Cornwall Scallop Ban

[dave]

Just a quick bump as the consultation ends on Thursday
email address's to respond to are;

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

Even a simple email saying "I object to the byelaw " will help, or a cut and paste from one of the responses above

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Old Man Dave]

I emailed an objection to both.

Dave

 

[flyflicker]

ditto.......

 

[tuomo]

Having done several freediving and spearfishing trips to Devon and Cornwall area, its sad to see how spearfishing and other related activities seem to get illegal. Very unfortunate.
You guys keep up the good work!

 

[Lazuli]

Heads up people!
Have had a reply from Defra Coastal Waters Policy department in London. My comments have been "noted" and passed on to CSFC.

 

[tecdave]

Had a reply as well, lets hope it does get 'noted'

 

[dave]

Thanks to everyone who put in an objection.
You should have got a standard email today, then, as I understand it the Sea Fisheries Committee should reply to you detailing how your objection will be dealt with and to attempt to resolve it.
I would really appreciate being sent any replies from Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee. The Chief fisheries officer has a habit of being rather economical with the truth (not actually lying, just spinning the facts heavily to suit his argument) so it will be interesting to see what he has to say to people who he thinks aren't fully up to speed on the background to this byelaw

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Mr. X]

Just got my response today. I replied asking them to please ensure they add me to the list as I did not contact DEFRA as well:

Dear Mr X



As the consultation period has now ended in respect of the Scallops in Part of District Byelaw, this correspondence is to thank you for your response and to inform you of what happens next.



First, we will check with Defra that the list of respondents to the consultation is identical to ours (sometimes respondents only send to ourselves or Defra and not both authorities) to ensure that nobody is inadvertently excluded from the next stage.



The contents of each letter or email will be carefully considered over the coming days and a comprehensive response will be sent out when this has been completed.



If any points you raise need further clarification, we will contact you specifically on these.



Once again, thank you for your response.



Yours sincerely





Miss Clare Woolcock

Administrative Officer

 

[Lazuli]

Snap! Generic template in my inbox too. Dave, do you have a link to the document detailing the scientific rationale of the proposed closure. I seem to have lost it in my electronic paper trail somewhere. I am looking forward to getting a reply from CSFC and will happily share it with you Dave. I anticipate a rather cagey response and some attempt to cloak a rebuttal in the borrowed robes of scientific endeavour. But this is bad science to put it mildly. Don't stand for them pulling rank on you that way.
Laz

 

[dave]

. Dave, do you have a link to the document detailing the scientific rationale of the proposed closure. I seem to have lost it in my electronic paper trail somewhere.

I dont think there is one!
The argument is that to study the effects of not fishing on the stock, all forms of scallop fishing must be stopped.
What has not been forthcoming, is why studying the effect on the stock is so important that it justifies restricting the common law right to fish. The banning of scallop dredging was nothing to do with scallop stocks, and everything to do with the damage caused by dragging several tons of steelwork over the seabed. All scientific opinion at the moment claims scallop stocks are fairly healthy. The problem with dredging is not what it does to scallops, but what it does to everything else
I think the main justification they have tried to use is an article from Fishing News called "How green is diving for scallops" written by Dr Michel Kaiser, a fisheries scientist who did a lot of lobbying for the scallop dredging industry before Lyme Bay was closed.
I have attached it here. When I first read it I thought it was funny, as it was ridiculous to suggest divers where a problem in the context of a dredging industry that lands 30000 tonnes per year, but it seems to have struck a cord with various people in authority..........
cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Wellsy]

Same automated reply here - my original email is attached below:


Dear Mr Wells

As the consultation period has now ended in respect of the Scallops in Part of District Byelaw, this correspondence is to thank you for your response and to inform you of what happens next.

First, we will check with Defra that the list of respondents to the consultation is identical to ours (sometimes respondents only send to ourselves or Defra and not both authorities) to ensure that nobody is inadvertently excluded from the next stage.

The contents of each letter or email will be carefully considered over the coming days and a comprehensive response will be sent out when this has been completed.

If any points you raise need further clarification, we will contact you specifically on these.

Once again, thank you for your response.

Yours sincerely

MissClareWoolcock
Administrative Officer


-----Original Message-----
From: IanWells [mailto:ian.wells@ymail.com]
Sent: 30 January 200919:07
To: coastalwaterspolicy@defra.gsi.gov.uk; SeaFisheries
Cc: ps.huw.irranca-davies@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Subject: Cornwall Scallop Ban

I wish to register my concern of the poorly publicised but no less important notice to put a ban on scallop fishing.

I entirely understand the need to restrict trawler fishing practices, not just for the sake of the humble scallop but for the terribly destructive fishing practices causing untold damage to the seabed and indescriminately netting anything and everything. Having said that there is a real danger of broad brushing all fishing techhniques as the same. I live in Falmouth and consider myself very protective towards the area - like a few others I occasionally enjoy the very selective sport of breath-hold spearfishing. The number of scallops (and fish for that matter,) that I may take out of the area in a whole year would be counted on no more than two hands. Am I really the intended recipient of such a ban?

I fully support the focus on trawling but please reconsider the wording of such a ban so as not to restrict those people that are environmentally responsible such as myself and of course, those tourists that deliberately come to this wonderful area to spend their money in our shops and restaurants.

