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DIRECTOR’S REPORT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING 30^th JUNE 2007

Weather : April was uncharacteristically mild, dry and settled, becoming wet, windy and very unsettled from mid May to the end of the quarter. Species such as spider crab, bass and mackerel were as much as 6 weeks in advance of normal.

Fishing Activity
Finfish : Catches of medium sized (>39cm) bass were very prolific in April to late May, both from the boat and shore. Large shoals were present in Carmarthen Bay before they dispersed. Mackerel were also numerous, especially small ‘Joey’ fish of 4-5 inches and it is these ‘feed’ that might have attracted and held the bass.

Trawlers and netters took ray, flatfish, bass, a run of codling, monk and cuttlefish. Some small meshed trawling of squid took place off Lundy later on. Netters had to contend with weed, weather and spider crab/smoothound by-catch at times.

Anglers took bass throughout and bream off Langland.

MOLLUSCS
Whelk : Continued whelk fishing took place in Carmarthen Bay. Landings and size were reported as holding up well.

Cockles : Fishing on small cockle to 17.5mm size (plus percentage allowance) took place in the Burry Inlet on an increasing fishing days number/quota basis on the north side.  Unfortunately cockle die off evident in April, intensified in May/early June and little was left by the period end.  The smaller cockle on the south side remained at that time.

Survey of the Three Rivers estuary in April indicated the presence of a prospective 4000 tonnes fishable stock by September.  Again mortality was evident and intensified.  Following many surveys and arduous ‘Appropriate Assessment’ of environmental impact, four discrete single days of fishing were authorised from 26th June at Llanstephan only (cockle had mostly already died at Laugharne and Gwendraeth) resulting in around 410 tonnes being removed (by a maximum of 230 persons on any one day).  By August end cockle had died at Llanstephan too (independent of fishing) resulting in a decision to keep all beds closed from 8th September.

Cockle and plankton samples analysed by CEFAS showed no obvious cause of the mortality.  Officers continue to investigate options to secure funding for more intensive long term studies into the cause of the die-off, now in its fifth consecutive year.  (See Report to Molluscan Working Group).

Some mussel fishing took place in the Burry Inlet and Three Rivers whilst stocks were reasonable, but this too tailed off by June.

CRUSTACEANS
Pot and net fishing geared up across Pembrokeshire, perhaps a little earlier in the season than is normal.  Catches of lobsters and, of interest, edible crab, were good.  Spider crab were ubiquitous, not all of which found a market.

Lobster V-notching continued until the FIFG 3 year funding was all but taken up - a further 4753 lobsters having been returned in 2007.

GENERAL
The Fishery Protection Vessel was active although weather, lack of crew and equipment failure curtailed activities half way through the quarter.

It was involved in assisting a number of casualties at sea, mainly diver related.

A wide range of fishery offences were detected across the district from minimum sizes, angling in a bass nursery area, maximum vessel size (including a foreign vessel), migratory fish offences (with EA), and ubiquitous cockle offences and deterrent action.  All of which are either dealt with or are proceeding.

The commendation of the Senior Fishery Officers of the flexible attitude of the Fishery Officers should be noted.

The FPV took onboard an officer from NWNWSFC and spent two days patrolling mid Cardigan Bay for oversize scallopers, free of charge on behalf of NWNWSFC when their vessel experienced downtime because of gearbox failure.

The Committee’s Biologist(s) were kept particularly busy on cockle related surveys as well as many other wider representational matters.

ORGANISATIONAL
Fishery Officers attended courses on ATV, 4x4 and computer (Word and Excel).

Dr A Woolmer tendered his resignation from the 20th July to again take up consultancy opportunities.  We thank him for his work over the last 2½ years and wish him well.  A replacement will be sought by competitive process over August/September.

DIARY OF EVENTS
D = Director   D = Deputy Director    B = Both     MCO = Marine Conservation Officer

NOTE : Some inspections are covered under more than one legislation, therefore can appear as more than one count in each period.

* Note:  Inspection figures for the period January to March 2007 have been amended.

OUTSTANDING CASES 2007

CONCLUDED CASES - END JUNE 2007

Members’ attention is drawn to Prosecution cases concluded within the quarter by way of reference to Press Releases issued.

press release 06/07                      date: 11 May 2007

OBSTRUCTING INVESTIGATION COSTS FISHERMAN £450
Ammanford magistrates fined a Llanelli man £200 and ordered him to pay £250 prosecution costs on Tuesday 8 May after finding him guilty of obstructing a Fishery Officer by taking seized fishing gear which was part of an investigation into fisheries offences.

