Report by the Senior Scientist.

1. To inform Members of developments in the post of Marine Biodiversity Officer.

2. That the actions of staff to fulfil contractual commitments to CCW be approved.

1.1 Members will be aware of the post of Marine Biodiversity Officer, which was established with the aid of a one-year grant from CCW. The purpose of the post is to improve the integration of fisheries management with environmental interests in the Welsh part of the District.

1.2 The post has been filled by Ingrid Iredale since December 2005. Unfortunately, Ingrid became unwell in July 2006, and has been unable to return to work since then. Ingrid’s present contract expires at the end of November 2006, and she has informed the Lancaster office that she will not be seeking to renew her contract.

1.3 This situation has been discussed with CCW, who have agreed that the outputs from the present work programme can be postponed until February 2007.

1.4 The main outputs that have been agreed are draft fishery management plans for the lobster and cockle fisheries in Wales, and a GIS-based database of estuarine shellfish stocks and environmental sensitivities. This will include the most recent cockle and mussel survey results, integrated with site designations for the estuaries and the location of sensitive species and habitats. It is intended that this GIS database will be used to assess the likely scale of shellfishing in the estuaries, and to predict in advance the environmental concerns that the fisheries may generate.

1.5 In order to carry this out, it has been necessary to recruit a temporary staff member to finish the tasks begun by Ingrid. Vickie Hickin has been appointed on a contract that will run until the end of February 2007. Vickie is a marine biology graduate who has experience of working for the Environment Agency and CCW.

1.6 An application has been made to CCW for further grant aid to continue the post, for a period of 4 years after the completion of the present work programme.

BILL COOK

Senior Scientist

20^th November 2006

There are no background papers to this report.

Top