The Bass Management Group (BMG) meeting minutes can be found on GOV.UK but here’s a summary of the past two meetings.
October 2025 meeting
The BMG held its fourth meeting in October 2025.
The group looked at two main reviews with members providing comments and feedback to both:
- Bass authorisation system review – led by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The review report has since been published and you can find details on a blog post from December.
- Shore-based netting (SBN) review – led by Defra. The review will be shared following decisions by Ministers, and we will give an update on the blog when it is available.
Defra also gave an update on the new Management Measures Group. This smaller working group has been set up to look at priorities for BMG.
The group then discussed the latest ICES advice for 2026 and talked about priorities for the annual UK/EU negotiations.
February 2026 meeting
The BMG met again in February 2026.
Most of the short‑term actions in the Bass Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) are now in place. The group is now focusing on medium‑ and long‑term work, including how to deal with more complex issues around bass management.
Find details on the short, medium and long-term goals in the bass FMP policy.
Defra gave an update on the 2026 UK/EU negotiations, explaining the outcomes, how the talks were carried out and the challenges faced.
Find all the BMG meeting minutes on GOV.UK.
Commercial discard reporting
The Management Measures Group has helped to design a new infographic for the commercial fleet. It aims to raise awareness of and encourage the reporting of discards.
Reporting is vital to fisheries management, allowing policy makers and scientists to understand what is really happening with stocks. Better data means better decisions on future bass management.
Find a downloadable PDF on GOV.UK (with links you can click) : MMO Fisheries Management Plan Updates
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