WORK will be carried out to see whether a permanent byelaw should be introduced to restrict what fishing nets can be used to catch bass after fears that stocks could be wiped out.

The Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (CIFCA) held an extraordinary meeting on Friday morning to discuss whether to introduce an emergency byelaw which would enforce a minimum size of net mesh which could be used to fish for bass.

The committee voted not to adopt an emergency byelaw but instead agreed that the authority’s byelaw working group should look at whether a permanent byelaw should be introduced as a priority.

Concern has been raised about undersized bass being caught in Cornish waters which could affect the future health of stocks.

Regulations state that bass must be a minimum of 42cm to be caught, but while this was introduced in 2015 there was no move to raise the size of mesh in nets used to catch bass. As a result it is feared that some vessels are still catching undersized bass.

CIFCA member Andrew Pascoe had requested at the December meeting of the committee that emergency byelaw should be introduced to increase the mesh size of gillnets used to catch bass in Cornwall.

The matter was referred to the special meeting which allowed officers a chance to get guidance from Defra and Cornwall Council’s legal team.

Defra advised that such an emergency byelaw could be subject to challenge. This was because as the minimum size of fish was raised without increasing the mesh size for nets is was “foreseeable that undersized bass would continue to be caught”.

CIFCA officers recommended that an emergency byelaw should not be made and advised that the issues should be addressed through a netting management plan.

Committee member Geoff Brown proposed that no emergency byelaw should be made and that the matter was referred to the byelaw working party as a top priority to develop a full byelaw proposal. This was seconded by John Fitter.

By working on a permanent byelaw the CIFCA would be able to complete impact assessments and also ensure that the byelaw was necessary.

But Mark Kacmzarek called for the emergency byelaw being brought in as he believed there was a need to do something now.

He said: “We know for a fact that undersized bass have been caught in Cornish waters and we have a duty to protect these fish stocks.”

However Cllr Kaczmarek’s proposal was not supported by anyone else on the committee.

One other committee member warned that the bass stocks could potentially be in “jeopardy”.

He said: “What will people say in five years’ time if we say there is no more sea bass?”

But the meeting heard that many fishermen were using the larger size nets for bass fishing and that it was only an “irresponsible” minority which were continuing to use the smaller nets which would catch undersize bass.

Sam Davis, chief officer of CIFCA, warned that the authority had already agreed a comprehensive work programme and said that if a byelaw was going to be brought in then she would have to sacrifice one of the authority’s other projects due to a lack of resources.

Cllr Fitter said that there was “a problem out there with the catching of undersized bass”.

But he said that it would be better to bring in a byelaw with the “proper process” rather than using emergency byelaw powers.

The meeting heard that there had been an incident in St Ives where a vessel was found to have been catching undersized bass. This was being investigated.

Cllr Fitter said that incident was a “blatant breach of this size that is allowed to be landed”.

The committee agreed not to make an emergency byelaw but to refer it to the byelaw working party. There were 13 in favour and six against.