Guidance Note: Commercial Fishing and Wildlife December 2008.
1 Since the 1990s, marine wildlife has received greater protection from a range of activities including commercial fishing Fishing activities in sites protected for wildlife are sometimes subject to an environmental assessment Seafish has created an 'Environmental Toolkit' of information to help you with marine wildlife legislation If you have any concerns about how these laws affect your activities, contact Mark Gray, Environmental Assessment Support Officer at Seafish on 01248 605038 or visit our website (www.seafish.org) Wildlife and you Dozens of species of marine wildlife and hundreds of areas around the coast and at sea are legally protected so that rare and fragile wildlife can continue to thrive. Since the 1990s, wildlife protection laws have been changed and they now apply to people involved with commercial fishing and aquaculture activities. These new laws require industry to work closely with conservationists to manage fisheries and protect wildlife. The impact of these new laws will vary from place to place. In some places, they may have no effect on commercial activities, providing they do not harm the marine environment. Elsewhere, new restrictions on fishing may be required to protect wildlife, as marine fisheries and the marine environment are so closely and inextricably linked that protecting one often means protecting the other. Large areas of our seashore and inshore waters are protected under wildlife legislation so this guidance should be read carefully. This note will tell you: about marine wildlife protection in the UK; how to work within the new legal rules; and who you need to work with to stay on the right side of the law. Good practice: Ten Do s and Don ts Make sure that you follow these basic guidelines: Do: Think ahead consider your options carefully, take time to prepare your plans, and allow plenty of time (months) for the consultation process. Consult early before you have made any financial or contractual commitments. Prepare the ground time spent on site visits and discussions with statutory bodies is a valuable investment. Be prepared to compromise you might not get everything you want, but part of something is always better than all of nothing. Read this guidance and keep an eye on the Seafish website for further information. Don t: Rush ahead with ill considered and poorly prepared proposals. Rely on informal advice from friends save time and trouble and go direct to the relevant authorities, or consult a specialist advisor. Expect an instant decision it could take weeks or months! Start a new activity without checking with the relevant authorities first. Ignore this advice or you could end up in court and out of business! marine fisheries and the marine environment are so closely and inextricably linked that protecting one often means protecting the other.
2 Protected wildlife Dozens of marine plants and animals are protected from harm Hundreds of coastal and marine sites in the UK are also protected Information about site and species protection is available for free Background Wildlife in the UK is protected by a wide range of legislation, from international conventions to EC Directives and national laws. All of these laws work in a very similar way. They protect some plants and animals wherever they occur. They also create areas where human activities are carefully managed to protect wildlife. Protected species Some species of plants and animals are protected wherever they occur, often because they are rare or sensitive to human disturbance. These species include large animals, like whales and dolphins, through to small creatures, such as certain sea anemones, as well as many plants and over 130 species of birds. Different species enjoy different levels of protection. In some circumstances, it may be an offence to disturb animals such as whales, dolphins, turtles and basking sharks. For others, such as seals, the level of protection varies from place to place and season to season. See Seafish Guidance Notes on 'Protected Wildlife Sites' and 'Protected Marine Wildlife Species'. Protected sites These are areas where extra protection is provided for wildlife which can affect fishing activities. There are four types of protected site in marine areas that can affect commercial fishing and aquaculture activity: Sites of Special Scientific Interest (known as Areas of Special Scientific Interest in Northern Ireland). There are thousands of these sites, and they cover much of the UK's coastline down to the mean low water mark. Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) there are 76 of these sites in marine areas protecting over 5% of UK Territorial Waters (inside the 12nm limit) and 7 new Offshore Special Areas of Conservation have been proposed. Special Protection Areas (SPAs) these are areas where birds and the habitats they depend on are protected. There are more than 70 marine SPAs around the UK coast. Marine Nature Reserves (MNRs) there are only three of these in the UK (Lundy, Skomer and Strangford Lough). General information about these protected sites is available at the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website (www.jncc.gov.uk) under the link to Protected Sites. Detailed information about individual protected sites can be obtained for free from the relevant Statutory conservation body (see contacts on page 4 of this guidance), and from Seafish. Who protects wildlife? Marine wildlife protection in the UK is carried out by Government agencies, and through statutory duties that have been placed on fisheries regulators. Your local fishery regulator has a statutory duty to work with the conservation bodies to protect wildlife. This means that fishing activities may be restricted if, for example, they are thought to cause harm to wildlife in protected sites. Each of the UK s devolved administrations has its own conservation body: Scottish Natural Heritage; the Countryside Council for Wales; the Environment and Heritage Service of Northern Ireland, and Natural England. Their role includes: nominating sites for protection; providing site conservation objectives; and, advising regulators and marine users of potentially damaging activities. If you need detailed information about protected wildlife in your area, these are the bodies to contact. National contact numbers are given on page 4 of this document. As well as these statutory bodies, a host of non-government organisations (NGOs) also play an active role in marine wildlife protection. These include the Marine Conservation Society, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and local Wildlife Trusts. Although these organisations do not have legal powers, they play an important and influential role in marine wildlife protection.
