NORTH WESTERN AND NORTH WALES SEA FISHERIES COMMITTEE
OFFICER’S REPORT
SCALLOPING IN WALES
Report by the Chief Executive, Principal Fishery Officer and Senior Scientist.
Purpose of Report
To inform Members of the conservation advice from CCW regarding scallop fishing within the Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau SAC.
Recommendation
That authorisations should be issued for the forthcoming scallop season subject to the same restrictions as the previous season.
1. Background
1.1 Byelaw 12 requires that scallop dredging within the District shall only be carried out under written authorisation of the Committee. The European Court of Justice ruling on cockle dredging in the Waddensee means that any such authorised fishing in a European Marine Site is a "Plan or Project" for the purposes of the habitats Regulations. This means that the likely effect of scallop dredging on the designated habitats and species of the Site must be assessed before any such fishing can be authorised.
1.2 A requirement of this assessment process is that the advice of the Countryside Council for Wales on the conservation implications of the proposed fishing must be sought and considered. The current advice from CCW is that "no new information has become available to us that would cause us to depart from the advice to the Committee that we gave in the advice document sent in October 2005 and our letters of 22nd September 2005 and 31st January 2006 (Annexes D and E).
2. Proposals for 2006/7
2.1 The advice from CCW is therefore that the proposed scallop dredging will not affect the integrity of the Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau SAC provided that the areas where dredging is currently prohibited are retained for the forthcoming season.
2.2 These areas are shown on the charts at Annexes A and B. Annex A shows the restricted area set up in the 1990s to protect beds of the horse mussel, Modiolus modiolus, as well as other SAC features. There have been recent suggestions that these beds are no longer present. CCW advise that this is not the case, and that recent monitoring confirms that the extent of the Modiolus reef remains unchanged. They have provided survey information to confirm this.
2.3 CCW also state their concerns that the North Llyn Modiolus area is an increasingly rare example of this habitat, and is very vulnerable to damage by heavy bottom gear (Annex F).
2.4 In the light of the advice from CCW, Officers recommend that scallop authorisations should be issued for 2006/7 incorporating the same restricted areas as last season.
STEPHEN ATKINS
Chief Executive
MARTYN BOYCE
Principal Fishery Officer
BILL COOK
Senior Scientist
9th October 2006
LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCESS TO INFORMATION) ACT, 1985
List of Background Papers
1. Advice document from CCW, October 2005
ANNEX F
E-mail from CCW 2nd October 2006:
Attached are the following MapInfo tables:
1. Outline of Modiolus from side scan (2000 I think this was done) - further sidescan and diver surveys this year have confirmed the presence of this main bed where it's expected to be
2. Data point from drop down video survey in 2005 that recorded Modiolus bed in the northeastern corner of the SAC - this area requires further work to define the extent of the bed here.
3. Outline of habitat that may be Modiolus - this is an area on the Habmap project multibeam survey along the North Llyn that shows the same signature as the main Modiolus bed - I've just drawn a rough polygon around this - further work is required to confirm extent of the bed here.
The drop down video work and the Habmap survey provide information that indicates that the horse mussel bed extends to other parts of the SAC off North Llyn. Given the rarity of this habitat now in the Irish Sea this is very positive. The horse mussel bed may also play an important role ecologically - it is possible that they play an important role in terms of acting as a recruitment area for certain species - we don't know this for sure, but they are certainly biologically diverse (around 250 species have been recorded to date from the North Llyn bed) and productive communities.
The North Llyn closed box extends further offshore than the SAC boundary. This provides an effective buffer for protection of the horse mussel bed along the northern boundary of the SAC. Given the practice of scallop dredgers working the edges of closed areas and the potential for incursions into the closed area we consider that the closed box currently provides an effective buffer to safeguard the horse mussel reef. Reefs as intact as the North Llyn one are increasingly rare as examples that existed previously have been destroyed. Within the Irish Sea only the North Llyn horse mussel reef and a reef north of the Isle of Man are still present:
- the horse mussel reef in Strangford Lough has been 85% lost;
- a reef off North Anglesey that previous survey work indicated was present has not been re-located since the late 1990's and recent survey data shows no evidence of it still being present
- and a reef off the south east of the Isle of Man no longer exists.
There is a body of evidence that points to all these losses having been due to heavy bottom fishing gear. You will be aware of the threat of substantial infraction proceedings in relation to the loss of the horse mussel bed in Strangford Lough - this case is still being dealt with by the EU.
I'd also like to remind you that the north Llyn closed box provides protection for more of the SAC reef feature than just the horse mussel bed. Further information on the other reef communities is in our advice document to the NWNWSFC in October last year. The closed box along the north Llyn current safeguards these communities from direct impact from scallop dredging
If you have any problems with the MapInfo tables or have any queries do get in touch.
Thanks,
Lucy
Lucy Kay
Swyddog Cadwraeth Morol/Marine Conservation Officer
Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru/Countryside Council for Wales
Rhanbarth Gogledd/North Region,
Llys y Bont, Parc Menai
Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 4BN
Ffôn/Tel: 01248 672500 / 0845 1306229
E-bost/e-mail: l.kay@ccw.gov.uk
Ar y Wê/Web site: http://www.ccw.gov.uk