The NWIFCA Technical Science and Byelaws Sub-committee has approved the authorisation of a restricted cockle fishery at Leasowe cockle bed, North Wirral Foreshore from Monday 30th September. All current NWIFCA Byelaw 3 permit holders must ensure they understand the conditions under which they are authorised to gather cockles by hand. Gathering of cockles by any other person is not authorised and is a breach of NWSFC Byelaw 13A and NWIFCA Byelaw 3. The fishery is only open 3 days each week (Monday to Wednesday). Weekly returns are required by Thursday 1700hrs each week. A Total Allowable Catch of 400 tonnes has been set to ensure there is sufficient cockle food resource remaining from the fishery for protected overwintering bird species. Click here to view the full authorisation. Access Permits You must obtain access permits from Safe Water to use your quad bike. The contact details for Safe Water are listed below: Safe Water Training Sea School Ltd. 68 Victoria Parade New Brighton Wirral CH45 2PH Telephone: 0151 630 0466 E-Mail: [email protected]

The Heysham Flat Seed Mussel fishery will open under authorisation for all Byelaw 3 permit holders on 22/7/19. All gatherers must read the authorisation available below and for download here. Access permits are available from Lancaster City Council. AUTHORISATION TO FISH UNDERSIZED MUSSELS FROM HEYSHAM FLAT SKEAR 2019 All current Byelaw 3 permit holders are hereby authorised, under Byelaw 3, paragraph 6 (Minimum Sizes) to fish undersized mussels from Heysham Flat, in the permitted fishing and transiting area as defined in paragraph 2 and illustrated in Annex A, and are responsible for complying with the conditions given below at paragraph 1. 1. Conditions of Authorisation This authorisation is issued subject to the following conditions: (a) It is only valid for the period from 22/07/2019 to 31/12/2019, excluding Bank Holiday Monday 26th August 2019. (b) That the mussels shall only be gathered by hand or with a rake. (c) That fishing shall take place only from Monday to Friday inclusive, during daylight hours, defined as one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset. (d) The NWIFCA will close the fishery during periods of prolonged cold weather. (e) The authorisation is only valid for current Byelaw 3 permit holders. It does not…

The Marine Management Organisation’s West of Walney Marine Conservation Zone (Specified Area) Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2018 was signed off by Defra on 4th June 2019. The Byelaw will come into force on 4th July 2019. You can read the full text of the byelaw on the MMO’s website here.

Blue Marine Foundation has published a study calling for national management of the common whelk. The study shows that whelks are caught before they have the chance to reproduce as whelks reach maturity at different sizes in different areas. In England, the size of maturity varies between 45mm up to 78mm depending on where they are located. It also found that there is very little mixing between stocks around the UK. For more information you can read the full study on the Blue Marine Foundations website here.

Retained Bass must be over the minimum sized of 42cm. For more information on the current bass measures visit the MMO’s bass guidance page.

North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NWIFCA) is calling for fishermen and women to follow a Voluntary Closure on placing nets around St Bees starting 18th March 2019. Although thankfully not a common occurrence, there have been distressing reports in the past of numbers of birds getting caught up in the nets and drowning. Obviously no one wants or intends this, and fishers themselves have been deeply upset when it has occurred. As fisheries regulators the NWIFCA has a duty to ensure that netting is not having a damaging effect on birds. The breeding season is the crucial time for seabirds such as razorbills and guillemots nesting on the cliffs at St Bees. Last year the NWIFCA brought in the Voluntary Closure for the first time and can report 100% compliance from both commercial and recreational fishers. The support of all allows the Authority to feel confident in implementing the closure again this year as a measure to protect the breeding birds and their young while they are in the area. St Bees is an important cliff habitat for breeding seabirds, and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It also lies within the Cumbria Coast…

United Kingdom and French scientists are tagging sea bass with internal electronic tags. To indicate the fish is tagged it may have a blue tattoo, a spaghetti tag or other visible external tags. If you find a tagged sea bass or an electronic tag note the date and the location of the catch and keep the whole fish with its tags. Then contact Cefas on the details below: Email: [email protected] Phone: +44 1502 524 526

