Line caught Irish Bass.

[CarlowCelt]

http://jaipur.ie/wp-content/themes/ther ... eorges.pdf

Surprised to see such an established resturant advertise "line caught Irish Bass"

Is that legal? Surely not..

[twinkle]

now theres something to investigate .send this to the fisheries and lets see some invoices

[Aurelien]

Would report it.
I have reported a restaurant in Greystones. They were having wild Irish bass on the menu.
If the fish are really wild and Irish then they support poaching. If the bass are farmed in Greece then they are lying to their customer, which is in both way illegal.

[Tanglerat]

Tawe Ki Sea Bass
Pan fried Irish Line caught Sea bass filet with curry leaf, chilli paste, potato mash & pea fondue.

Sounds delish.

Looks like a good menu too, advertising local, organic products.

So, what's the chance of these fish actually turning out to have been farmed in Greece and the restaurant is guilty of false/misleading advertising? What else on that menu isn't as advertised? The local customers should be informed.... anyone care to tip off the local newspaper?

An Irish Bass could theoretically be caught by a French boat in Irish waters, landed abroad and then imported back into the country. Does that fish still count as being Irish? Though I doubt very much if such a fish was caught by line rather than trawled up... more false advertising there, then.

Who's going to make the calls?

[jd]

I had a look at the site and went directly to
http://jaipur.ie/menu/georges-st-menu/

Shorshe Machhi(C) Coriander crusted Line caught Sea bass in a classic Calcutta Mustard shorshe sauce & onion fritter.

Linked from that page is

http://jaipur.ie/wp-content/themes/ther ... eorges.pdf


Tawe Ki Sea Bass
Pan fried Irish Line caught Sea bass filet with curry leaf, chilli
paste, potato mash & pea fondue

[yappo]

Aurelien if the one you reported in Greystones was Chakra then looks as if it is part of the Jaipur empire.
A quick look on their site shows 6 outlets.
Jaipur Georges Street Dublin 2
Jaipur Malahide
Jaipur Dalkey
Jaipur Ongar Dublin 15
Chakra Greystones Co Wicklow
Ananda Dundrum shopping centre

Might have a nosey at menus in Dalkey, Greystones, Dundrum as they are all near me.
If you read about some old guy being beaten up in an Indian restuarant you will know it's me.

Yappo

[Ashley Hayden]

Well lads, funny how history repeats itself, only last October I stated that a well known South Dublin Fishmonger were selling wild bass, supposedly caught in the north east Atlantic but landed in Brittany, as if that makes it OK.

My contention, as Tanglerat has pointed out was that these fish could very easily be of Irish stock, and that this fishmonger was setting a precedent as to how the trade could circumnavigate current bass legislation. Well it looks like the pigeons have come home to roost.

Irish bass is the vehicle to highlight this in conjunction with IFI. The trade will just show the invoices which will always clear them, they are not stupid, just clever.

[John D]

Hi guys.

I would like to inform you that IrishBass have contacted the relevant fisheries officer regarding this issue. We will report back with any updates on the matter.

IrishBass has also made contact with the restaurant outlining the illegalities of the situation. IrishBass has also made a request with the restaurant to alter the menu.

Regards,
John D.

[John D]

I have just received this reply from the Jaipur restaurant:

'Dear John,
                 Thank you for bringing this to our attention . the fish we use is line caught bass but not from Ireland but from European waters primarily Greece or Spain . It however comes to us from an Irish fish supplier.
It has been an oversight in printing so we will rectify it immediately.'
 

[Aurelien]

That's good John. Thanks for letting us know.

Aurelien if the one you reported in Greystones was Chakra then looks as if it is part of the Jaipur empire.

Unfortunately not, seems Irish bass is really fashion in restaurant nowadays ...

So, what's the chance of these fish actually turning out to have been farmed in Greece and the restaurant is guilty of false/misleading advertising

Think false advertising, when you can, should be highlighted as well, and in the case of bass, lost in the number of misleading advertisement will be really wild fish. These fishes must end up somewhere and it is most likely to be in restaurants and fishmongers.

So still worth it to report them to the Fisheries.

An Irish Bass could theoretically be caught by a French boat in Irish waters, landed abroad and then imported back into the country. Does that fish still count as being Irish?

I'm aware of this and always find this really disgusting. but the point is interesting. Can a fish caught by a French trawler, landed in France and send it back to Ireland can be legally advertised as Wild Irish bass?

[John D]

Hi guys.

John Quinlan would be better qualified to answer the last question.

Here's the original letter that the restaurant in question received from IrishBass if anyone's interested:

"To whom it may concern,
It has been brought to my attention that you claim to be using "wild Irish line caught sea bass" on your menu. You should be aware that it is illegal to do so. The sale of wild Irish bass has been illegal for over 20 years. This is a serious offence with serious penalties. May I suggest that if it is in fact illegal Irish bass that you are selling then you remove this from your menus immediately.
 I note from your menu that sourcing ethical ingredients is important to you. Advertising wild Irish bass does not fit into this category. If it is indeed illegal Irish bass then it is most definetly  not "line caught" as no such fishery exists.
I would appreciate if you would give this issue you immediate attention.
Please feel free to contact me if you require further clarification.
John Quinlan"

[Tanglerat]

Greece or Spain? I'll bet it's not line caught either.

