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Cornwall Scallop Ban

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
D

dave

Dicentrarchus labrax
Jan 13, 2003
497
187
133
Following on from a thread I started last year;
http://forums.deeperblue.com/cornwall/76891-proposed-scallop-ban-falmouth-bay.html
Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee have a byelaw out for consultation that
will ban all take of scallops in Falmouth Bay.

Cornwall County Council - Consultations

In Winter 2006 there was a sudden increase in scallop dredging in the
Falmouth Bay SAC. 8 boats were towing up and down for several weeks, causing a public outcry due to the damage they were doing to a delicate marine habitat
Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee refused to do anything about this (apart
from a pointless "voluntary agreement" with the dredgers that they would
only dredge in November and December in the areas it was possible to dredge
in) despite it being clearly identified as their responsibility.
The Marine Conservation Society threatened to take the matter to the
European courts as it was clearly a breach of the Habitats Directive
legislation, and in February 2008 DEFRA finally went over the top of the Sea
Fisheries Committee and brought in a complete ban on scallop dredging in the
SAC, as required under European law. The seabed was now protected!
Obviously put out by this, the Sea Fisheries Committee then decided to chuck
their toys out of the pram and ban divers from taking scallops, as
"compensation" for the scallop dredgers.Once the closure had been decided,
some spurious science was dreamt up to attempt to justify it
The officers of the committee have consistently refused to regard diver
fishermen as legitimate stakeholders, or consider the economic benefits of
divers visiting the area
The area proposed represents over half of the area in Cornwall where
scallops are available to divers,and the only area where they are available
to shore divers.
This issue may not affect you directly, but if approved this byelaw will
make a dangerous precedent that diver fishermen are second class citizens in
the eyes of fisheries managers.
If you think this issue is important, please respond to the consultation,
and make your voice heard

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment
 
Reactions: Lazuli
Thanks for keeping us posted on this Dave. It really pisses me off how the sea fisheries committee want to throw a sop to the dredgers and outlaw even breath-hold, recreational foraging for scallops. I will be sending in a response shortly and I hope others will too.
 
Will be sending a response as well , Dave suggested it might be worth mentioning the adverse effect on the tourist trade , something along the lines of " Wot no scallops , I shall spend my loads of dosh diving elsewhere thanks . "
Also the obvious not damaging the seabed and being the most selective and least harmful to stocks argument .
Lets try to be nice and leave out the " Why are you even thinking about this you bunch of complete morons " type of thing ( along with half a dozen others that spring to mind )
Something more constructive will achieve better results ( hopefully ) .
 

Absolutely right. Its very important to hit the correct note on this one.
 
Last edited:
The Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee has posted notice of the intended ban in a dive mag' . It says the reason for the ban is to enable the scientific monitoring of Scallop stocks after the banning of scallop dredging , I think this should read 'if we can't have them then nor can anyone else !' I dout there will be much scientific monitoring going on and I thought the ban was to protect the seabed , not the Sallops themselves .
If you want to object to the confirmation !?! of this bylaw , you have to do it in writing and send copies to the 2 addresses below ( presumably in triplicate in Latin , Sanskrit and Hebrew then hand deliverded to the cage marked 'Beware of the Leopard' ) . Anybody else get the feeling they don't want too many objections ?

Don't be put off , get writing now ( must be received by 19 Feb' 2009 ).
Even if this does not effect you please write because your area may be next .
The Marine Conservation Bill is comming and we don't want our sustainable practices caught up with the Dolphin killing , stock annihilating , seabed destroying bad practices .

Dr Morwenna Carrington,
Department for the Enviroment,
Food & Rural Affairs,
Sea Fisheries Conservation Division,
Noble House,
17 Smith Square,
London,
SW1P 3JR


The Clerk of the Committee,
Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee,
Old Bonded Warehouse,
Quay Street,
Penzance,
Cornwall TR18 4BD.
 
You can object via email to the address's given on the link;

coastalwaterspolicy@defra.gsi.gov.uk
enquiries.seafisheries@cornwall.gov.uk

The defra one is the most important, but it is best to send to both. It might also be an idea to send a copy to the fisheries minister;
ps.huw.irranca-davies@defra.gsi.gov.uk

I asked Cornwall Sea Fisheries why there was no email on the advert in Dive, and was told it didn't occur to them as "these things are normally done by letter" (stuck in the 19th century, surely not!) Had I not made a fuss, they would not even have taken out the Dive advert, the byelaw would only have been publicised in Fishing News, which is aimed at the commercial fishing industry

I did a Freedom of Information Act request to find out where the idea for the total ban came from, and it is clear that the closure came first (it was Cornwall Chief Fisheries Officer, Ed Derrimans idea. Mr Derriman fought tooth and nail to keep the dredgers allowed in the area), then some science was found to fit the closure. The documents I got talk of the closure as a means of mending relationships between Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee and DEFRA.
The "experiment" is supposed to assess whether there are spillover benefits from a closed area, but the CEFAS scientist responsible has admitted that as it stands the experiment has no mechanism to measure spillover!

