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DIRECTOR'S REPORT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING 31st DECEMBER 2005

WEATHER
Generally mild and reasonably settled.  Snow fell on one day in November and several days were frosty.  The period 24th October to early November saw rough conditions arise from the west.

FISHING ACTIVITY
Finfish : Trawling was limited and for the usual species.  Whiting and codling were in short supply and dogfish were prolific.  Nets took good catches of bass from throughout the Bristol Channel until mid December.  Catches even with 100mm MMS nets included undersized fish from the successful 2002 spawning, indicating just how heavy this year class must be.  Seals were prolific over the same area and ventured further east into Swansea Bay as time progressed.

MOLLUCS
Whelk : were caught from Carmarthen bay fetching £600 per tonne.  Landings continued to trend downwards so that whole year landings would now be average or even below.  One vessel continued to work the Gower coastline.   Several reported increasing numbers of prawns in their catches and were investigating the use of dedicated pots.

Cockles : The Three Rivers fishery was closed from 7th December.  Prior to this date an increasing amount of cockle was small/undersized and prices fell from £800 per tonne to £300 per tonne.  Most gatherers therefore drifted away leaving a hard core of visitors and economic migrants (Polish).

Fishery Officers had to continuously monitor the fishery for illegal instruments, fishing on closed beds/days, night gathering and undersized cockle.  As fishing conditions deteriorated so the Officers increasingly came under abuse.  The normal winter conditions which gave rise to ‘rushed’ cockle and shortening of day length created additional management difficulties.  Whilst trying to accommodate all interests and allow the safe return from fishing during daylight hours (at the request of MCA) and minimisation of cockle wastage through rushing; gatherers and the community became increasingly restless at SWSFC expense.  Clearly it was impossible to satisfy all of the people all of the time, and there are perhaps lessons to be learnt for future years.  However, some of the issues will be insurmountable.  e.g.  If you do not allow the collection of patched up cockle rushes on closed days for fear of undermining the open/closure situation, how then do you stop their poaching on the following night?  To protect those cockles would require an officer to stand over them 24/7 – impossible but counter-productive if it were.

From an enforcement perspective, efforts increasingly moved from education to warnings and gear seizure to Offence Reports against key parties.  Gangmasters used economic migrants who could not speak English to avoid accountability, and this created particular enforcement issues.

Whilst we await the final analysis of cockle landings from permit and merchant data, we estimate that total Three Rivers landings were over 8,000 tonnes (first sale value £4.51m) plus a further 524 tonnes (£786,000) of large cockle from Cefn Sidan, plus other illegal and legal landings from other areas i.e. an estimated figure of the order of 9-10,000 tonnes, valued at £5-6m and possibly as much as £9m depending upon the average price paid for Gwendraeth cockle.

As the beds thinned out, willing cockle pickers searched far and wide including Whiteford, Swansea Bay, Milford Haven and Fishguard.  In the end many moved back north with the opening of the Morecambe beds and to illegally prosecute the closed beds in the Dee and Solway.  Local gatherers joined them, only serving to illustrate the now existence of a wide ranging band of cockle hand gatherers who willingly now prosecute all cockle fishing opportunities on the West Coast of the UK and beyond.  Clearly the control of such a workforce, including gangmasters and economic migrants, is now a National issue, not just a local one.

Mussels : Local cockle gatherers (often licenced Burry Inlet people) moved in November from cockles to the mussel beds at St Ishmaels as it became economic to do so.  Whilst at the start of the operation they took sizeable mussel, increasingly they moved to illegally fish undersized stock.  It would appear that the cockle situation had ‘gone to their heads’ and warnings were given.  In the end the Committees’ Officers were forced to Report offenders for prosecution and close the mussel bed to vehicles and all but gathering by hand to 51mm size from the 21st December.  By which time around 80 tonnes valued at c £48,000 had been taken mainly for local (51mm) markets or relaying and fattening in the Wash estuary.
Winkles :  Effort continued widely and £1200 per tonne was paid.
Oysters : were fished by three vessels upstream (and now downstream) of Neyland Bridge following public health classification of that area.

CRUSTACEANS
The season for lobsters and crab came to its usual end, although boats now fish a much longer season than they used to and well into November.  Fishing is particularly prolonged in the shelter of Fishguard and where prawns are also the target from October to February.  Edible crab landings were again reported to be poor, for reasons unknown.

The Committees’ V-notch scheme, funded by EU and WAG grant, continued apace until November, when escalating winter prices put a stop to it on value for money grounds.  By this time nearly 5500 lobsters had been notched and released.  This was no small achievement at all since the commencement of the scheme on 1st July, and a particular achievement in the face of staff shortages and the overwhelming cockle management issues.  The scheme will now run on to 2006 and 2007 with a target of 9250 lobsters each full year.  Industry liked the coloured band system which helps identify notched animals and keep a track of movements.

GENERAL
The Fishery Protection Vessel managed to largely put its equipment problems behind it and undertook many patrols over the period – weather; lobster V-notching and staff availability issues permitting.  In doing so it was responsible for contributing to the detection of a wide range of offences and checked upon much fixed gear set around the district.

Enforcement actions : Cockle issues can become all-consuming at times, especially during the unprecedented circumstances of 2005.  At such a time it is all too easy to lose sight of the other important fishery regulatory work undertaken by the Committee.  However the enforcement actions taken by Fishery Officers this quarter demonstrate this and the need of a whole area, all fishery presence quite well:-
Three Offence Reports are outstanding for undersized lobsters.  It is particularly difficult to comprehend the actions of some who take immature lobsters whilst their compatriots seek to bolster stocks through release of V-notch broodstock.
One offence of a large trawler fishing inside the District.
One bass Nursery area offence (boat angler).
One netting area (Salmon Act) offence.
Mussel size offences as well as the myriad of cockle enforcement actions.

Biological work : The Committees’ Marine Conservation Officer was kept busy undertaking cockle survey work across several estuaries, mussel survey, bass measuring, and statutory ecological (appropriate) assessment of fishing permissions in European Marine Sites.

This quarter also saw the commencement of employment of a Biodiversity Officer, Amy Critchlow, up to next August (and hopefully beyond), on part CCW grant.  This post is specifically to look at some of the marine biodiversity work which, although not part of the SWSFC statutory duties, is important from a marine conservation context.  Her work will lead to a greater understanding of marine conservation issues, species distribution and variation and fishery influences.  Starting with Zostera grass surveys, she has assisted in cockle/mussel surveys and photo monitoring of mussel beds and has commenced work on the FPV using new Olex ground discrimination gear to try to identify and hopefully understand sublittoral mussel settlements.  All work that SWSFC, CCW and elements of the industry will benefit from.

Achievements : I make no excuse in repeating my comments of the previous quarter.   This period has been one of the busiest and most difficult in the Committees’ history, impacting upon all Officers in post without exception.  The reports this quarter show the tremendous effort put in by all staff and the achievements attained, and they are to be both congratulated and thanked for their efforts

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

OUTSTANDING CASES

CONCLUDED CASES - END DECEMBER 2005