Update 17/01/19 (2) The authorisation’s for the Flookburgh, Leven and Newbiggin Craam only fisheries are available below: Flookburgh and Leven Sands Craam Only Fishery Authorisation Newbiggin Craam Only Fishery Authorisation Details on the partial lifting of the 13a closure at Pilling is available below: Pilling Partial Lifting of 13a Closure Update 17/01/19 All shellfish removed for human consumption from Pilling Sands East must be accompanied by a shellfish registration document. Shellfish registration documents can be obtained from Wyre Council food safety section. Visit http://www.wyre.gov.uk/info/200408/food_safety/1022/shellfish_harvesting to obtain information regarding the legal requirements surrounding the harvesting of shellfish for human consumption and links to obtain Registration Documents. Update 16/01/19 The opening of Leven, Flookburgh, Newbiggin and Pilling has been approved. The fisheries will open at 12:00 (midday) on 21/01/19. Authorisations for the fisheries will be published soon. Posted 08/01/19 Officers are working to open the following beds on 21st January 2019: Leven, Flookburgh and Newbiggin as craam only fisheries. The east section of Pilling by lifting the Byelaw 13a closure. The opening of the beds is subject to Technical, Science and Byelaws Sub-Committee approval and the approval of the HRA by Natural England. This post and the Cockle fisheries page will be updated with further…

All shellfish removed for human consumption from Pilling Sands East must be accompanied by a shellfish registration document. Shellfish registration documents can be obtained from Wyre Council food safety section. Visit http://www.wyre.gov.uk/info/200408/food_safety/1022/shellfish_harvesting to obtain information regarding the legal requirements surrounding the harvesting of shellfish for human consumption and links to obtain Registration Documents.

The House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee launches an inquiry into the implementation of the EU landing obligation. Background Discarding is the practice of throwing unwanted fish back into the sea. An average 1.7 million tonnes of fish and other marine life used to be discarded in the EU each year, because it was unmarketable, unprofitable, exceeded the amount of fish allowed to be caught or was otherwise unwanted. Not only is this a waste of finite resource, as many fish do not survive discarding, it also makes it difficult to accurately measure how many fish are actually caught (which is necessary to monitor the health of fish stocks and prevent over-fishing). The EU landing obligation seeks to gradually eliminate discards by requiring all catches of specified types of fish to be landed. It has been implemented in stages, beginning in 2015; by 1 January 2019 it will apply to all fish stocks for which the EU sets a Total Allowable Catch. Scope of the inquiry The Committee are inviting individuals and organisations to share their experience of the impact that the EU landing obligation has had to date, and their views on what impact full implementation might…

On 6th November TSB approved the closure of the cockle fisheries at Flookburgh / Leven Sands. Members were very concerned about the failure to adhere to the craam only regulation and the consequent concern that the Authority may be in breach of the Habitats Regulations Assessment for this fishery. A lot more cockle may have been fished than was expected and juvenile cockle and spat may have been reduced by use of rakes. A failure to comply with the HRA leaves the Authority open to challenge that the Morecambe Bay European Marine Site is not being properly managed. Therefore, TSB members resolved to close the cockle bed with immediate effect. Surveys to assess remaining stock will be carried out. Should sufficient stock remain a revised Habitats Regulations Assessment will be required before any fishing could recommence. Any questions about the fishery should be sent by post or email.  

Sea Bass Fisheries Conservation UK (SBFC UK) are looking for fishers, both recreational and recreational, across the UK (excluding Scotland) to complete their survey. SBFC UK is a project tasked with describing sea bass fisheries on a regional level to help improve future sea bass conservation and management. This survey allows SBFC UK to complete that description by gathering information directly from you, they will collate this evidence to create an accurate picture of regional sea bass fisheries in the UK. They also want to underline where data gaps are to help prioritise our science to best suit the needs of fishers in each region. They hope to address these data gaps through fisher-led data collection and collaborations, please email SBFC at [email protected] for more details. Click here to complete the questionnaire.