Legal Vs Recommended

The Great Wallsendo

The Great Wallsendo

Well-known member
Instead of hijacking BrianJs First Bass thread (very well done BTW ;)) I've started a seperate thread to make a point

Lot's of comments saying "NFSA Legal size this" "NFSA Legal size that" are in fact technically incorrect...

The NFSA is now Angling Trust and there is a marked difference in what is a "Recommended" size and what is the "Legal" size laid down by DEFRA

The UK Government, via DEFRA, lay down only certain Minimum Landing Sizes (MLSs). However, with conservation in mind, the AT provide Recommended Retention Size Limits (RRSLs) for the majority of fish likely to be caught in UK waters. An RRSL is a suggested size for a fish below which it should returned to the sea. Should there be any dispute on the measurement of a fish, the Match Organisers Master Measure will be the deciding measure. All fish are to be measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail fin, except Skates and Rays which are to be measured wing tip to wing tip.
Click to expand...

Recommended Retention Size Limits (RRSLs), DEFRA Minimum Landing Sizes

Before people chip in saying that a lot of the minimum sizes laid down by DEFRA are woefully small - I agree. I think Cod is too small, I think Flounder, Whiting, Bass and a load of others are too small; but the fact of the matter is that they are "Legal" and no Angler should be vilified for taking a "just legal" size fish home based on the DEFRA MLS

That is where the RRSLs come in, a lot of Clubs and Comps now use these as the benchmark for sizes - which is poss where the confusion over what is "legal" takes place.
 
Good thread Tony, The fish sizes set by D.E.F.R.A. are a bit out dated in my opinion, yes we have to have legal retainable size limits to protect all species so they can have a chance to reproduce. i think if the A.T. and D.E.F.R.A. got their heads together and amended the size limits to read a one "takeable size", then fishing clubs and individuals could do their own thing, providing they err on the right side.

I don't think it helps when you look in the fishmongers window and see small Bass (probs farmed ?), and what always seem to be undersize codling and whiting fillets. :)
 
Don't want to get into a moral debate here, but the LEGAL size for landing bass is : 36 cms. Whether or not you think this is acceptable or too small is entirely a matter for the individuals own concience.
Personaly my own opinion is: no one is breaking any law if they take home a bass of 36 cms , or over. If you catch a fish of LEGAL size, it becomes your property. Put it back if you want, or keep it if you want. No problem with either.
A question : When was the last time you were checked by a fisheries protection officer ? Bet I know the answer to that one.
BAZACODBASHA
 
Some good points and i agree with you that if you catch a fish of legal size then no one has the right to critisise you for keeping it.

Jim, I agree with your comments about the fishmongers too especially about the Bass. These are definately farmed and we usually get them from Greece and Turkey, (probably other places as well) I think some people just into fishing take these into account. There are certainly a lot of people out there that don't know that legal sizes exist, and some people that don't care.

I think it would help if Defra were to start dropping size charts into places like tackle shops, at least then those that are just coming into fishing can be educated. I've spoken to a hell of a lot of youngsters over the years that didn't have an idea that there were size limits on anything. Most of them when told nicely have taken it in and stopped taking smaller fish, some though will never change whether they are young or old.

Jim.
 
BAZACODBASHA said:
Don't want to get into a moral debate here, but the LEGAL size for landing bass is : 36 cms. Whether or not you think this is acceptable or too small is entirely a matter for the individuals own concience.
Personaly my own opinion is: no one is breaking any law if they take home a bass of 36 cms , or over. If you catch a fish of LEGAL size, it becomes your property. Put it back if you want, or keep it if you want. No problem with either.
A question : When was the last time you were checked by a fisheries protection officer ? Bet I know the answer to that one.
BAZACODBASHA
Click to expand...

i could be wrong but i thought it was 41cm !?

while were on the limits subject whats the size for a Flounder, this follows from something me and Sean talked about. My NFSA ruler says 25cm, on this table Sea Fish Size Limits - NFSA Size Limits - Sea fishing - Sea Angling Resource it says 27, yet on this one NFSA SIZE LIMITS it says 25cm any ideas ?
 
phill_itofish said:
i could be wrong but i thought it was 41cm !?

while were on the limits subject whats the size for a Flounder, this follows from something me and Sean talked about. My NFSA ruler says 25cm, on this table Sea Fish Size Limits - NFSA Size Limits - Sea fishing - Sea Angling Resource it says 27, yet on this one NFSA SIZE LIMITS it says 25cm any ideas ?
Click to expand...

Phillip you have fallen into the trap that I mentioned in my first post ;):D

41cm is the recommended size for Bass not the Legal size as per Defra which is 36cm

Follow the link in the first post and all should become clear ;)
 
I Can understand the Legal Size (DEFRA MLS) for bass being 36cm and the recomended size (RRSL) being 45cm (as Tonys link) but how can the DEFRA MLS for Flounder be 27cm and the RRSL be 25cm. surely the recomended size shold always be larger than the legal size
 
phill_itofish said:
i could be wrong but i thought it was 41cm !?

while were on the limits subject whats the size for a Flounder, this follows from something me and Sean talked about. My NFSA ruler says 25cm, on this table Sea Fish Size Limits - NFSA Size Limits - Sea fishing - Sea Angling Resource it says 27, yet on this one NFSA SIZE LIMITS it says 25cm any ideas ?
Click to expand...

Had a feeling this would rear up again! The whole lot needs rewriting so all, have one clear list of sizes to work from.
 
I stick rigidly to the size limits but it all seems a bit random to me... If you catch one cod at 30cms and put it back, then catch two at 40cms and keep them to eat, how does that help cod stocks?... Cod don't lay eggs till they're about 7lb or something..:confused::confused::confused::)
 
sooner we all sing from the same hymn book the better, only thing is there will always be those that will keep a fish no matter what the size given
 
I was talking to a couple of sea fisheries protection lads (land based) on Monday when i was down Roker, they had their bins and radio and were watching the pier. I think we will see a lot more of them, which is a good thing for all genuine anglers, because they will make sure the size limits are adhered to. :)
 
I personally think Flounder minimum size should be at least 30cm...a just size Flounder weighs 7oz :o (I know this because if you multiply this by 2 you get my seasons gross weight for the Club :red::D)
 
Topfly said:
I was talking to a couple of sea fisheries protection lads (land based) on Monday when i was down Roker, they had their bins and radio and were watching the pier. I think we will see a lot more of them, which is a good thing for all genuine anglers, because they will make sure the size limits are adhered to. :)
Click to expand...

well lets hope when they catch the e.u `workers` that they give them the same fines as we would get rather than use the excuse that "they dont speak english", i have personally heard that one used when digging bait on merseyside and was spoken to by one officer and i asked him if he was going to go see the asians that were hitting the beach taking all and everything
 

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