Bass Pair Trawl Fishery closed (UK)

January 17, 2005

DEFRA Fisheries

Pair trawling for bass in the south west of England has been demonstrated to have high levels of cetacean by-catch. Sea trials conducted by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) showed that there was no easy technical solution for reducing by-catch levels through the use of mitigation devices. As a result of the findings Defra banned pelagic pair trawling for bass by UK vessels within 12 miles of the south west coast of England (within ICES area VIIe) in December 2004. Other bass fisheries, such as gillnetting and hand lining, and pair trawl fisheries targeting other species have not been affected.

Click for full story, includes legal discussion on how pair trawling was banned