Undersized Bass landed at North Anglesey
On Thursday 10th January 2008, at Holyhead Magistrates Court, recreational sea angler and water bailiff Mr Brendan Heap of Oldham was found guilty of landing a number of undersized bass.
The bench heard that Fishery Officers of the North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee had been investigating landings of alleged undersized fish taken from a bay near Wylfa Power Station on Anglesey. On the 29th September 2007, in a joint operation with the Marine & Fisheries Agency, Officers were inspecting catches being landed by anglers fishing from the rocks. Mr Heap was found to have 80 Bass , 17 of which measured less than the minimum landing size of 36 cm. He also stated that he killed the fish and then measured them with his cosh. If too small they were thrown back into the sea.
In court Mr Heap pleaded guilty to landing undersized fish and also stated that some of the fish had "swallowed the hook", and were dead following retrieval of the hook.
The court accepted his guilty plea. The bench also considered this to be a serious breach of fisheries legislation, with minimum landing sizes (MLS) being imposed for the protection of juvenile stock. They imposed a fine of £750. Application was made for costs of £75 and a forfeiture order for the undersized fish. Both applications were awarded.
Principal Fishery Officer Martyn Boyce said: " Minimum landing sizes (MLS) are in place to protect juvenile stock and thereby enhance brood stock. Without a healthy brood stock, long term fishing for that species becomes unsustainable. We will continue to enforce MLS in an even handed manner, whether the fish are landed by the commercial sector or by recreational fishermen. Anyone who flagrantly flouts the legislation is committing an offence, and can expect to be dealt with in the Courts."