NORTH WESTERN AND NORTH WALES SEA FISHERIES COMMITTEE
OFFICER’S REPORT
BYELAW 5 – PERMIT SCHEME
Report by the Principal Fishery Officer
Purpose of Report
To inform Members of the progress which has been made in preparing a draft Byelaw which would provide for a shellfish permit scheme throughout the District.
Recommendation
That Members endorse the proposals contained at Annex A.
That the draft Byelaw 5 contained at Annex A be formally ‘made’.
1. Background
1.1 The large numbers of persons working within the cockle industry over the last 3 years predominantly in the Morecambe Bay fisheries precipitated closure of the fisheries throughout the District under Byelaw 13A, which provides for temporary closures for the purposes of fishery management and/or to control the rate of exploitation.
1.2 In 2003, legal advice suggested that in order to attempt to reduce the escalating number of itinerant workers who were entering the ‘gold rush’ in Morecambe Bay, a permit scheme could be set up under the terms of Byelaw 13A. A trial scheme commenced on 1st December 2003 at Warton Sands for a period of 14 months.
1.3 Officers have frequently reported on the benefits or not of that scheme and the conclusions confirmed our initial opinions that it provided minimal benefit to fisheries management, as there was no mechanism to limit the number of permits. However other government agencies found the collation of information pivotal in their investigations and subsequent reduction in benefit fraud, and more recently the collection of substantial levels of income tax. Consequently Officers reluctantly proposed that the permit scheme be renewed from 1st February 2005 through to 31st January 2006 whilst further negotiations were held with DEFRA in an attempt to find a compromise in the interpretation of our Byelaw making powers that would allow for greater fisheries conservation measures. Those negotiations took longer than anticipated and therefore by 31st January 2006 there was no progress on a permanent permit scheme.
1.4 In order to maintain a scheme through to the cockle seasonal closure (commencing 1st May 2006) and allow for mussel harvesting through the summer months, a new permit scheme for 2006 was set up which expires on 31st January 2007. All persons holding a permit on 30th January 2006 were invited to renew their permit, and as of 30th April 2006 there were 560
2. Developing future strategy
2.1 In recent months there has been considerable discussion between ourselves, DEFRA and Wales Assembly Government. I believe that following the visit in January of Officers from DEFRA policy and legal department, there is now a greater understanding of the impossible position that we, and other Districts, are in when attempting to manage a large scale cockle fishery.
2.2 With the prospect of waiting two or three years for the Marine Bill, and maybe the same length of time to create a Regulating Order for just one small part of the District, a more effective permit scheme which limits effort is needed in the short term. Contrary to earlier legal advice from DEFRA, they now consider that it could be possible for SFC byelaws to limit effort under the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act (1966).
2.3 In 2004 Government added shellfishing to the Gangmaster Act, on the basis that the Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA) would be able to regulate the shellfish industry in a similar way to regulation proposed for the horticulture sector. Over the last 6 months, I believe we have been able to demonstrate that the complex and unpredictable nature of shellfishing, cannot be regulated solely by the GLA. The licensing regime therefore has to be supported by a robust byelaw, and extensive consultation with both GLA and DEFRA during the formulation of the proposed Byelaw at Annex A, has encouraged a broader interpretation of the legislation from which Sea Fisheries Committees draw their powers.
3. The Aims of and Rational for a new Byelaw
3.1 The following Aims have been submitted to DEFRA and WAG, and to date have received broad support.
1. The purpose of the bylaw is to establish a permit scheme for landbased (ie not from a registered fishing vessel) fishing for shellfish (cockles and mussels) in the Committee's District.
2. A new permit scheme will replace the current temporary scheme which has been in place in 2005-6.
3. The new permit scheme is intended to be more restrictive and provide the means to manage the fishery more effectively.
4. As a minimum the permit scheme should allow the Committee to limit numbers of permits and ensure that fishermen have adequate safety training for this district. Fishermen are defined as those who declare a percentage of their earnings from fishing. The byelaw is designed to allow an upper limit on numbers at the start of the scheme based on the 2006 register at 30th April 2006. We hope and expect that the tight conditions and training costs of obtaining a new permit will reduce numbers immediately and allow a progressive reduction over time.
5. The draft is structured like many Statutory Instruments as a relatively simple byelaw with an attached schedule which defines the specific requirements of certain clauses. Our aim is to set up a byelaw which stands alone but with conditions that could be varied by Ministers to accommodate changes in systems or legislation such as the introduction of ID cards. The schedule also includes specific training requirements and restrictions on numbers or quotas.
6. A 1 day training course is under development and is on target to be in place by the time this byelaw is confirmed. There will be a pilot course in the Solway area in May 2006. After any further development, Seafish will use North West England and the Wales group training Officers (including NWNWSFC member A Brecknell) to deliver courses nationally as required for up to 250 people during July/August 2006. A 'one-off’ charge will be made for the training course of up to £100. SFC will do a small geographically focused part of the course for which they may be paid part of the fees.
7. Non-commercial 'hobby' fishing should not be limited by this byelaw and hobby fishermen should not require a permit. Therefore the Byelaw sets a bag limit of 5kg per tide for anyone fishing non-commercially. Non-commercial fishermen will have to comply with all other relevant bylaws such as the closed season and restrictions under Byelaw 13 which may be enacted.
8. The scheme is intended to be limited to applicants who have experience of fishing but there is provision for a limited number of new permits to be issued each year.
9. We have considered developing a points system so that permits would be issued to applicants with the greatest number according to defined criteria which could be listed in the Schedule. We have also reviewed the EA and Solway schemes which use this approach. However, we believe this would be complex and expensive for an SFC which cannot recover costs. It would also be controversial and probably open to challenge. Therefore we have not taken this idea further at this stage.
3.2 Officers have reviewed the date of closure of the register (para 3.1.4). To avoid any ambiguity Officers suggest the date be that on which the byelaw is formally ‘made’, i.e. 19th May 2006 and from this date forward no further applications for permits would be processed.
3.3 The draft Byelaw contained at Annex A therefore covers several new and innovative approaches not previously attempted under SFC byelaw powers. and is written in the style of a Statutory Instrument rather than a traditional Byelaw. To date DEFRA lawyers have verbally agreed with the concept and much of the text, but will not be able to give final written comment until after the deadline for the issue of these papers. If the byelaw is to be active from 1st September 2006 the time-line is extremely tight. In order that Members receive papers by the statutory date, a draft byelaw (which should be almost identical to the final version) is presented at Annex A for consideration. The finalised wordage will be distributed to Members at the earliest opportunity, or tabled prior to the meeting of the Committee on 19th May 2006.
3.4 Whilst the proposed Byelaw may not include all elements on everyone’s wish list, I believe it is the best that can be achieved under the current legislation, and recommend it for immediate support.
MARTYN BOYCE
Principal Fishery Officer
1st May 2006
LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCESS TO INFORMATION) ACT, 1985
Background Papers
There are no background papers to this report.