#Angling - Proposals from Brussels for a total ban on bass angling in Ireland for the first six months of 2016 have raised the ire of anglers and related businesses.
As Derek Evans writes in today's Irish Times, the "stringent" measures, if adopted, would include a ban on recreational angling alongside prohibitions on commercial fishing for bass - with a monthly one-tonne catch limit for boats and a single-bag limit for anglers in the latter half of the year.
Evans quotes from angling guide John Quinlan, who says he will be lobbying the EU Fisheries Commission "to allow us to at least be able to fish catch and release. Otherwise, it will effectively close down businesses like mine."
Management of bass stocks is the focus of a new satellite tagging scheme being undertaken by Inland Fisheries Ireland, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.