Marine Institute Meeting - latest

John Quinlan and Matthew Hopper represented Irish Bass Group at a meeting with Dr. Paul Connolly, head of the Fisheries Science Services team at the Marine Institute. The Fisheries Science Services team produced the controversial ’2009 Scientific Advice on Sea Bass’ report which was used by the FIF to back up their proposal to change the Irish Bass Protection Legislation so they could land bass caught offshore in Irish ports.

The Irish Bass group has argued all along that this report is seriously flawed both in its content and recommendations. They requested a meeting with Dr. Paul Connolly to discuss the report and the errors.

At the meeting Dr. Connolly admitted that the report had problems. He suggested that another report would be needed before any change in the legislation should happen. He also agreed that it was unwise to suggest a change in the legislation before a full investigation into the state of the offshore stocks. He admitted that the basis for the report was the claim that large quantities of bass were being discarded by the Irish fleet offshore but said that there was no evidence whatsoever to back this up. We will be informing the Minister for Fisheries and any other relevant Government representatives of this.