The BRFC met virtually by online Teams meeting on 28th November 2025.
Present were: Stephen Mardlin MBE (Chairman), James Maclaine (Scientific Advisor, Marine Species), Gareth Davies (Freshwater Scientific Advisor), Will Barnard (Freshwater Specialist), David Craig (Ireland Sea Angling Representative), Tim Froome (Channel Islands Representative) and Nick Simmonds (Secretary). Apologies for absence were received from: Mr Paul Coulson and Mr Paul Edwards.
The committee considered and accepted the following record claims as being duly ratified:
Couch’s sea bream (Pagrus pagrus), caught by Peter Kibel off Dartmouth, while fishing from his own boat, on 22nd August 2025 and ratified at a measured length of 59cm.
Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), caught by Jeffrey Iggo on 14th August 2025 whilst fishing from charter boat “Ascention”, skippered by John Keggie, out of Cullivoe, Shetland. Jeff’s fish was ratified at a record length of 68cm.
Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda), caught by David Kiddy on a lure of his own design, while fishing aboard charter boat “Reel Deal” out of Ilfracombe, North Devon, on 13th August 2025. David’s fish was ratified as a record at a length of 73cm.
The three new records mentioned above are the first to be recorded as length-based records under the BRFC’s length-based protocols for record listings introduced in June 2024. For more information regarding length-based record listings for sea fish, please see the BRFC’s web page.
Also accepted as a new sea “mini-species” record was a Steven’s goby (Gobius gasteveni), caught by Chris Scott from Plymouth Sound on 24th July 2025 and ratified as a record at a weight of 9.33 grams.
There was also one addition to the BRFC’s Notable Fish List, being Roy Shipway’s Imperial scaldfish (Arnoglossus imperialis), caught on 9th May 2025 off Newly, while fishing with Keiren Faisey’s “Unleashed Fishing Charters”. Roy’s fish was weighed on board the boat at 113 grams and released alive.
