1.1 The increasingly detailed and tight regulation of the scallop fishery by the Committee in recent years was described for the June 2009 meeting. Also reported were the relatively high media profile which the fishery received last season and the concerns of WAG, CCW and NGO (such as the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, WDCS). The Committee noted that there was widespread misunderstanding from all the above bodies about the various remits of the regulatory bodies, including the Minister, and the application of the complex suite of regulations applicable to the scallop fishery

1.2 Also reported was the Committee’s data and observations of the 2008/2009 fishery which showed that although effort within our District was high and a cause for concern, it had not reached the levels attained in early 2008 resulting in the early closure of the 2007-08 scallop fishing season.

1.3 The June 2009 meeting also received a report of complaints to the European Commission alleging that WAG and the SFCs had not adequately assessed the fishery, and a Committee response was agreed which was dispatched. Whilst this complaint is a separate issue to that of managing the scallop fisheries in Welsh waters, it is integral to any management intervention that is required for the 2009/2010 scallop season. The Committee agreed to further consider more extensive closures for the 2009-10 season at this meeting.

1.4 It was further resolved in June that Officers should write to CCW requesting conservation advice to launch the Appropriate Assessment process. To date there has been no response from CCW to the letter at Annex A. Officers were also directed to write to the Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs proposing that an Appropriate Assessment be carried out jointly by the Committee and the WAG for the whole Cardigan Bay SAC area out to 12 miles offshore (Annex B). The Ministers’ interim response at Annex (C) does not take up the Committee’s proposal.

2.1 To date there has been no published resolution to the complaints made to the European Commission about the scallop fishery reported at the June meeting. Also the Committee has not received further conservation advice from CCW which might allow some scallop fishing to take place in SAC areas.

2.2 In order to protect the Committee from being held responsible for failing to protect the features of the SAC and until an Appropriate Assessment has been agreed with CCW, Officers do not consider that it will be possible to authorise scallop fishing within the SAC areas of the Committee’s District. Therefore Officers reluctantly recommend that the resolution of the June meeting should be implemented. For next season, the District be temporarily closed to scallop dredging from Cemaes Head in the south to a line drawn from Penrhyn Nefyn to South Stack (Bearing 345⁰ (T). This closure is marked on the map attached at Annex D

3.1 The Minister’s group held a number of meetings in spring 2009 which were inconclusive. Possible amendments to the 2005 Welsh Scallop Order were considered and some research on the scallop fishery was commissioned from Cefas by WAG. This research should have been reported in June but to date no findings have been published. The CEO has written to the Minister requesting this report (Annex E).

3.2 WAG developed its own proposals for amendments to the Order which are currently out for consultation until 25^th September 2009 (Annex F). WAG intends to enact the new Order in time for the 2009-10 scallop season which commences on 1 November. Officers’ comments on the consultation are reported in section 4.

4.1 Officers propose that a response to the WAG scalloping consultation (Annex F) be prepared including the following comments.

4.2 The Committee’s recommendation (paragraph 3.1 above) for more extensive scallop closures under byelaw for the 2009-10 season has been to some extent overtaken by part of the proposals contained at paragraph 12 of the proposed amendments to the Order. However, Officers would highlight that whilst spatial restrictions invoked through byelaw would be temporary, seasonal and easily revised, the same spatial restriction invoked through an SI would be long term or permanent. Officers are concerned that from April 2010 when SFC Byelaws in Wales are replaced by Statutory Instrument the management regime loses much of the existing flexibility to react to good science. The proposed spatial restrictions may serve to quickly resolve the current complaints but are likely to prove unsuitable to changing circumstances in the future. For example, CCW conservation advice may show that fishing can be permitted in certain areas of the SAC. Also emerging technology may provide better vessel tracking giving the regulator confidence to permit fishing close to important nature conservation features.

4.3 The proposed amendments close the Cardigan Bay and Pen Llyn ar Sarnau SACs. However no closures are proposed for the Pembrokeshire SAC. If the Order is implemented as proposed, it is likely that there will be displacement of effort from the Cardigan Bay SAC to the areas off Pembrokeshire resulting in further calls for closures.

4.4 The proposals would significantly impact inshore Welsh vessels to a greater extent than larger vessels from more distant ports. Larger vessels can and will redirect their effort elsewhere but this is not an option for inshore vessels with a limited range of operation. The proposals do not give any indication of how or if the local scallop industry will be protected from the economic impact of the new Order. This is not in the long term interests of the fishing industry, nor present or future SACs.

4.5 The proposed spatial restriction of 0-1 nm all around the Welsh coast relies on no clear rationale. Restrictions must be relevant and necessary.

4.6 Officers submitted recommendations to the Scallop Working Group and these are embedded within the proposed technical measures, however permanent spatial restrictions are considered premature and that there is a need for greater ‘in depth’ negotiation regarding fishing practices in SACs.