EU farce: Fury as Brussels limit British anglers to ONE sea bass a day ANGLERS who catch and keep more than one sea bass a day could be fined under new EU rules. By: Jane MathewsPublished: Sat, November 1, 2014 Facebook 33 Sea bassExperts say the population of sea bass is rapidly declining [GETTY] The first catch limits for recreational anglers are being considered by the European Commission in a bid to tackle a sharp decline in numbers of the fish. However, critics say that the problem is being caused by commercial fishermen, in particular the French, landing huge catches of the species, The Times has reported. Stocks have fallen by 40 per cent in the last four years, and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has recommended an 80 per cent reduction in sea bass catches in the EU. Fishermen off the coast of Cornwall Fishermen off the coast of Cornwall [GETTY] It's a bit like trying to reduce road deaths from speeding by targeting cyclists rather than drivers The council, which reviews fish stocks, also warned that the species could be "on the verge of collapse". The Angling Trust said that the proposed one-fish limit, which would apply to more than 200,000 anglers who fish from boats around the British coast, was "grossly disproportionate". Spokesman Martin Salter disputed claims made by the European Commission that anglers accounted for 30 per cent of sea bass catches, claiming the figure was around half of that. He accused the commission of "targeting the people least responsible", adding: "It's a bit like trying to reduce road deaths from speeding by targeting cyclists rather than drivers." The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has declined to comment on whether they would support a limit on the number of sea bass an individual is allowed to catch. Related articles 'The jig is up': Cameron is 'clueless and desperate' in face of increasing EU demands New outrage as it emerges each British family's EU bill has QUARUPLED to £450 A YEAR Don't miss the latest top UK news image Get the latest UK breaking news from Express.co.uk Sign up for the daily email Facebook 33 Share 61 Recommended Stories Heartbreaking: If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go Heartbreaking: If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go Actress Marcia Strassman loses cancer battle Actress Marcia Strassman loses cancer battle Not all about the Booty: Jennifer Lopez flaunts incredible body in throwback bikini snap Not all about the Booty: Jennifer Lopez flaunts incredible body in throwback bikini snap Oops! 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WHY? "They should be refusing to even think about supporting the EU dictatorship telling individual anglers how many fish they can catch. Once out of the EU, all the Spanish, French and Portuguese trawlers can be excluded and the UK 200 mile exclusion limit re-instated. Useless EU and useless UK government. Get them all out of our business and Vote UKIP. Reply +6 pinestreet 2 hours ago Approx 2million anglers in Britain ,2 million votes for UKIP Reply +12 Biffo3 hours ago Well when we depart from the EU shortly I pray, our fishermen throughout GB can make a living again, and the quality will be better. We need to get UKIP elected big time, to get control of our country again. Go for it Nigel Reply +14 phillipo3 hours ago "Could be fined under new EU rules" Refuse to pay the fine, imposed by who imposed by who? Who exactly would be taking them to court? Where? British citizen refuses to go to European court, refusaes to accept fine. Would British government then have to arrest this person on a European Arrest Warrant? All the British Government needs to say is, "Sorry we don't have the inspectors to carry out this directive, sorry diktat!!!" Reply +6 Not Impressed3 hours ago Who the F**k do these pricks think they are. Reply 3 replies+15 britsfirstlastalways3 hours ago your masters,and like it or not they are. Reply 2 replies+4 goyagoya29 minutes ago Yes thanks to Brown. Reply 1 reply+2 Mike Fry.17 minutes ago Its the Lib-Dem-Cons fault. VOTE UKIP - you know it makes sense. +1 Not Impressed3 hours ago EU F**k Off Reply 1 reply+11 britsfirstlastalways3 hours ago sticks and stones etc etc. Reply -3 John3 hours ago I am just waiting for the EU to step in on the subject of dog numbers - that will be something to see (and read) Reply 1 reply+7 goyagoya28 minutes ago What about just one dog crap a day for each dog, and a urine measuring machine? anything over and you would get a fine. Reply +2 psibernaut3 hours ago Today, to add to those that have already gone, vast swathes of our rightful freedoms were handed over to a foreign power by the three corrupt legacy parties. See whose tune they dance to : “The best way to take control over a people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, the people will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed.” ― Adolf Hitler Reply 6 replies+10 Richard (Thailand)3 hours ago So it seems the EU has been copying the philosophy of Adolf Hitler for decades. Reply 1 reply+10 psibernaut2 hours ago Richard, The EU is a Nazi invention. If you would like proof of that, please read the actual historical document called : The Europäische Wirtschaftsgeme­inschaft - Berlin 1942 It can be found by pasting the following into your browsers address bar : homepage.ntlwor­ld.com/lee.rile­y/Notices/EWG.p­df Or via a simple Google search. Reply +4 John3 hours ago The Eurocrats have studied "Mean Kampf" but Cameron has not. Reply 2 replies+8 John3 hours ago Oops sorry ! Mein Kampf ! Reply +9 goyagoya26 minutes ago Cameron and our politicians are collaborators. and you know what happened to them, It would make me so,so happy if i was chosen to hang them all, gis the job. Reply +2 britsfirstlastalways2 hours ago yes and it was totally successful as his rise to power proved. it was ADOLPH'S dream to have a right wing economically and politically united europe,if you take a look at the structures now in place in the e.u.,the basics are already there to bring his dream to fruition. one thing stands in the way,the marxist communists of the old guard are still running the show in brussels at the moment,but with more and more right wing and the far right politicians being elected change is on the way. think about this, the marxist plan is to drive europe into the hands of the far right by passing one ridiculous law after another,annoyin­g