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DIRECTOR’S REPORT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING 30th June 2009

WEATHER
April and early May were mild.  Whilst not particularly settled, gales were infrequent.  The weather became hot and sticky by the end of May, breaking down to thunderstorms and torrential rain, then becoming more settled again in June as an anticyclone established.

Whilst small boat fishing plans were disrupted at times due to the difficulties in forecasting the weather, overall the commercial sector was not unduly affected.

FISHING ACTIVITY
FINFISH
Trawling and netting continued, especially in the wider Bristol Channel.  Effort was probably the highest it has been for some years.  However the good prospects seen in Quarter 1 did not run through to Quarter 2 and catches of bass, ray and flats were only mediocre.  Bass, in particular, did not appear to be frequenting their usual Carmarthen Bay marks this year for reasons unknown.  Occasional good days have been had on the Gower banks, where competition between anglers, netters and, in particular, larger trawlers, has been evident.

Squid had not put in much of a show before the Quarters end.  Black bream appeared in numbers across the whole district.  Mackerel showed well early on, but then thinned out.

MOLLUSCS
Whelks
Whelk boats fished Carmarthen Bay and around to St Brides.  Several south Pembs boats are now alternating between crab pots and whelk pots.  Concern has been raised at the shortage of crab bait to take whelk and the temptation exists to use undersized edible crab taken locally.  Excess spider crab and crab bait imported from Eire are also used, but Fishery Officers remain vigilant.  There is scope for debate as to whether the use of (edible) crab for whelk bait ought to be outlawed, as is the case for some SFC districts.  It seems illogical not to return small edible crab or that in soft condition, both of which will provide higher financial value in the longer term, if not used for bait.  But what is the alternative bait which has the same catching power?

Cockles
Surveys of both Burry Inlet and Three Rivers estuaries indicated stocks of small but fast growing cockle from the 2008 settlement, although a heavy showing of 2009 spat became evident as the quarter progressed.  Despite this, the 2008 cockle was dense in places and growing exceptionally fast – no doubt helped by the not too hot, not too cold weather and plenty of nutrients around from plankton and run off water from the land.

Regrettably cockles started dying again, noticeably on the north side of the Burry Inlet and at Laugharne on 26th May.  Following which, mortality was a steady ‘drip drip’ until a further flush occurred in mid June which also took in the Gwendraeth.

The EA/WAG led consortium funded cockle mortality investigations commenced the collection of baseline samples w/c 30th March. This is coordinated by Hull University and undertaken locally by Swansea University (and in the Dee by Bangor University). Sample collection of cockles, sediment, water, plankton etc. is scheduled to run through to the end of July.  However, a lack of funding may hamper the analysis of all samples taken, and of reviewing and interpreting the results.

Perhaps coincidentally, the cockles have died post spawning and, this year more than ever, seemingly at times when plankton blooms have been evident.

Several biotoxin related public health fishery closures have been put in place, most notably for DSP in the Burry Inlet (17 April to 15 May) and Swansea Bay (15 May to 2 June).  However several other positive detections including for PSP and ASP led to extra sampling being established but no full health closure being implemented.

Cockle fishery management saw the premature opening of a small area of dense cockle to licenced fishing on the north side of the Burry Inlet on the 18 May as part of a thinning experiment of undersized cockle.  The experiment was confounded by the cockle mortality which had a greater influence than did fishing, and was abandoned on 8 June when the whole estuary was opened up to no cockle size but increased (400kg) quota.  The period 18 May to June end saw c 411 tonnes of cockles removed by up to 29 licence holders valued at c £123,000.

The temporary closure of the Three Rivers estuary lapsed on the 3 June, albeit that too few cockles existed at 19mm size to warrant fishing.  Having the fishery ‘open’ and “Permitted” now facilitates more active management should this be necessary as a result of cockle mortality events.  At the end of June the situation was being carefully monitored.

Mussels
Adult mussels are few and far between, but in any event not widely gathered mid summer.  Quarter 2 saw limited quantities taken to supply local markets.

Whiteford Point contains up to 8000 tonnes of mussel ‘seed’ to 50mm size (mainly 35-40mm) which, unusually, settled early in 2008 and has survived the winter part buried in the sand.  Most of this is not expected to survive another winter and, following survey at the end of May, is the subject of discussion with CCW as to how much can be removed by hand collection or vessel dredging before migrant oystercatchers arrive in the autumn.

Scallop
Fishing took place mainly north of Cemaes Head but with some landings into Fishguard and Milford.  Prices declined and most of the visiting vessels had departed before the Welsh National closed season under SI1717 commenced on 1 June.

