To report proposals for a joint project with Gwynedd County Council and Conwy County Borough Council to develop an agreed management approach for this fishery.

1.1 The Traeth Lafan cockle fishery is generally active from 1 September each year through the autumn and winter until stocks decline to an uneconomic level. The fishery gives rise to a number of social and nature conservation issues and problems which need to be addressed.

1.2 Use of the Aberogwen carpark at Traeth Lafan causes litter noise and disturbance to local residents who use the facility and shoreline for quiet recreation. Use of quad bikes and tractors on the sand can damage sensitive upper shore habitats including seagrass beds and saltmarsh.

1.3 A Joint Liaison Committee has been established in North Wales by the PFO using the same model as the Morecambe Bay Joint Liaison Group. This Committee combines the duties and powers of all agencies and landowners to create the best possible management for the site. The Committee meets as required before the closed season ends and while the fishery is active to set management policies and regulations to mitigate access and conservation issues.

1.4 Current fishery management is based on scientific survey at regular intervals to estimate the state of the stock and ensure the fishery is closed if cockles are over exploited.

1.5 A variety of regulations have been agreed with other agencies and with the fishing industry to reduce the impacts of the fishery. These have included boat transport of the catch, restrictions on night time and weekend fishing and careful definition of quad bikes routes to the cockle beds to avoid damage to other habitats.

1.6 Despite the imposition of these measures, the Joint Liaison Committee in 2007 considered that the operation of the fishery from the Aberogwen car park was not satisfactory and that other options for the long term management of the fishery should be explored including further restrictions on the operation of the fishery and possibly the introduction of a Regulating Order.

2.1 There are reasonable stocks of cockles on Traeth Lafan this year and a significant fishery is expected from the end of the closed season on 1 September. The scale of the fishery and how long it will last is not yet clear but further survey work will be undertaken over the summer.

2.2 Stocks of adult cockles in much of Morecambe Bay are low so the fishery there is expected to be relatively poor in 2008. This is also the position in the Solway and it is not yet clear if the Dee will be open in 2008. These factors may result in considerable interest in the Traeth Lafan in September which could be the best cockle fishery in the District and beyond, this year.

2.3 The Joint Liaison Committee will meet over the summer in preparation for the fishery.

3.1 Recognising that management at Traeth Lafan is required in the short term for 2008 and a more permanent scheme of management is required for the site in the longer term, SFC Officers, CCW, Gwynedd County Council and Conwy County Borough Council have discussed a joint project for the site. The project would provide a jointly funded officer to undertake ‘on the ground’ day to day management of the site during the operation of the fishery in 2008 and future years if it is continued. By having an officer on site, communications and relations between the fishing industry and the local residents should be much improved and the industry should be required to comply more consistently with the byelaws and regulations in force.

3.2 The project would also develop a longer term scheme of management for Traeth Lafan in 2 phases. Phase 1 would consist of an option appraisal would be undertaken this year to examine the costs and benefits of options for measures including:

3.3 Phase 2 is estimated to cover the following 2 years and would consist of the implementation of chosen options as rapidly as possible. The aim of phase 2 would be to establish a management scheme for the site which has the backing of all the relevant agencies and the fishing industry.

3.4 Management and funding for this project would be provided through collaboration of the following agencies on a Steering Committee. The Consortium will provide the first years finance for the project as below:

i. CCW £15,000

ii. Gwynedd Council £ 8,000

iv. SFC Accommodation and equipment,

supervision, day to day management.

3.5 A grant application with outline approval for funding has been submitted to CCW. The Steering Committee will review the report and management outcomes from phase 1 before extending the project into phase 2.