Wash Cockle fishery 2025

Consultation Closed

 

Thank you to all those who responded. 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 was given to the wording of the requirement to sort cockle catch and to reject the majority of cockles under 10mm.  The permit conditions were revised following the consultation to provide more clarity and specificity per the outcome of the consultation.

Full permit conditions are available here.

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

The following is information provided at the time of the consultation:

 

UPDATE: A permit condition was inadvertently missed from the draft set of permit conditions publicised in the consultation. The permit condition is as follows:

Measures for the protection of small cockles

  1.  It is prohibited to fish for, take or remove from the fishery any cockles unless such have been sorted using an implement which is capable of rejecting the majority of cockles which are under 10mm (width).
  2. Cockles of less than 10mm should be left on the cockle beds and not landed. Where cockles of less than 10mm are landed excessively, the Authority will consider closing the fishery or parts thereof.

This permit condition is considered to be of particular importance this year given the amount of juvenile cockle present in the survey.  It is intended that the permit condition will be in effect at the start of the fishery (the date of which is to be determined). However, the permit condition is subject to a separate consultation and its inclusion will be reviewed on the basis of the that consultation. Please provide written comments to the Authority either as part of the ongoing consultation or by email or letter to the office by midday Monday 23 June. This permit condition will also be discussed at the industry meeting at the Curlew Centre on 9 June 2025.

Update: The Wash Cockle Industry meeting is confirmed as being at 1000hrs on Monday 9 June 2025 at the Curlew centre (Memorial Park, Bridge Road, Sutton Bridge, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE12 9SA). This meeting is an opportunity to discuss the outcomes of the survey and the proposed management measures, and we welcome attendance from permit holders and skippers. 

The Authority is consulting on opening a cockle fishery in The Wash under the Wash Cockle and Mussel Byelaw (WCMB). The proposed management measures are informed by the 2025 Cockle Stock Assessment, the associated draft Habitat Regulation Assessment and the Wash Cockle Fishery Management Plan. A final decision will be made on the opening of the fishery and associated management measures having taken into consideration the views of permit holders and Natural England.

Some management measures are established within the WCMB which apply to both cockle and / or mussel fisheries and these are set out here.

Key management measures for the 2025 cockle fishery

The following management measures are being proposed for the 2025 cockle fishery. The management measures are subject to revision following consultation with fishing industry and Natural England.

  • Total Allowable Catch of 3,905 tonnes
  • 16 areas closed for the protection of high-density juvenile cockles (charts 1 to 5 and rationale)
  • 1 seal closure (chart 6 and rationale)
  • Closure of all Shellfish Lays
  • Daily Catch Restriction of 2-tonnes per day
  • Operating times over tides of more than 6m and taking into account the industry preferences (weekdays, 4-days per week)
  • All vessels must have on board a functioning vessel monitoring device as follows:
    • Vessels under 12m in overall length must have on board a functioning I-VMS device.
    • Vessels 12m and over must have on board a functioning VMS device which is reporting to the UK VMS hub at least once in every 3 minutes or a tracker provided by Eastern IFCA.

Key consultation points

Stakeholder views on the following key points are sight within the consultation:

Opening date of the fishery

The opening date of the fishery is to be determined and industry views will be considered when coming to a decision. There does not appear to be a strong driver for an ‘early’ opening this year (i.e. the risk of mass a-typical mortality appears to be relatively low at this time) however, the areas of fishable densities of year-1 and above cockles are likely to be lost to atypical mortality through the summer.

Vessel Monitoring Devices

It is proposed that vessel monitoring devices are required for all vessels during the fishery this year. The Wash is a heavily designated Marine Protected Area and compliance with management measures is critical to rule out adverse effects to the site. This year,  management includes several discrete closures for the protection of juvenile cockles and a seal haul-out closure which is intended to mitigate risks to the declining harbour seal population in The Wash. The use of  vessel monitoring devices will provide assurance to  all stakeholders that the fishery management measures are effective.

 

In the case of vessels with VMS+ (i.e. vessels 12m and over), this may incur a cost for additional reporting (once in every 3 minutes). Where VMS+ devices cannot achieve that reporting rate, an alternative device is available from Eastern IFCA for the purpose of the permit condition but the subscription (i.e. reporting cost) would be passed on to the fishermen. The subscription fee for the trackers, which may be supplied by Eastern IFCA, is currently:  £39.99 for 6 months, £69.99 for 12 months, £125.99 for 24 months.

Operating times

Proposed operating times include a number of deviations from the 4-day week and include several Sundays to maximise fishing opportunity in the context of long periods of inadequate tide heights.

High-density juvenile closures

Two of the proposed high-density juvenile cockle closures are larger than necessarily required to safeguard future fishing opportunities. These closures will protect some areas of lower density juvenile cockles (in the 500-999 per m2 range) and any spill-over outside of the usual 12.44ha box closed around a sample station. These closures are also unlikely to significantly impact fishing opportunities or the ability to achieve the Total Allowable Catch for the fishery.  Further information about the closures is set out in the supporting evidence which accompanies the associated charts (here).

The full draft permit conditions for the 2025 cockle fishery can be viewed here.

Consultation

The Authority is seeking the views of stakeholders on the proposed management measures for the fishery.  To participate in the consultation, please complete the questionnaire at the link below and return it to Eastern IFCA at the contact details below by midday on 9 June 2025.

Questionnaire

The Authority is holding a meeting for permit holders and skippers to discuss the proposals. The meeting will be held at the Curlew Centre (Memorial Park, Bridge Rd, Sutton Bridge, Spalding, Lincs, PE12 9SA) at 1000hrs on Monday 9 June 2025.

A full consultation pack can be downloaded here by clicking here which contains the questionnaire, proposed management measures and supporting information and the cockle survey report. 

The draft Habitat Regulation Assessment can also be viewed by clicking here. Please note, the assessment is subject to consideration by Natural England which may result in revisions to the assessment.

Please contact or visit the office if you would like the questionnaire or any of the supporting material in hard copy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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