[sparkey+1]

Carlow Celt well spotted I had the same in the local and spoke to the head chef bout it and explained the regs to him and it was relabeled as just med sea wild sea bass

[JimC]

Storm in a tea cup methinks
Restaurants seem to try to outdo one another to create the most flamboyant language on menus.

[John D]

Aurelien, I believe this information might help answer your question:

"----------------------------------------------
In response to the question posed on the forum, It is illegal to call bass caught outside the Irish 12 mile limit by other countries "Irish bass". There is also no point in doing so. By and large Irish people do not appreciate and are not prepared to pay a premium for wild bass. French people most definetly are. Financially it makes more sense to sell wild bass in France.
There is no evidence of a single box of bass landed in Irish ports by other EU vessels.
Following intensive research on bass catches in Irish offshore waters it now appears that bass are somewhere between very rare and nonexistent in Irish offshore waters.
There is no evidence whatsoever of a targeted bass fishery in Irish offshore waters. Irish bass are very much an inshore species. This does unfortunately make them even more vulnerable as there is no offshore stock to replace damaged inshore fisheries. As for EU vessels coming inside the Irish 12 mile limit to fish this is simply not possible.All vessels over 15 meters are fitted with VMS (vessel monitoring system). This gives their exact location at any time. If a foreign vessels strays inside Irish limits it can be spotted instantly. Do you really believe Irish commercial fishermen would allow this to happen?
Sadly the biggest threat to our Irish bass stock is from illegal activity by Irish people. It only helps their cause if they can send up a smoke screen and suggest that other countries are in some way responsible"

[John D]

For anyone who'd like to read it here's another follow up e-mail that was sent to Jaipur restaurant:

"Thank you for your prompt reply to my earlier email concerning line caught Irish sea bass.
I am pleased to see you have amended your menu. You make the point that your sea bass is in fact sourced from hook and line fisheries in Spain and Greece. Sea bass hook and line fisheries in both these countries are rare. The product therefore fetches very high prices and in spite of much research I can find no evidence that it is exported to the British Isles. I would suggest that unless your fish supplier is charging you in the region of €50 a kilo for whole bass then the product is unlikely to be as you described. It is well worth making this point to your supplier.
I see from your revised menu that your sea bass dish is no longer described as "line caught". This is probably the best course of action as it removes any ambiguity.
Thank you again for your prompt action.
John Quinlan.
P.S. Irish bass stocks were almost wiped out by over exploitation and in spite of 21 years of protection, stocks are very slow to recover. Many consider the clandestine illegal fishery the main reason for this slow recovery. Without an outlet to sell these bass this illegal fishery would not operate."

[Ashley Hayden]

In answer to John D, I can say categorically that the "wild bass", allegedly caught in the noth east Atlantic (a very big space) being sold last October (over a four week period) by the "well known south Dublin fishmonger" were being sold at €25.00 per kg for whole head on gutted fish, this seemed too cheap to me which made me suspicious.

IFI so I believe went to investigate and found nothing out of the ordinary, but hey what about the price! Personally I think that they should have looked harder.

On a personal note why do we have to be so PC. This retailer was selling whole bass weighing 4 - 6.lbs openly in contravention of a conservation policy on this species. With plenty of farmed bass available if this retailer was "responsible" and really cared about conservation they would be supporting the measure. Instead they put two fingers up and try to undermine any of the good work that has been done over the last 22 years.

John D is right, we should be swimming in bass at this stage and are not, the reason is clear, there is a clandestine fishery for bass. If one fishmonger brazenly sells whole wild bass purportedly from the NE Atlantic then more will follow. Before long you will kiss good bye to your conservation policy because by default it will have been made redundant.

Will those involved in prosecuting the legislation and those who advocate "live and let live" please wake up and smell the roses.

[dbrock]

its a lovely dish in jaipur, highly recomend it

[twinkle]

i remember being able to get it in the chipper deepfried in batter in wexford and it was never fillets but steaks .after a full day of digging bait early morning and then fishing all day[cheese sambos] for lunch .this was food of the gods and cheaper than the smoked cod pity our kids dont get to taste this.if its not processed they dont want it

[Aurelien]

Aurelien, I believe this information might help answer your question:

"----------------------------------------------
In response to the question posed on the forum, It is illegal to call Bass caught outside the Irish 12 mile limit by other countries "Irish Bass". There is also no point in doing so. By and large Irish people do not appreciate and are not prepared to pay a premium for wild Bass. French people most definetly are. Financially it makes more sense to sell wild Bass in France.
There is no evidence of a single box of Bass landed in Irish ports by other EU vessels.
Following intensive research on Bass catches in Irish offshore waters it now appears that Bass are somewhere between very rare and nonexistent in Irish offshore waters.
There is no evidence whatsoever of a targeted Bass fishery in Irish offshore waters. Irish Bass are very much an inshore species. This does unfortunately make them even more vulnerable as there is no offshore stock to replace damaged inshore fisheries. As for EU vessels coming inside the Irish 12 mile limit to fish this is simply not possible.All vessels over 15 meters are fitted with VMS (vessel monitoring system). This gives their exact location at any time. If a foreign vessels strays inside Irish limits it can be spotted instantly. Do you really believe Irish commercial fishermen would allow this to happen?
Sadly the biggest threat to our Irish Bass stock is from illegal activity by Irish people. It only helps their cause if they can send up a smoke screen and suggest that other countries are in some way responsible"

Thanks John, this make a very interesting reading.