New Byelaws
At a meeting of the Regulation and Compliance sub-committee on Tuesday 13th December 2016 members resolved to make two new byelaws, primarily to provide environmental protection and to manage fishing effort within the Wash and North Norfolk Coast Marine Protected Area (W&NNC MPA).
The Shrimp Permit Byelaw 2016 will require commercial fishers to obtain a permit to fish for shrimp anywhere within the Eastern IFCA District and will require vessels to be fitted with Inshore Vessel Monitoring System devices and for catch returns to be provided to Eastern IFCA. Fishing activity within the W&NNC MPA will be monitored to ensure that it does not exceed the maximum permissible ‘footprint’ of fishing activity to avoid causing environmental damage to the MPA. The Marine Protected Areas Byelaw 2017 will introduce areas that will be closed to bottom towed fishing gear within the W&NNC MPA to protect areas of habitat (sub-tidal mud and sub-tidal fixed sediments). The overall intention of the new measures is primarily to protect the environment whilst enabling the Wash shrimp fishery to remain viable.
The Marine Protected Areas Byelaw 2017 will also introduce areas closed to bottom towed fishing gear in the Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton MPA in order to protect biogenic reef of Sabellaria spinulosa and associated transitional habitats.
Both byelaws will go to formal public consultation in the New Year.
Papers provided to the Regulation and Compliance sub-committee can be found here