23 September 2014
There is growing concern among the inshore fishing sector that some of the English IFCAs are contemplating more draconian restrictions on the use of static fishing gear than can be scientifically justified. From the first day that the MPA Fishing Coalition (MPAC) was formed, it has emphasised that a practical understanding of how fishing gears operate, what their environmental footprint is and whether or not they pose a risk, are key to implementing a rational management regime within the growing UK network of marine protected areas (MPA).
Apparent
uncertainty – or lack of understanding – over the effects of static gears upon
conservation features is leading some regulators in England to consider the
inclusion of static gear within risk assessments for European marine sites and
the newly designated marine conservation zones (MCZ). Any management proposals following this
process are expected to come forward for inshore sites from 2015.
MPAC chairman Dr
Stephen Lockwood said, “an understanding of the operation of these gears should
reveal that it is highly unlikely such gears could have a significant effect on
seabed features. With potting, for
example, on the basis of some very conservative assumptions, MPAC has
calculated that even in the most intensively fished areas, gear would come into
contact with any specific point on the seabed at a rate of less than once in
every 30 years. In practice, for most
fisheries, the interaction rate would be significantly lower than that. Any higher levels of fishing activity are
unrealistic as gear conflict would become such a problem that it would be
impractical to fish, so the intensity of fishing effort becomes self-limiting.
“This analysis
is consistent with findings elsewhere, such as from the FishMap Môn project commissioned
by the statutory conservation body Natural Resources Wales. The project mapped
levels of fishing activity around Ynys Môn (Anglesey) and compared it with the
sensitivity of marine features of conservation interest. When this was combined with knowledge on the
levels of natural disturbance for inshore sites, where static gear is
predominantly used, then it became increasingly difficult to see how the supposed
environmental pressures generated by these fisheries could compare with the natural
environmental variability on surrounding conditions. The FishMap Môn project demonstrated quite
clearly that with the simple collection and collation of local knowledge and
information, marine managers can eliminate uncertainty and discount the need
for additional management measures.
“The key to
resolving this whole issue is ‘local knowledge’. It is vitally important,
therefore that local industry throughout the UK gets directly involved with
discussions with regulators on MPA management in order to show what risk the operation
of fishing gears actually pose.”
Static gear
fisheries operate within numerous designated MPAs, as well as sites earmarked for
possible future designation.
“In
the case of English MCZs, many sites were selected by stakeholder groups in predominantly
static-gear fishing areas on the basis that no additional management would be
necessary for such fisheries. If that is
to change, then the legitimate basis for the selection of many sites would fall
apart,” Dr Lockwood said.