Answers to questions on application form – to date.

Conway Bay inside of a line drawn from the north western tip of Great Orme to sewage diffuser buoy to church spire/footbridge over A55 and railway.

A Hybrid Order under Section 1 of the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967. Species = Mussels (Mytilus edulis).

The maximum period allowed so the lease holders of the Several Order part of the Hybrid Order may be confident of deriving an adequate return from their investment of both time and money and to allow the licence holders within the Regulated fishery to be confident of continuing their sustainable traditional fishery.

Please give details of any businesses or activities, including other fisheries, currently operating on, or in the vicinity of, the site (you should make such parties aware of your proposals at an early stage). Please explain how the Order is likely to affect them.

Current Regulating Order:

Boating, sea angling, salmon fishing, netting – has no effect and will not in the foreseeable future.

Proposed Several Order part of Hybrid Order:

As above, and also some lobster potting, velvet crab and whelk potting and trawling.

Available at office.

None

Intertidal and sub-tidal ground laying mussels.

None, pest control not deemed necessary, shore crab potting if necessary?

Natural resource available as seed.

Mechanical harvesting of ground laying mussels.

Information unavailable at present.

For the Regulated fishery within the Hybrid Order

* Suggested:-

4.5m limit on boat size,

10 horse power limit on engine size.

For the Several area of the Hybrid Order:-

For Regulated fishery and Several area of the Hybrid Order:-

*Note – suggested uniform dredge size throughout Order. May be impractical because of different fishery requirements, i.e., dredge used within Regulated fishery solely for harvesting mussels from deep water channels whereas dredge used within Several Order for mechanical husbandry as well as for harvesting.

22 licences are currently issued.

Long handled rakes. Approved small dredges to be used in the deep water channels where mussels are currently unavailable for rakes.

1,500 tonnes over 5 years

Please explain your plan for the enforcement and monitoring of the Order and evaluation of the aims of the Management Plan.

Directive 91/492/EC requires classification of shellfish harvesting areas. What is the current hygiene classification status of the area covered by the Order? Has any part of the site been designated under the Shellfish Waters Directive (79/923/EEC)? Please give details.

The mussel harvesting area within the current Regulating Order is mainly B from October to the end of March - Cae Gonwy remains a B all the time while Conwy Harbour receives a B classification between January and March.

Please give details of any history of shellfish disease problems (e.g. bonamia, marteilia) in the area - None.

Has any part of the site been designated as, or will the Order impact on:

Please give any other relevant information.

The Conwy purification tank operators need a consistent supply of mussels in order to maintain their customer base and remain economically viable. A Several Order would fulfil this need by guaranteeing a regular supply of mussels thereby reducing dependence on other operators.

An extension of the Order area seaward would incorporate the offshore seed resource thereby securing it within the Conwy Order. Additional ground to the north would also become part of the Several Order. The areas currently raked would remain within the Regulating Order.

Interest has been expressed in conducting a pilot scheme to trial the rope culture of mussels at Deganwy.

The historically important Conwy mussel fishery is a sustainable low impact fishery. It is important to the tourist industry of Conwy and its hinterland; Conwy mussels are regularly served in the hotels and restaurants of North Wales and the fishermen can be seen working their traditional long handled rakes and landing their catch to the new purification tanks on the quay. Visitors can also learn about the fishery from Roman times to the present day when they visit the Conwy Mussel Museum.

In order to sustain the requirements of a modern 21^st century shellfish industry primarily supplying the British market, the traditional Regulated fishery must be underpinned, both in terms of supply and finance, by more modern methods. An opportunity exists to increase brand awareness for this unique product. A Hybrid Order incorporating the current Regulating Order together with an extension of the Order area to include a Several Order within Conwy Bay would provide the necessary base for the survival of this unique and potentially valuable fishery.

G. Hughes, 17/11/06.

Answers to questions on application form – to date.

Parts of the foreshore of the Menai Strait (Afon Menai) Gwynedd and Ynys Môn.

