Wash Cockle Fishery 2025

Update – 04 September 2025

The ‘seal closure’ on Hook Hill is no longer in effect. Please also note that the high density juvenile cockle closures set out in Chart 2 of Schedule 1 of the permit conditions, which were within the seal closure, are still in effect.

 

Update: 27 July 2025 – consideration of a temporary closure

 

On 21 July 2025, representation was made to Eastern IFCA that the cockle fishery should be temporarily closed to allow for further growth of cockles and that this view was widely shared with fishing industry. Having carefully considered the matter, including the feedback provided by fishermen about the need for a temporary closure, it has been decided that the fishery will not be temporarily closed.

Consideration of feedback from fishery stakeholders

Fishermen were asked to provide their views about the need for a temporary closure between 23 and 27 July 2025 to inform whether an urgent closure was required.

Around 1/3 of the responses were in favour of a temporary closure. The key themes from these responses were as follows:

  • The fishery is targeting small cockles which are of low value;
  • If allowed to grow, the same weight of cockle catch will contain fewer cockles, which is more sustainable;
  • For a closure to be effective, it needs to be in place from 25 July to 7 August 2025.

The majority of responses (around 2/3) were against a closure. The key themes from these responses was as follows:

  • A temporary closure will not provide sufficient time for growth and will therefore be of limited benefit;
  • The closure is likely to have detrimental impacts on business models;
  • There is no guarantee that cockles will grow further and may not grow much more this year at all in which case a closure only represents missed fishing opportunity;
  • The risk of cockle die-off from ridging out would increase if beds are not being fished;
  • A temporary closure will cause the fishery to continue longer into autumn when yields are lower.

Overall, there was no consensus from fishery stakeholders about the need to close the fishery and the majority were in favour of maintaining it as open.

Eastern IFCA consideration

The Wash cockle fishery requires dynamic and adaptive management each year and Eastern IFCA always carefully considers concerns raised by stakeholders.

Whilst growth has not been as high as would ordinarily be expected for the time of year, it appears from the consultation that a temporary closure would not be widely supported by fishing industry.

The fishery will be closed between 31 July and 6 August (inclusive) as a consequence of unfavourable tides (as set out in the operating times for the fishery) without a further closure imposed by the Authority – closing the fishery for an additional two to four days at short notice is considered unlikely to result in significant additional growth but is potentially impactful to business models relying on the fishery.

On balance, it is adjudged that there is no urgent or compelling need for a temporary closure at this time.

 

 

Update: measures for the protection of small cockles

 

Since 2023, management measures for the Wash cockle fishery have included measures which require the sorting of catch to exclude cockles which are less than 10mm. The measure is considered to be particularly important for the protection of future fisheries this year, given that the fishery is likely to focus on the 2024 year class of cockles.

Consultation on the measure identified that stakeholders had a preference for the measure to be clearer and more specific. Having carefully considered the consultation responses, revised wording of the measure has been implemented and will be in effect for the start of the fishery (14 July 20245). The permit conditions have been updated to reflect this revision and can be viewed here. In summary, the revised wording of the measure requires the following:

  • Cockle catch must not contain more than 30% (by weight) cockles which will be rejected by a 10mm riddle screen;
  • Fishermen must sort catch in order to comply with this measure and must spread rejected catch evenly and thinly over the sands.

It is thought that careful selection of fishing areas to avoid areas where small (less than 10mm) cockles are in high densities combined with sorting (use of net bags is typically preferred and thought to be effective) will enable compliance with this measure.

The revised wording can be found at permit conditions 10 and 11 in the full permit conditions below.

Permit Conditions

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The 2025 Wash Cockle Fishery will open at 0715hrs on Monday 14 July 2025 with a Total Allowable Catch of 3,905 tonnes.

To participate in the fishery, you must have a permit issued under the Wash Cockle and Mussel Byelaw 2021. Those eligible to apply must return a completed application form and pay the associated fee prior to being issued a permit. Application forms are available here.

Participation in the Wash cockle fishery must be in accordance with the permit conditions. The full set of permit conditions are available here.

Management proposals for the 2025 Wash Cockle Fishery have been carefully considered in the context of the responses to the consultation (held between 23 May and 9 June) and potential impacts on stakeholders. The key considerations are summarised below, and the full outcome document is available here. The associated impact assessment is available here.

 

  • There are polarised views on the best opening date for the fishery. The preferred opening date appears to be 14 July 2025, and this was explicitly referred to as ‘the best compromise’ by fishery stakeholders at the industry meeting and as such, the fishery will open on Monday 14 July 2025.

 

  • Concerns about potential die-off and the lower density of cockles outside of these closures for year-0 cockles was raised as the key concern regarding high-density cockle closures. Protection of high-density juveniles is a long-established principle and is the primary means of protecting pre-spawning individuals from removal and the impacts of fishing. Recognising the concern raised, the Roger closure has been made smaller and the Authority will commit resource to monitoring the closed areas to detect any die-off and consider opening these areas as necessary. In addition, the Authority is seeking pre-emptive agreement from Natural England to ensure that if ridging-out is occurring, the area can be opened as soon as possible.

 

  • The Roger was visited on 16 June 2025 and ridging out was not observed at that time, but the area does appear to be at risk of ridging-out during the course of the fishery.

 

  • Operating times have been revised to include more Sunday openings in line with the preferences expressed by the consultation responses.

 

  • The requirement for vessels to report positional data once in every three minutes (including vessels 12m and over) was generally well accepted by stakeholders. Concerns regarding the potential for faulty devices to prevent fishing activity are acknowledged and will be considered in accordance with the Authority’s proportionate approach as set out in its Enforcement Policy.

 

  • Further consideration will be given to the wording of the requirement to sort cockle catch and to reject the majority of cockles under 10mm following conclusion of the consultation associated with that permit condition.

 

  • Co-ordinates for closed areas are available in excel format here

 

The associated Habitat Regulation Assessment which informed development of management measures and which was agreed by Natural England can be found here.

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