Byelaws

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO LOOK AT THE NEW SHELLFISH BYELAWS FOR NEW LEGISLATION REGARDING COCKLES/ SHELLFISH

Updated, new cockle byelaws are in red

Cockle Fishery - Approval of fishing instrument

No person shall operate any instrument, other than a rake operated by hand, for the taking of cockles unless a Certificate of Approval for the instrument has been issued by the Committee pursuant to this byelaw.

A Provisional Certificate of Approval in respect of an instrument which has not previously been the subject of a full approval under this byelaw may be issued by a Fishery Officer and be valid for one calendar month. No more than two provisional certificates of approval may be issued in respect of any instrument.

A full certificate of Approval in respect of an instrument will be issued where a Fishery Officer is satisfied on inspection of a representative sample of cockles that less than one tenth of the cockles collected have been damaged during the operation. A representative sample of the cockles will include cockles being retained and also rejected by the riddle during the course of a dredging operation in which the instrument has been operated at its normal speed.

A full Certificate of Approval issued pursuant to this byelaw will be valid from the date of issue until the 31^st December following that date.

A full Certificate of Approval shall cease to have any effect for the purpose of this byelaw if the instrument that is the subject of the approval has been altered since the grant of the approval.

The provisions of this byelaw are without prejudice to any historic right of Several Fishery, Act of Parliament, Royal Charter or other rights that exist within the District as referred to in Section 6(a) of the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966 except the private fishery rights held by the Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.

Cockle Fishery - Limitation on quantities of cockles that may be removed

No person shall operate a vessel that, during the course of that operation, removes more than 13.6 cubic metres of cockles from any part of the District during any 24-hour period.

No cockles shall be carried on board at the time of commencing fishing.

For the purpose of calculating the quantity, in cubic meters, of cockles no allowances shall be made in respect of the quantity of dead shell, sand, other species or debris mixed with the catch.

For the purpose of this byelaw 13.6 cubic metres is deemed equivalent to 500 x 6 gallon baskets.

Cockles must be loaded into bags or containers of a uniform capacity of 1.13 cubic metres. (This will mean that the total catch will be contained within 12 bags/containers).

All such bags or containers shall be clearly marked with a load line if capacity is not level with the top of the side surfaces.

It shall be permitted for a person to carry cockles loose in the hold of their vessel provided that a hold load line has been calculated by a vessel surveyor appointed by a Maritime and Coastguard Agency authorised organisation, to show the level to which the hold may be filled to contain, 13.6 cubic metres of cockles. Documentation of these calculations and the position of the loadline shall be submitted to the Committee and a clear mark shall be placed on all four sides of the hold showing this calculated load line.

To enable checks for compliance with these regulations cockles carried loose in a vessel hold shall be stowed level.

The Byelaw shall not apply within the area of The Thames Estuary Cockle Fishery Order 1994.

Cockle permit byelaw

No person shall take, remove or disturb any cockle unless a permit to do so has been issued by the Committee. A permit shall be available to all applicants.

Permits issued by the Committee shall be valid until the following 31st December and are issued on the condition that the holder of the permit shall complete and return to the Committee, by no later than the 5th day of each month, a record of daily catch, actual fishing time and fishing area. Such information shall be submitted on a form provided by the Committee.

Applications for a permit under this byelaw are to be made in such form as the Committee shall determine.

Permits shall not be transferable.

Byelaws relating to cockles - size of vessels and dredge

No person shall use within the District for the purpose of taking cockles a vessel, the overall length of which exceeds 14 metres. Provided that this shall not apply to vessels exceeding 14 metres in overall length which were engaged in the fishery on a regular basis prior to the confirmation of the byelaw.

No person shall use for the purpose of taking cockles, a vessel, the overall width or beam of which exceeds 5 metres.

For the purposes of this byelaw, the length of a vessel shall be the length overall, defined as the distance in a straight line between the foremost point of the bow and the aftermost point of the stern.

The bow is to be taken to include the watertight hull structure, forecastle, stem and forward bulwark, if fitted, but to exclude bowsprits and safety rails.

