Commercial Bass size

[davybrown99]

Hi all

Just wondering if there is anybody knows if theres a minimum size for bass for commercials. Was in a supermarket today and they had bass no bigger than 20cm for sale. Seemed strange to me. Any replies/opinions appreciated.

Cheers
Dave

[stevecrow74]

alot of the bass found in supermarkets are farmed off greece (so i have been told) where there is no size restrictions..

[teacher]

Hi Dave,

It's been illegal for anybody to sell Irish-caught bass since 1990, whether they are caught by a trawler or by someone fishing with a rod and line. As Steve says, the bass you see offered for sale should be imported from foreign waters, but sadly that's not always the case.

If there is a minimum size for the improted bass, it would be regulated in the country where the fish were caught (or traded?).

If you want to take home bass for your own use they must be over 40cm and you can only take two in 24 hours. Responsible anglers will generaly put back anything less than 45cm to give female bass a chance to spawn.

Could you PM me the name of the supermarket inquestion. I'm writing to another supermarket today to enquire about the tracability of their bass, so I may as well kill two birds with the one stone.

[x]

Just in case it happens to be Tesco you are writing to, you might ask them why I was in one of their stores yesterday and saw a display full of juvenile ray fins.

I'll quote from their own corporate literature at http://www.tescocorporate.com/crreport0 ... ducts.html

In 2005/06, four of the species we sold (dogfish/huss, skate/ray, monkfish and halibut) were rated as ?Fish to Avoid? by the MCS. We are currentlyworking with our suppliers, the industry and NGOs to find sustainable options for sourcing these species. In March 2006, we launched sustainable organic cod.

I guess their good intention only applies if they can find 'sustainable options for sourcing these species' - if they can't, hell, sell the wild ones!

[teacher]

It's not Tesco (yet)

[davybrown99]

PM for you teacher.
Thanks for the info lads.

[ray]

i would be more concerned if the supermarket was selling BIG bass! it is most economical to farm them until the juvenile growth spurt ends after that the fish puts the expensive food into stuff like growing sex organs and heaven forbid breeding!

so the small bass are almost certainly farmed its the bigger ones youve to watch out for

[teacher]

i would be more concerned if the supermarket was selling BIG bass! it is most economical to farm them until the juvenile growth spurt ends after that the fish puts the expensive food into stuff like growing sex organs and heaven forbid breeding!

so the small bass are almost certainly farmed its the bigger ones youve to watch out for

Makes sense, although there are lots of instances of netting in estuaries containing large populations of small (juvenile) bass. The cunnigar would be a well publicised example of this. See cortaz's posts for typical cunnigar lengths.

[x]

Things might be taking a turn for the worse for poachers....

Have a look at this....

http://www.sacn-online.org/index.php?ca ... ticleid=39

All we need now is the same tactics applied to poaching from the marine environment....

[corbyeire]

good news and hopefully more of it will follow

[teacher]

I wrote to the supermarket in question that was selling bass. I got a reply the other day. The supermarket seemed to be taking the issue seriously and had contacted their supplier. They confirmed that the bass they were selling were imported and were fully traceable back to the country of origin, which was Greece.

It's good to see a supermarket taking this seriously. I think I'm OK saying on the forum that the supermarket was Superquinn.