1.1 At the Joint Committee meeting in June, a proposal for trial cockle reseeding at Traeth Lafan was reported.

1.2 The proposal was to carry out a transplantation of small cockles from a high-shore, slow-growing area to experimental plots at a lower tidal level, where growth should be faster but where the natural cockle population was sparse.

1.3 The experiment would provide a valuable indication of whether cockle cultivation could be included as a potential management measure for the future fishery at Traeth Lafan, particularly if the creation of a Fishery Order was a preferred option for improving the management of the site.

2.1 It had been hoped that the trial might form the basis for a student project at Bangor University, but although a proposal for this was submitted, unfortunately it was not taken up. This has forced a reduction in the scope of the proposal, but a more limited, in-house trial has been started this summer.

2.2 A total of 33kg of small cockles, most of them between 10-20mm shell length, were gathered by using a "jumbo" to bring them to the bed surface, when they were hand-picked and bagged. They were then transplanted to 5 marked, experimental plots some 1km further seaward. The plots were 3m x 3m square, with a station marker at each corner. Two stocking densities were used: 3 of the plots were each stocked with 9kg of small cockles, whilst the remaining 2 plots each received 3kg of cockles.

2.3 It is intended to return to the experimental plots at intervals throughout the autumn and winter to check on the progress of the transplanted cockles. In the summer of 2010, the plots will be harvested, so that the overall yield can be determined, and a measure of growth rate and meat quality can be obtained.