HOOK a bass in the Teign estuary or anywhere else on the coast and you could be in big trouble.

A new European law means that anybody landing and keeping one of the popular fish is committing a criminal offence, with a fine of up to £50,000.

It is part of a campaign to preserve stocks, but according to a columnist in a national tabloid it has been slipped in ‘under the radar’.

Commercial trawlers, however, are not being hit so hard – they can land up to 1.3 tonnes of bass a month.

And in the summer, the regulation is relaxed – anglers will be allowed to catch and keep one bass.

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