Plot A – 60 hectares

Plot B – 25 hectares

Plot C – 7 hectares

Plot D – 4 hectares

TOTAL = 96 hectares.

A Several Order under Section 1 the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967

Species:- Oysters (Crasostrea gigas, Ostrea edulis), Mussels (Mytilus edulis), Clams

The maximum period allowed. To allow sufficient time for the lease holders to be confident of benefiting from their investment of both time and money.

Please give details of any businesses or activities, including other fisheries, currently operating on, or in the vicinity of, the site (you should make such parties aware of your proposals at an early stage). Please explain how the Order is likely to affect them.

Perrywinkle (Littorina spp) gatherers. Oyster sacks on trestles provide suitable habitat for Littorina.

Sea Anglers – No impact.

Plas Menai – national outdoor centre

Caernarfon Harbour Trust

April 2004 – March 2005:- 2 tonnes Pacific oysters - £4,800

165 tonnes mussels - £135,000

None

Please give details of the following:

Area 1 – inter-tidal – mussels - ground laying

Area 4 – inter-tidal – mussels - ground laying

Area 5 – inter-tidal – mussels - ground laying

Area 6 – inter-tidal – oysters – trestles (bags)

Area 7 – inter-tidal; sub-tidal – trays (boxes) – Pacific oysters (Crasostrea gigas)

inter-tidal – mussels – ground laying

Area 8 – inter-tidal – mussels - ground laying

Area 9 – inter-tidal – mussels - ground laying

Area 10 – sub-tidal – mussels – ground laying

Area 11 – inter-tidal – Pacific oysters (Crasostrea gigas) – trestles (bags)

European oysters (Ostrea edulis ) – ground

Area 1 – None, pest control not deemed necessary, shore crab potting would be considered.

Area 4 – None, pest control not deemed necessary, shore crab potting would be considered.

Area 5 – None, pest control not deemed necessary, shore crab potting would be considered.

Area 6 – None

Area 7 – None

Area 8 – mechanical husbandry, i.e., moving stock around lay by boat

Area 9 – mechanical husbandry, i.e., moving stock around lay by boat

Area 10 - shore crab potting would be considered.

Area 11 – collecting shore crab off trays and sacks and returning them to the sea.

Area 1 – mussels – natural resources available as seed

Area 4 – mussels – natural resources available as seed

Area 5 – mussels – natural resources available as seed

Area 6 – oysters – hatchery reared stock

Area 7 – mussels – natural resources available as seed

Pacific oysters (C. gigas) – hatchery reared

Area 8 – mussels – small spat fall supplemented by seed

Area 9 – mussels – small spat fall supplemented by seed

Area 10 – mussels – natural resources available as seed

Area 11 – oysters – hatchery reared stock

Area 1 - mechanical

Area 4 - mechanical

Area 5 - mechanical

Area 6 – hand harvesting

Area 7 – hand gathering

Area 8 – hand gathering

Area 9 – hand gathering

Area 10 – mechanical harvesting of ground laying mussels

Area 11 – hand harvesting

Areas 1, 4 and 5 – A combined total of 250 – 350 tonnes per annum to be moved to East Menai to mature.

Area 6 – 70,000 oysters per annum

Area 7 – 100 – 200 tonnes mussels per annum,

5,000 C. gigas per annum

Area 8 & Area 9 combined – 150 tonnes per annum increasing towards the objective of 400 tonnes per annum. Aiming towards a 2 year cycle with 800 tonnes permanently on site for sustainability.

Area 10 – 200 – 300 tonnes mussels

Area 11 – 500,000 – 1,000,000 oysters

Please explain your plan for the enforcement and monitoring of the Order and evaluation of the aims of the Management Plan.

Directive 91/492/EC requires classification of shellfish harvesting areas. What is the current hygiene classification status of the area covered by the Order? Has any part of the site been designated under the Shellfish Waters Directive (79/923/EEC)? Please give details.

Please give details of any history of shellfish disease problems (e.g. bonamia, marteilia) in the area.

Has any part of the site been designated as, or will the Order impact on:

Please give any other relevant information.

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