Thank you

Ian Wells

 

[devondave]

Just read the article posted by dave , and I'm shaking slightly with anger as I type this . How dare he spout such ill informed nonsense , using his position as professor to give kudos to what is ,at best , biased speculation . As a professor with , I hope , some scientific training he ( Michel Kaiser ) should know to write such an article with no facts or figures to reinforce his opinion is as unscientific as it gets .
What worries me is people will see his title and the positions he holds and believe this diatribe on diving for scallops has been researched in some way , or indeed has some kind of merit .
Phew ! Feel a bit better now , Also recieved the same email as everyone else .
PS I know a couple of marine biologists and they have a completely different take on scallop diving .

 

[Lazuli]

Thanks for the file Dave. I think the purpose of Kaiser's polemic is clear enough. I can see CSFC clinging to this tainted c##p like a limpet even if there is no peer-reviewed scientific argument to suggest that breath-hold diving has an adverse effect on scallop stocks. I dont know many SCUBA divers but I hope there has been a deluge of objections from the recreational SCUBA fraternity also.

 

[dave]

The purpose of the Kaiser article becomes even clearer if you listen to the Radio 4 Food Programme that he mentions, which can be found here;
BBC - Radio 4 - The Food Programme
Jim Portus, of the South West Inshore Fishermans Association (formerly the SW Inshore Scallopers Association, a group formed to fight the closure of Lyme Bay to scallop dredging) does not come accross too well, claiming that 5 commercial scallop divers in Devon are more of a threat to scallops than 40 dredgers!
Dr Kaiser did a lot of work with SWIFA, and attended their first meeting, where the press release described him as "a friendly fisheries scientist"
My FOI request showed that Mr Portus sent a copy of the Kaiser article to CSFC quite some time before it was published. One of CSFC's officers replied "thanks for the article, some interesting knowledge and thoughts"
The article certainly served its purpose with CSFC,I even had the Chief Officer say to me that the problem with divers is that "you cant see what they are doing while they are underwater":head

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Old Man Dave]

Here in Guernsey it would be easy to see the proof about dredgers versus divers. When scallop dredgers were allowed inshore they completely fished out the beds in 8 months. They caught all the scallops and destroyed the sea bed. Since that time nearly 30 years ago and after the beds had recovered there have been a half dozen commercial scallop divers working for 25 years+ with no decline in stocks at all. It is completely sustainable. No one has dared to even suggest that the dredgers are allowed inshore.

In fairness I have to say that commercial scalloping does restrict the scallops available to freedivers although you can still get them and also commercial scallop divers have a habit of killing themselves but at least they don't damage the seabed while they are doing so.

The 1 or 2 dredgers that we do have left work in asigned areas which is basically deeper water off shore.

Dave

 

[tecdave]

I had the 'pleasure' of being taught by Mike Kaiser whilst studying for my Marine Biology degree in Bangor back in 98-01. I to was finding myself getting more and more worked up whilst reading the article!
He does have a strong background on the effects of bottom trawling but at my time of study was not at all clued up on commercial diving techniques (my thesis was a diving project on Wrasse behaviour) and as one of my tutors did not offer much scientific guidance.
But these are just my views!!

 

[dave]

If you responded to the consultation you will probably have received an email from CSFC asking if they can include your information in a Freedom of information act request they have received.
This is nothing to worry about, I made a FOI request to find out what has been going on behind the scenes since the last one I did, including all correspondence with the "general public". This is so I have copies of all consultation responses, so if necessary I can challenge the Chief Officers interpretation of them. I wont get the names attached to the responses, just the responses themselves
I even got an email asking if they could share my information with me!

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Lazuli]

All quiet on the western front???? I wonder whats cooking at CSFC?

 

[dave]

I got my FOI request documents from CSFC and DEFRA last week, but CSFC have kept several documents back "in the public interest" so I think it is fair to say they have something to hide, as I can see no justification for secrecy about the management of a public resource.
Amongst the documents kept back are the consultation responses, as apparently it is "in the public interest" not to release them until a report on them has been prepared for the Committee by the Chief Fisheries Officer (who's idea the whole scallop ban was) I have appealed against this, pointing out that the public interest lies in making the whole process as transparent as possible.
All the information given to the Committee so far has been very biased in favour of the ban, so I think the Chief Officer wants to keep the consultation responses out of the public eye, and just give the Committee his biased version of them (no actual lies of course, just a very selective use of information)
I have turned the heat up so should get the withheld documents pretty soon

cheers
dave
Spearguns by Spearo uk ltd finest supplier of speargun, monofins, speargun and freediving equipment

 

[Lazuli]

I got my FOI request documents from CSFC and DEFRA last week, but CSFC have kept several documents back "in the public interest" so I think it is fair to say they have something to hide, as I can see no justification for secrecy about the management of a public resource.
Amongst the documents kept back are the consultation responses, as apparently it is "in the public interest" not to release them until a report on them has been prepared for the Committee by the Chief Fisheries Officer (who's idea the whole scallop ban was) I have appealed against this, pointing out that the public interest lies in making the whole process as transparent as possible.
All the information given to the Committee so far has been very biased in favour of the ban, so I think the Chief Officer wants to keep the consultation responses out of the public eye, and just give the Committee his biased version of them (no actual lies of course, just a very selective use of information)
I have turned the heat up so should get the withheld documents pretty soon

cheers
dave

Thanks for the update Dave. Good to hear that you are still "on the case" as they say. Do you think a No.10.gov.uk E-petition opposing the byelaw would help? I'm thinking it could raise the profile of the objections to a level which cannot be censored or made propagandist by CSFC. Just a thought.
Laz