The stern is to include the watertight hull structure, transom, poop, trawl ramp and bulwark, but to exclude safety rails, bumkins, propulsion machinery, rudders and steering gear, and divers ladders and platforms.

For the purpose of this byelaw, the width or beam of a vessel shall be measured at right angles to the measurement of length of the vessel and shall be taken at the widest point.

Measurement shall be taken from the outer edge of the watertight hull structure and will exclude safety rails, fenders and structures to support fishing equipment.

The length overall shall be measured in metres with an accuracy of two decimal points.

No person shall use within the District for the purpose of taking cockles:-

(a) a vessel equipped with more than one dredge; or

(b) a dredge with a dredge head aperture of more than 76 centimetres in width; or

For the purpose of this byelaw “dredge” means 5 suction dredge or any type of towed dredge.

Cockle fishery – Construction of fishing gear and removal of small cockles

No person shall, without the written consent of the Committee, operate any instrument of fishing gear for the purpose of taking, riddling, sorting or grading cockles unless all surfaces acting to retain the catch be constructed of parallel bars with an average space between bars of no less than 16 millimetres. This requirement shall not apply to pipes used to convey water or catch between the seabed and any fishing vessel.

All instruments and fishing gear shall be constructed so as to incorporate a riddle for the purpose of sorting and grading cockles that will return undersized cockles to the sea with the minimum of damage. Such riddle shall be of a minimum length of 1.75 metres and shall be designed and operated such that the retained cockles shall be in contact with the riddle for its full length.

The Committee will give written consent for a specified area and specified period of time to all applicants to permit the use of instruments or fishing gear and removal of cockles otherwise prohibited by this byelaw where the Committee is satisfied that the quality of a bed would be enhanced by the removal of cockles. This would allow the thinning of over-populated stock, removal and thinning of cockles that have not shown good growth or removal for the purposes of relaying.

No person shall, without the written consent of the Committee, remove from the fishery cockles of which more than 10% by weight, of a representative sample, will pass through a space 16mm in width. A representative sample will consist of no less than 200 kilogrammes of cockles. Small cockles rejected as a result of the requirements of this byelaw shall be returned immediately to the sea.

Cockle fishery – Closure of beds

Under this byelaw, the Committee may, for the purpose of fishery management and control of exploitation and after consultation with persons or bodies appearing to them to represent those cockle fishermen that traditionally fish the area, close for a specific period any bed or part of a bed, provided that the Committee has been advised by fishery scientists who appear to them to be suitably qualified as to the need for such action.

No person shall, without the authority of the Committee, remove, take or disturb any cockle from a bed or part of a bed which has been closed under this byelaw.

Where any bed or part of a bed is closed under this byelaw, the Committee will, where it is practicable to do so, cause notices to be displayed in the vicinity of the bed or part thereof clearly defining the area in which cockles shall not be removed or disturbed without the consent of the Committee. In addition, notice will be given by publishing the same in a newspaper circulating in the district in which the cockle bed is situated.

Seed mussel surveys tender information

Kent & Essex SFC have received funding from Defras Fisheries Challenge Fund to study the mussel populations within our district. The project breaks down into 3 main components

· To assess when mussels spawn and how fast they grow within the district.

· To complete a base line survey of the known mussel beds.

· To implement best management practice used by other seed mussel stock managers.

As part of this project we are aiming to use the mussel bed in the Medway approaches as one of our sampling populations. We would like to involve local fishermen in the survey work to sample the Medway bed throughout the year, and invite people to tender for the contract to complete this work.

Best safety standards will be required (able to conform to Cefas safety requirements) and the skipper will help plan the detailed programme. The survey work will involve the use of a mussel dredge (of a commercial size) provided by the tenderer and the vessel used must possess a GPS navigator/plotter and a recording echo-sounder.

For more information please contact

Kent & Essex Sea Fisheries Committee
The Ice House

Military Road

Ramsgate

Kent

CT11 9LG

Tel: 01843 585310