Cornwall IFCA has launched a Call for Evidence from 17 May to 14 June 2023 to collect detailed views about the management of potting for crabs and lobsters. This follows a questionnaire in 2021 in which active fishermen identified rising fishing effort as being the biggest threat to the long term future of this important fishery which supports over 270 commercial vessels in over 42 Cornish ports. This is supported by our fisheries data which is collected directly from inshore fishermen.
Similar concerns about increasing potting effort for edible crab and lobster were also shared with us during a consultation in December 2022 about the potential use of an emergency byelaw to restrict access to inshore waters by larger vessels. Whilst this byelaw didn’t go ahead, there has been continued support across Cornwall for effort to be controlled, particularly for edible crab.
A national fisheries management plan for crabs and lobster is under development and our work at a local level will link into that process as it emerges.
This Call for Evidence focuses on options which have been highlighted by inshore fishermen as being the most important ways to manage effort. These are listed on a flyer which we have circulated.
Click here to download the flyer.
For each of the options listed, we would like to know;
if there is support for it and if so; how could it be practically used inshore? If an option isn’t the best solution, why wouldn’t it work? It is likely that one option alone may not provide the solution and it may require a mixture of different approaches.
If you would like to submit a response please complete the form on this page.
Information and ideas received through this call for evidence will feed directly into the development of new management measures to support the future of these key fisheries.
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