Winkles
Reported efforts on hand gathering of winkles has been higher than usual, with some consequent declines in abundance.

Crustaceans
Fishing for lobsters and crab commenced in earnest this quarter.  Reasonable early catches of both species in April did not continue.  As this has coincided with an increase in spider crab on the ground, some have postulated that these find the bait in the pots first, and put off the lobster from entering the pot.

Prices of lobster were favourable in April, but dropped off very rapidly by June as UK supplies increased.  It appears that shellfish is considered something of a luxury item and as consumption on the continent has declined and supplied have remained high, then prices have fallen.  This is most evident for lobsters where, in relative terms, prices have never been lower.

On a more positive note, fishermen continue to voluntarily V-notch lobsters and re-notch those previously notched as part of the subsidised scheme when the ‘V’ grows out – both using the pliers supplied.

Officers have commenced at-sea monitoring of lobster and crab catches.  Landings, catches per pot and number of discards are a ‘barometer’ as to the health of the fishery and will be essential information if the fishery is to ever receive MSC accreditation for sustainable fisheries, as some aspire.
Similarly, edible crab tagging will identify the movement of crabs so that management can be considered on a per stock basis.

GENERAL
Enforcement activity has been high within this quarter, but particularly from Carmarthen Bay eastwards.  A range of fixed and drift nets have been deployed and officers have needed to be vigilant both during the day and at night that such nets are of legal dimension and/or not set in restricted areas.

FPV Cranogwen has returned to service following an unfortunate period of downtime caused by problems to its engine drive shafts.  Such issues are unforeseen and therefore not able to be planned for and are costly.  Such is the nature of operating marine craft, but which are necessary to ensure that offshore enforcement takes place.  WAG is set to inherit such issues when they take on the work of SFCS in 2010.

The work of WAG integrating Welsh SFCs continues apace.  Staff have been kept informed and involved in undertaking a stocktake of existing activities and in putting in place transitional arrangements so as to ensure, as far as is practicable, that a smooth transfer takes place in April 2010.  On 1 June all staff met with WAG Human Resources department.  The Deputy Director has been seconded to WAG for up to 2 days per week in consideration of more operational matters such as the future of byelaws, Regulating Orders, and enforcement needs.  WG are working on a provisional staff structure and job evaluations etc.

The Diary of events reflects the abundance of administrative meetings to service WAG needs, plus WAG meetings on Welsh Fisheries Strategy and scallop management.

Dr Leanne Llewellyn (Biologist) is now on maternity leave until at least February.  Jo Bayes has temporarily taken up that position until she leaves at the end of September.  Her position as Biodiversity Officer has been filed by Jenni Hartley.  When Jo leaves, support with be provided on the basis of an external consultant for case specific work.

Finally, to report that the mid Bristol Channel appears to have been something of a marine wildlife ‘oasis’ this spring.  Huge ‘super pods’ of common dolphin have been regularly seen along with harbour porpoise, other dolphin species, fin whale and gannets.  Whilst we will never know quite why this has occurred, one might speculate that it is something to do with their food source.  This might also help explain why fishermen have reported fewer catches of bass this spring on the usual grounds.  All down to the wonders and variability of Nature.

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

OUTSTANDING CASES END JUNE 2009

CONCLUDED CASES - END JUNE 2009

PRESS RELEASE 06/09 – 28th April 2009
UNDERSIZED MUSSELS TAKEN FROM SENSITIVE AREA
Ammanford Magistrates fined 2 Llanelli men a total of £225 and additional penalties of £130 for removing undersized mussels from the Burry Inlet contrary to South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee Byelaws.

Sitting on 27 April, the court heard how Fishery Officers had come upon the pair near Penrhyngwyn where they had a 4x4 vehicle and numerous sacks filled with mussel. An inspection of the sack contents revealed they had not been sorted at all and contained 57% below the minimum size of 45mm.
The defendants contended that they were only collecting a sample, although they conceded that at 250kg it was a large one, and that they had previously obtained permission to operate the vehicle in the intertidal zone.

The Prosecution explained to the Magistrates that following a period of successful authorised fishing in the Inlet on mussels over previous months it was imperative that as stocks reduced, minimum sizes were observed to ensure mussels for future years. As they grow, mussels are an important source of food for wading birds for which the Burry Inlet has numerous nature conservation designations.

Nathan Jenkins, of Halfway, Llanelli was fined £175 and ordered to pay £50 costs and £15 victim surcharge in his absence. Marcus Morgan who appeared was fined £50 and ordered pay £50 costs and £15 victim surcharge.  A number of rakes, riddles and sacks used in the commission of the offence were ordered forfeit for destruction.