will the scientists be forced to recommend in 2016? And what happens if they ignore the scientists again in 2016? The stock is falling off a cliff already and soon it will fall to a level where there are not enough sea bass to regenerate the stock – then it will be game over for our bass.

Of course the reality is that it is completely possible to cut landings by 80% in 2015, but the politicians are scared to do this because they know the commercial fishermen will kick up a fuss.

So we need to email the politicians and the bureaucrats now and tell them that we demand that they cut landings by 80% in 2015 and that we will not accept any excuses or political compromises. This is not about politics, this about the survival of the sea bass population.

Many thanks for your continuing support!”

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Here are some email addresses for you to use, ready to cut and paste. They are for DEFRA, the EU Commission, The EU Parliament, and the EU Working Party on Sea Bass.

defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk (George Eustice – Fisheries Mininster);