PRESENT (MEMBERS) OFFICERS

Members declared their interest in Agenda items as follows:

Item 3. Dredging for Mussels in Public Fisheries. Mr. D. Jewitt, Mr. T. Jones, Mr. K. Mould, Mrs. M. Owen and Mr. C. Woods (also Mr. N. Parker?)

Item 4. The 2008 mussel spatfall on the North Side of Morecambe Bay. Mr. D. Jewitt, Mr. T. Jones, Mr. K. Mould, Mrs. M. Owen and Mr. C. Woods

Item 5. Prospects for seed mussel fishing on Heysham Flat Skear. Mr. D. Jewitt, Mr. T. Jones, Mr. K. Mould, Mrs. M. Owen, Mr. C. Woods.

Item 6. Progress with the Morecambe Bay Fishery Order. Mr. K. Mould

In presenting the report the Senior Scientific Officer reminded Members that the purpose of this item was to consider the Committee’s policy on the dredging of mussels from beds in the public fisheries in order to make a recommendation on future policy to the September meeting of the Joint Committee. A meeting with local fishing interests had been held on 16^th July 2008 which had been well attended. A full discussion had taken place on this issue and a range of viewpoints expressed, although no general consensus view had come from that meeting. Mr. Cook provided some background to the report and summarised the present position by means of a slide presentation.

Mr. Cook informed Members that a complaint had been received from industry that the Committee’s present policy on size mussels was not in line with modern practice and needed to be reviewed. Mr. Woods expressed concern that the letter from Mr. R. Benson and Dr. O. Namoor, listed as a background paper, was unsigned and suggested this should not be considered as being valid to the discussions. Mr. Cook agreed to check on whether a signed copy of the letter had been received. Mr. Woods also pointed out that a considerable number of people participating in the fishery were not local to the Bay. He felt it was important that fishermen from outside Morecambe Bay should be kept informed of any decisions made on fishing activity within that area.

Members then considered the points provided for discussion in paragraph 1.13 of the report. With respect to seed mussel fishing and the present policy on favouring fishing by hand gathering Members agreed, with the exception of Mr. Mould, that this policy should be retained.

With regard to dredging for size mussels, the Principal Fishery Officer suggested this should only be permitted in areas not accessible to hand gatherers. Restrictions could be imposed to permit small boats with limited dredge capacity and make it impractical for larger boats from outside the District to work. Mr. Boyce suggested this could form the basis of a one year project which could be reviewed at the end of that period. Mr. Cook felt that more scientific information between dredging and the likely effects on eiders that fed on mussels in the north side of the Bay was needed in order for agreement to be reached with Natural England for such activity. He was not aware of any areas of sizeable mussels that were under threat at present and suggested that Officers should consult with industry and if any specific projects were identified these could be referred back to the Committee for further discussion.

Members also discussed the present policy of delegated powers given to Officers to authorise seed mussel gathering from beds where seed fishing had previously taken place, and whether potential seed mussel fisheries in new areas should continue to be considered by the Committee on an individual basis.

Following a lengthy discussion it was

RESOLVED

1. That the report be received.

The Senior Scientific Officer presented the report informing Members of the extent and location of the 2008 mussel spatfall on the north side of Morecambe Bay and presenting proposals for the utilisation of a proportion of that spatfall as seed mussels. Members were reminded that a viable seed mussel fishery had taken place on Foulney Twist during April and May 2008 and the closure of the area to the south of that area had worked well. There was an estimated stock of around 5,000 tonnes of mussels at Foulney, the stock being on very soft mud and being loose and vulnerable to be lost to erosion over the summer. Before any activity could be authorised an appropriate assessment would be required and the activity would be subject to agreement from Natural England that this would have no significant effect on the conservation features of the area.

At the meeting with industry on 16^th July the consensus view was that the Committee should permit dredging of seed mussels provided a certain proportion was relayed in an area to be specified by local fishermen for hand gathering. Mr. Woods made the point that once those mussels reached maturity, the fishery would become a public fishery and available to all, not just local fishermen from the north side of the Bay.

Points for Members’ consideration were provided in paragraph 4.2 of the report and following a discussion it was

The Senior Scientific Officer presented the report informing Members of a large spatfall of mussels identified on Heysham Flat Skear near Morecambe. Mr. Cook advised Members that activity had previously been authorised for that area. The settlement this time was more extensive and there would likely be several thousand tonnes of mussels maturing during the summer with potential loss of the resource. The usual access to this area was from the Battery car park and concerns were raised about the social implications and likely conflict between shore-based gatherers and other users of the promenade and foreshore if the activity was authorised before September. The Principal Fishery Officer advised Members that two of the local Fishery Officers had investigated alternative access points and one other possible access had been identified.

Members discussed the various options in the report, which were whether it would be appropriate to harvest a proportion of the 2008 spatfall from Heysham Flat for use as seed mussels, if so, when the fishery should commence; whether restrictions could be put in place to minimise social conflict; whether it would be appropriate to remove seed mussels from Heysham Flat by other methods, such as vessel dredging, in order to totally avoid disturbance; and whether Knott End or other outlying skears should be opened to hand gathering or vessel dredging for seed mussels.

It was proposed, and agreed, that Officers should monitor the situation and if it was felt that the resource should be exploited to minimise the loss of fishable stock, that Officers should authorise the activity and open the beds as soon as practical. Mr. Jewitt asked that if such decision was taken to open the beds, that the industry be informed as soon as possible.

The Fishery Orders Development Officer reported that an application for the Morecambe Bay Fishery Order had been submitted to DEFRA. A decision on issuing a draft Order had been delayed pending a resolution to the matter of partial consent by Crown Estate Commissioners. This in turn being held up until the appeal against the ruling in the Gallows Point marina case was heard. Members were advised that under current legislation the application would likely result in a Public Inquiry and an Order was unlikely to be in place before 2010. New legislation to be introduced in the Marine Bill could remove the requirement for Crown Estate consent for Fishery Orders and increase the thresholds for triggering of Public Inquiries. As a result an Order might be in place within the same time scale as under the present legislation.

In response to a question from Mrs. Owen on how the proposed figure of 200 licences had been arrived at for Morecambe Bay, Mr. Houghton informed Members that this had been determined from feedback from a questionnaire which had been widely circulated, discussions with members of the industry and associations and amongst Fishery Officers. Mrs. Owen felt that the figure of 200 was too high to sustain that level of activity given the number of licences agreed for the Dee and the Solway and suggested that 80 would be more appropriate.

Mr. Cook advised Members that on placing this matter on the Agenda it had not been the intention to consider it in depth but merely to update Members on progress with the Fishery Order.

The Senior Scientist provided Members with an indication of stock levels in Morecambe Bay. Surveys had been carried out on Pilling Sands, Warton Sands and Middleton Sands, which showed stock levels to be very low. The north side of the Bay had not yet been surveyed but this would be done before 1^st September. At Warton the only indication was that of the 2006 year class and the potential spatfall noted last July and August had virtually disappeared, the reason for this disappointing finding not being known. Little stock had been seen between Rampside and Bardsea and there was unlikely to be much activity there.

There being no further business the Chairman thanked Members for attending and closed the meeting at 1240 hours.