The court heard that in June 2006, Officers of the South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee seized a drift net and fish from two fishermen operation illegally in Carmarthen Bay. The drift net was taken to a storage unit in Llanelli where, 11 days later Brian Harries, of 22 Upper Cross Roads, Llanelli, arrived and duped a member of staff present into letting him take the net away.

Harries contended that the seized net was his property and had been taken from his yard and used by the two men without his permission. He claimed to have been given the go ahead to reclaim the net by Fishery Officers in conversations he had with them.

At the trial, the court heard that no such conversations had taken place and that in phone calls made and letters written by Harries to the Committee’s offices in Swansea, he had demonstrated an understanding that the net was part of an investigation and that he would need to make subsequent representations to the court when that case was heard.

Individual fines of £1000 were imposed on two cockle gatherers for poaching incidents which took place last year.

Ammanford magistrates sitting on Monday 5th heard prosecution cases brought by the South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee in relation to the cockle fishery in the Three Rivers area of Carmarthen Bay.

In the first case the court heard that Fishery Officers had observed Nigel Davies of Square Hall, Pemberton, Llanelli gathering cockles with an accomplice on the closed beds in the Taf estuary near Laugharne on 5 August 2006. Apprehended near Llanybrie, the pair were found with 350 kg of cockle worth £300.

Davies was fined £1000 in his absence and ordered to pay £70 costs. Evidential reasons prevented the prosecution of his accomplice.

In the second case, Lee Jackson, of 45 Trallwm Road, Llanelli was also fined £1000 in his absence and ordered to pay £300 costs. In the company of two others he was stopped by Fishery Officers on the track leading from the closed cockle beds at Llanybrie on 20 July 2006. In the rear of the vehicle in which they were driving, Officers inspected gathering equipment and cockles worth £500. Despite the catch and the men dripping with water and mud, the defendants, when interviewed claimed to have taken the cockles from unrestricted beds in Pembrokeshire.

The magistrates heard that samples taken from the defendants catch were seized and then analysed by the Committee’s biologists in relation to their age, size, condition and colour. Analysis showed that the sample taken from the defendants was totally different from the site in Pembrokeshire, whereas it was identical to the cockles at Llanybrie.

The court found the case against Jackson proved. His co-defendants Luke Muir, of 9 Y Rhoddfa, Burry Port and Steven Billings of 27 Morawel, Cefncaeau, Llanelli had both pleaded guilty to the court on 29 January 2007 when, having been given credit for their early admissions, were each fined £300 and ordered to pay £150 in prosecution costs.

A spokesman for the Committee welcomed the level of support from the court in the task of managing and conserving the fishery. ‘Cockle form a very important element in the marine environment where they occur. Natural mortality in 2006 dictated that the Three Rivers fishery remained closed. Effective deterrence in the form of these fines is a central plank of our management strategy’.

press release 08/07                      date: 21 June 2007

Belgian Trawler Caught Inside Limits
The skipper and owner of the Belgian  trawler Artevelde B65 were prosecuted in the Bodmin Magistrates Court on Tuesday 19 June 2007 following the detection of the vessel inside fishery limits off Pembrokeshire.

The Court heard that in the early hours of 15 June 2007 the South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee Patrol Vessel ‘Cranogwen’ tracked the vessel as it entered the 6 mile fishery limit off Milford Haven to a position 1 mile inside the boundary. These positions were verified by a satellite tracking system operated in the UK by the Marine and Fisheries Agency.

Non UK vessels are excluded by both European and Local Byelaws from entering the coastal zone in order to protect the interests of smaller vessels and the fragile marine environment found there. Recent changes to fishing practices have allowed more foreign vessels to fish up to the 6 mile limit, whereas they were previously confined outside of 12 miles.

Having observed the trawler turn away from the coast, the patrol vessel intercepted it outside the fishery limit where its fishing gear was seen to be hauled.

On the following day, Officers from the Marine and Fisheries Agency based in Cornwall detained the Artvelde in the north-Cornish port of Padstow when the vessel entered to land its fish. The skipper Erwin Vandewalle’ when interviewed initially claimed not to have been fishing but then conceded the observations of the patrol vessel. He said he had been incapacitated due to ill health at the time and had been unable to oversee the operations of the trawler.

Mr Vandewalle was fined £215 and ordered to pay £307.50 in costs. The trawler’s owners, Artevelde NV Rederij who also had liability were fined £515 and ordered to pay £1000 in costs.