Regulations for recreational bass fishing
As at the end of January 2026, the mandatory catch and release period remains at 1st February to 31st March. Outside this, the two fish per day bag limit continues to apply until the legislation is in place to increase this to three fish per day, as agreed during recent EU negotiations. The Minimum (Conservation Reference) Size remains at 42cm.
Bass stocks (June 2023)
The most recent advice from ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) regarding bass stocks shows that bass stocks appear to be recovering, but are not yet back to pre-crash levels. Despite this, ICES has advised that a doubling of catches in 2026 is permissible.
Sea Angling in the UK report 2018 and 2019
The Government report on participation and catches of sea anglers resident in the UK in 2018 and 2019 can be seen here.
Sea angling in the UK (June 2020)
The long-awaited report entitled Participation, catches and economic impact of sea anglers resident in the UK in 2016 & 2017 has finally been published. I was one of the anglers who participated in this survey, keeping an online diary, recording activity, catches and spend on a regular basis.
On average 823,000 UK residents went sea angling. The total number of fish caught in 2017 was 54.5 million, with 80% of these being released; 7% of the fish caught were bass. The total spend per angler in 2017 was £1742. The total economic impact of sea angling was £1.94 billion, supporting around 16,300 jobs.
Changes to EU regs regarding minimum sizes (Oct 2019)
BASS recommends a minimum landing size of 48cm. This is the minimum bass breeding size of 42cm plus one year’s further growth. This should enable all bass taken to have bred once before they are harvested.
Europe’s bass on the edge of collapse?
This article from British Sea Fishing.co.uk provides a useful record of the actions taken since 2013 in an attempt to restore bass stocks.