I suspect most if not all amateur anglers release their catch. Commercial, none.
I feel for the recreational anglers. This measure is about licenses nothing more, the government looking after its revenue at the cost of those who recreationally fish.
It's all hogwash in the fact that as the report says only 15% of the total catch are the pair trawlers but and increase on Gill netting from 1tonne to 1.3 tonnes.
Nothing about conversation there in my view.
The Portuguese lady who came in my shop used to work at the fisheries dept in Brussels, she told me about the realisation that anglers were becoming a reckonable part of the fishing effort, because of the numbers. She also said the worse ones to try to deal with were the Irish bass fraternity, and she gave up the job because of the stress and frustration. I personally can't understand the 1.3 ton allowance, but haven't seen anyone take that much except rarely in January.