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment
 
Emailed the Cornish address. Holiday-maker perspective.
 
Good work guys!

Have compiled an email and sent to both parties - I even managed to do it without swearing or mention of bureaucratic warfare!

Ed
 
Dear Sir/Madam,
I understand the Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee has applied for confirmation of a bylaw which seeks to ban the removal of King Scallops by divers and freedivers from the Fal and Helford area in S. Cornwall .
For the following reasons I should like to register my objection to this bylaw :-
The taking of Scallops by hand is sustainable and is endorsed by the Marine Stewardship Council ( M.S.C. ) .
Diving for Scallops does no harm to the seabed .
Hand dived Scallops tend to be larger then dredged ones , which means they have had more breeding seasons .
Furthermore I worry the ban may have an effect on the Cornish tourist trade , taking a few scallops for tea is an integral part of some divers holiday experiance . Some might consider going elsewhere if this option is denied them , for example , me and my partner visit Cornwall two or three times a year , spending an average of £1000 - £1500 each trip . This is something we may rethink should the ban come into force .

Yours faithfully , ..........

Thought I'd try to provoke some more interest in this thread , this is what I sent to the addresses Dave suggested . What kind of thing did other people send ? It might encourage others to write in as well .
 
Reactions: Lazuli
I sent emails to all three addresses and I have received nothing in reply. I was wondering if there is some protocol whereby if you send a postal objection, they then have an obligation to reply. As things stand I don't know if my objection, which broadly follows what you have written, even reached the intended recipients. I am hoping my comments did not end up in junk mail. I am thinking about posting copies as well.

Anyone get an email reply???
Cheers
 
Good idea Dave, I will put up some of the responses people have sent me later. I will put up some bits of mine, but it is a bit long (12 pages at the moment, with all the evidence of dodgy dealing my Freedom of Information request turned up)

Lazuli said:
I sent emails to all three addresses and I have received nothing in reply. I was wondering if there is some protocol whereby if you send a postal objection, they then have an obligation to reply.
Click to expand...

you will not get a response until the consultation period closes.
All the objections will be passed on to the Sea Fisheries Committee, then they are supposed to resolve them before passing the byelaw back to DEFRA for confirmation, noting which objections cannot be resolved.
As I understand it, you should get a reply detailing how they will deal with your objection.
I suspect most people will get a fairly bland response, stating that it is neccessary to ban all collection in order to carry out the "experiment". The response to this is to ask why the "experiment" is necessary in the first place, and why it is more important than the "common law right to fish"

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment
 
Reactions: Lazuli and Mr. X
dave said:
... with all the evidence of dodgy dealing my Freedom of Information request turned up...
Click to expand...
You did a FOI request?! Excellent! Look forward to hearing more about that.

[Heard a comedian on BBC Radio 4 last year who did a FOI request for information held on himself. He thought it might be hoot but was rather shocked/upset by what was returned. Sounded like they had rather more information on him than he anticipated or was comfortable with.]

(Didn't get a response yet.)
 
Cheers for the info Dave, I await the fob-off with baited breath. In my letter I did question the experiment on the basis that it would criminalise common law fishing.


I seem to remember Mark Thomas doing an FOI request for Council CCTV footage of himself. Seeing him receive VHS tapes in return was hilarious. I seem to remember him advising all of us to do the same in order to bring the system to a complete standstill.

Ok, back to scallops.....
 
This is the response my Dad sent in;

"I object to the above proposed Byelaw

To whom it may concern,

I have been a recreational diver and snorkeller in Falmouth Bay for over 45 years and have often taken half a dozen or so scallops home for my supper. I cannot believe that I or my fellow divers and snorkellers have made any impact upon the scallop population in the bay given the numbers taken and the low frequency of the occasions when it was possible. In addition we only take mature scallops and do not damage the surrounding flora and fauna. This is in stark contrast to dredging which takes huge numbers, does not discriminate size and damages much of the flora and fauna. Dredging is so damaging simply its cessation should produce a huge and easily discernable change in stocks of both scallops and other species.
The proposed bylaw would make me and my fellow divers subject to prosecution and substantial fines for actions that have no significance on stocks. It would be difficult and hence expensive to police, thereby wasting money that could be spent on real conservation."

Closing date for responses is 19th February

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment
 
The deadline still gives enough time for a flurry of email objections.
 
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