one country /group / religion /again and again and again,do you think that that is what is happening?,if it is it will be to the credit of not just ADOLPH but to his little genius propoganda minister PAUL JOSEPH GOEBBELS,two of his favourites quotes were, "think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play" "it would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a ppsychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle,they are mere words ,and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise". it could well be a gigantic double bluff is being played out on the mainland,we as a member of the e.u. will be required in due course to choose between the far right and the old guard of the marxist communists,and it is without a shadow of a doubt that the momentum is now with the right. whoever wins this round of the oldest battle of all we should get the hell out of it by voting UKIP and regaining our independence from the lot of them. Reply +3 BG4 hours ago Having spent a small fortune on bait if I catch more than one I`m keeping them. Is this really what we joined the EU for? UKIP is the only way out of this mess. I can`t wait until 2015. Reply +7 Robbie4 hours ago Its time we left this farce..petty interferance and grossly incompetent..co­nstantly demanding more money yet they cant balance their books not once but always. Reply +7 Mike OAP4 hours ago Ha Ha Ha what will these tossers think of next; how about penalizing golfers if they can't break 90; cornishmen if they eat more than one pasty per week, welshmen who can't sing and teetotal Irishmen. Where do I get my application form to be an MEP (mad european plonker) I have some great money making ideas !!! PS; Frenchmen who hate frog legs, the Dutch who don't like cheese & Germans who don't own a pair of lederhosen Reply +6 ColinMair4 hours ago There is no stopping these people. Oh yes, there is one way to stop them. WE LEAVE THE EU! Reply 1 reply+7 John3 hours ago That will not stop them. But the loss of a nett contributor should cut back on their stupid rule - making. Reply +5 jennyorks4 hours ago The French and Spanish fishermen have decimated all their own fishing grounds and everywhere around the UK, they ignore any fishing quotas and take what they want, so why should we do as the EU tells us.They are manic bureaucratic idiots, who have nothing better to do than find outrageous laws that they try to impose on us, not the rest of the EU !! Reply 1 reply+9 goyagoya23 minutes ago I used to live in Spain for many years, they caught everything and threw nothing back, not like us mugs, of course there were no jobsworths watching the spicks, we are the mugs of Europe. Reply +2 True Englishman4 hours ago And some of you except this ,more fool you . Vote UKIP. Reply 1 reply+5 Toyace11 minutes ago surely,..you mean 'ACCEPT" VOTE UKIP Reply 0 lenwilson18314 hours ago Britain will spend a fortune on jobsworths implementing this farcical law and the rest of europe will just ignore it like the rest of the crap that the commission invents.Roll on next may when this madness stops,if enough people want it to by voting ukip Reply 2 replies+5 John3 hours ago Are we going to have "Fishing Gauleiters" that will report any infringements ? Reply 1 reply+1 Toyace7 minutes ago If the gov't spend ANY money implementing this crap, it's time for a revolution. VOTE UKIP Reply 0 sailmaster4 hours ago Another nail into the EU coffin. They will be monitoring our breathing next. Luckily, we have a solution. Its called UKIP. Taken as recomended, this medicine will cure the Virus very quickly. LIBLABCON, of course, continue with their snake oil remedy. USELESS. Reply +7 Bill4 hours ago When are we going to get a bloody politician to stand up for this country everybody and their dog are now taking the hiss out of us and our country . The last one to stand up for the UK was Maggie , and since then the country has gone downhill , Reply 1 reply+9 Mike Fry.10 minutes ago The Tories stabbed Maggie in the back because of Europe. Those traitors are still running the Tories and Cameron is the next fall guy. Reply +1 daisyanne4 hours ago What next? This is getting beyond a joke. If ukip don't win the next election we are finished. Reply +11 phillipo5 hours ago Isn't it about time that someone responsible in the UK (if there is someone who fits that category) told them to go to hell? Reply 1 reply+11 John3 hours ago The current crop of politicians (in both houses) took part in the gradual erosion of British sovereignty. They are doubtless kept in line by the threat to open some of the many "files" that exist on their past indiscretions (etc). Reply +3 david dee5 hours ago Yet another unwanted interference in our affairs by the corrupt EU. All other corrupt EU members will ignore this stupidity, whilst this coalition farce will probably engage thousands of 'officials' to monitor anglers to ensure this fatuous nonsense is obeyed. Vote UKIP to rid ourselves of the evil and corrupt EU and to welcome back to the nation - COMMON SENSE. 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The first catch limits for recreational anglers are being considered by the European Commission in a bid to tackle a sharp decline in numbers of the fish.

However, critics say that the problem is being caused by commercial fishermen, in particular the French, landing huge catches of the species, The Times has reported.

Stocks have fallen by 40 per cent in the last four years, and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has recommended an 80 per cent reduction in sea bass catches in the EU.

The council, which reviews fish stocks, also warned that the species could be "on the verge of collapse".

The Angling Trust said that the proposed one-fish limit, which would apply to more than 200,000 anglers who fish from boats around the British coast, was "grossly disproportionate".

Spokesman Martin Salter disputed claims made by the European Commission that anglers accounted for 30 per cent of sea bass catches, claiming the figure was around half of that.

He accused the commission of "targeting the people least responsible", adding: "It's a bit like trying to reduce road deaths from speeding by targeting cyclists rather than drivers."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has declined to comment on whether they would support a limit on the number of sea bass an individual is allowed to catch.