Inland Fisheries Ireland calls on anglers to support bass conservation
PRESS RELEASE - Monday, 8th February 2016
Inland Fisheries Ireland calls on anglers to support bass conservation
- Citizen science for the IFI’s National Bass Programme -
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has today (08.02.16) issued an appeal to bass anglers preparing for the season ahead to get involved in collecting information on bass in Irish waters for the National Bass Programme (NBP).
The programme was established by IFI to collect data on bass to provide scientific advice to support management and conservation of Ireland’s bass resource. Bass anglers, as citizen scientists, have been collecting information for the NBP since 2013, thereby supporting bass stock assessment and increased understanding of the biology and ecology of bass in Irish waters.
To date, over 750 bass have been tagged and 3,000 adult bass scale samples have been collected. Scales are used to determine the age and growth rate of bass, while tagging provides information on migrations and habitat use. The likelihood of additional recaptures is increasing with greater numbers of tagged fish at sea. Tagging results so far have shown that bass were recaptured generally within a few kilometres of their original capture site but some have travelled up to 38 kilometres. Time at liberty has ranged from three to 298 days. By checking all bass for tags and reporting recaptures, anglers will help to discover additional information regarding movements of Irish bass.
Dr. Cathal Gallagher, Head of Research and Development, said: “Ireland has always been a pioneer in terms of bass conservation and is showing progressive thinking in bass management by using the expert knowledge of anglers to collect information that would otherwise not be obtainable. We call on anybody interested in promoting bass conservation to contact IFI for information on how to get involved. All support is much appreciated.
“If you catch a bass with a yellow tag, or a fouled tag, please don’t remove it from the fish. Simply clean the tag and note the tag code (e.g. B-00001). If possible take the length and weight of the fish, and five scales from behind the pectoral fin, before you release the fish alive. Please send us the details, along with the date and location and your name and phone number by email or call IFI on 01-8842600. Information on the original bass tagging location and date will be provided to everybody who reports details to the IFI.”
Dr. Ciaran Byrne, CEO of Inland Fisheries Ireland, added: “Bass is an extremely important and valuable marine sport angling species in Ireland. It is a particularly valuable national resource, contributing €71 million to the Irish economy annually and supporting over 1,200 jobs nationally.
Figure 1 - Tagged Bass prior to release
Bass is an angling-only species so it is important that anglers, as guardians and custodians of this iconic sportfish, contribute information to support conservation orientated management. Some anglers are using voluntary logbooks to provide information on catches, angling effort, fish sizes and methods used. Scale sampling packs and logbooks are available from IFI and feedback on scales received will be provided to individual anglers outlining fish age, the year it was spawned and its growth rate.”
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has a dedicated email address to enable members of the public to report details on caught bass or to request information on how to support the National Bass Programme – bass@fisheriesireland.ie. IFI can also be contacted by phone on 01-8842600 during office hours.
For more information, visit www.fisheriesireland.ie.
ENDS
Further Information:
Suzanne Campion
Head of Business Development
Inland Fisheries Ireland
Anglesea Street,
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Tel: 052 6180055 Fax: 052 6123971
Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie Website: www.fisheriesireland.ie
Note for Editors:
Inland Fisheries Irelandis a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI will promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on, the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling and develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and sea angling.
Council Regulation (EU) 2016/72 of 22 January 2016 fixing for 2016 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters, and amending Regulation (EU) 2015/104 has been adopted by the EU. Ireland will shortly transpose this regulation, which will further assist with the conservation of bass, into Irish law.
