Once seen as a tasty but sustainable fish choice by shoppers, the sea bass has joined the list of fish species under threat.
A recent assessment by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas shows that numbers have plummeted. As with the many other threated food fish, the cause is over-exploitation, notably in the waters around the UK.
Despite scientists recommending a drastic cut in sea bass fishing to preserve stocks, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has stated that it plans to do … absolutely nothing.
We can’t let another fish species go, and this has happened so many times before that DEFRA has no excuse for inaction.
Tell the UK government to work for the environment - and the long term future of the fishing industry itself - by taking immediate action to save the sea bass.
We the undersigned wish to voice our concern that stocks of the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) appear to be crashing yet DEFRA, despite agreeing that numbers are unacceptably low, is taking no action whatsoever.
To stop the decline, scientists have stated that catches need to be reduced by at least a third in UK waters and similar action taken elsewhere in the EU. This is not optional, even if it is politically or economically awkward. Ecosystems are not the same as political or monetary systems and you can’t compromise.
If catches aren’t reduced, the long term future of the sea bass fisheries is destroyed. Continued over-exploitation of fish stocks lead to the eventual loss of those fish stocks, putting the environment, the fish industry and even the food supply at risk.
This has already happened with a number of fish species and it is irresponsible in the extreme for DEFRA to knowingly let it happen again.
Please take immediate action to preserve sea bass stocks.
