Fishermen from the South West have been hand-lining for mackerel, pollack and bass for over 40 years - providing a vital source of income for many inshore fishermen. Unfortunately, in recent years imports of farmed bass and worries about the sustainability of pair-trawl caught bass has badly affected the prices the line fishermen receive for their catch.

The South West Handline Fishermen’s Association represents over 50 handline fishermen in SW England. We are a group of fishermen who are passionate about the fish we catch and how we catch it and have developed this website and tagging scheme to provide guaranteed ‘hook to plate’ traceability. This site can be used by anyone in the supply chain from wholesaler to restaurateur to see who caught their bass.

We hope you enjoy using the site and find it helpful – if you would like to make any comments or suggestions please go to our feedback section.