3 Protected sites: Working within the rules Strict rules govern human activities in protected sites In wildlife protected sites, new and sometimes existing fishing activities that require authorisation, such as licence or permit may be subject to an environmental assessment A detailed assessment of the activity is not always needed but you must check this first If in doubt consult! A quick phone call could save you a lot of trouble The law and you The main legal requirement for all protected sites is to carry out an assessment of the likely impacts of human activities on wildlife. New and sometimes existing fishing activities that require some form of authorisation, such as a licence or permit may be subject to an environmental assessment to determine whether that activity can be granted permission. This assessment is carried out through a consultation procedure involving various regulatory bodies. The consultation procedure Although the detail of the legislation is complicated, the general procedure you need to follow is simple, starting with a phone call to your local fisheries manager for some advice: Step 1: Prepare Contact your local fisheries manager for advice. Contact natural conservation body. Step 2: Consult Work with regulations to decide if assessment is needed, level of detail and likely impacts. Step 3: Assess Assess likely impacts and agree controls to protect wildlife. The chances are that if you are already working in an area, your activities are likely be compatible with the local wildlife. It is best to be proactive and check this first. If in doubt consult! Making it happen good practice The purpose of this consultation procedure is to make sure that wildlife is not harmed. Some fishing activities might need to be restricted in certain areas, but in most cases it is possible to work out a way of managing an activity in harmony with wildlife, if you just follow some basic rules: Have a plan before you start, make sure you have a clear idea about what you want to do. Consider all options, and decide what you can compromise on. Prepare the ground invite the regulators to meet you, ideally on site, so that you can talk about your plans and show them what you want to do. This could save a lot of time and misunderstanding later. Be ready to compromise it is quite possible that by adapting your plans, you will be able to avoid harm to wildlife or reduce it to acceptable levels at Step 3 in the procedure. Always remember that part of something is better than all of nothing. Allow plenty of time the consultation process can take months to complete, so do not wait until the last minute. If you rush, it is less likely that you will get approval for your plans. Step 4: Decide Activity is approved / refused by authorities - go back to step 1 if refused. Key: You provide information to regulators Regulators assess your project & make decision But I ve been doing this for years! These new rules apply to everyone, whether you have been working in an area for years, or are just about to start on something new. Seafish - helping you out Seafish recognises the difficulty that the consultation procedure can pose to industry. We have produced some guidance to help, which is available on the Seafish website (www.seafish.org). This will help guide you through the consultation process.
4 Key Contacts First points of contact with the different organisations involved in marine wildlife protection are: Fishery managers: DEFRA Tel: 08459 33 55 77 (Helpline) http://www.defra.gov.uk/marine/fisheries/index.htm Scottish Executive Tel: 0845 774 1741 (Sea Fisheries Division) www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/fisheries/sea-fisheries Welsh Assembly Government (Dept for Rural Affairs and Heritage) Tel: 0845 010 3300 http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland Tel: 02890 524 999 (Helpline) www.dardni.gov.uk/index/fisheries-farming-and-food/fisheries/seafisheries.htm Marine & Fisheries Agency Tel: 020 7283 6000 (London) www.mfa.gov.uk Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01736 369817 www.cornwall.gov.uk/seafisheries Cumbria Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01946 693047 www.cumbriasfc.org.uk Devon Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01803 854648 devonseafish@btconnect.com Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01553 775321 www.esfjc.co.uk Isles of Scilly Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01720 423371 www.scilly.gov.uk/environment/fisheries/ Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01843 585310 www.kentandessex-sfc.co.uk North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01482 393690 www.neseafish.gov.uk North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01524 68745 www.nwnwsfc.org Northumberland Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01670 731399 www.nsfc.org.uk Southern Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01202 721373 www.southernsfc.org.uk South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01792 654466 www.swsfc.org.uk Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee Tel: 01273 454407 www.sussex-sfc.gov.uk Nature conservation bodies: Natural England Tel: 0845 600 3078 (Enquiry Service) www.naturalengland.org.uk Scottish Natural Heritage Tel: 01463 725000 (HQ Inverness) www.snh.org.uk Countryside Council for Wales Tel: 0845 1306 229 (General Enquiries) www.ccw.gov.uk Environment and Heritage Service, Northern Ireland Tel: 028 9054 0540 (Dept of the Environment) www.ehsni.gov.uk Joint Nature Conservation Committee Tel: 01733 562 626 (Enquiries) www.jncc.gov.uk Fishing industry associations: National Federation of Fishermen s Organisations Tel: 01904 635430 www.nffo.org.uk Scottish Fishermen s Federation Tel: 01224 646 944 www.sff.co.uk Welsh Federation of Fishermen s Associations Tel: 01437 779 312 www.wffa.org.uk North Ireland Fishermen s Federation Tel: 02842 771946 Shellfish Association of Great Britain Tel: 0207 283 8305 www.shellfish.org.uk Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers Ltd Tel: 01471 844324 www.assg.co.uk Wildlife legislation The main UK wildlife laws are: Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands Order (1985) for Northern Ireland. Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 1994 in England, Wales and Scotland (established in Northern Ireland in 1995). Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000. Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002. Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. Natural Environment & Rural Communities Act 2006. Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007. The text of UK legislation can be found online at www.opsi.gov.uk. An excellent summary of UK wildlife law can be found on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website, www.jncc.gov.uk. Seafish and the environment Seafish exists to provide support to the fishing industry. In 2006, we identified that wildlife conservation is a major concern to the industry. We are working to make it easier for the fishing industry to work in harmony with wildlife conservation interests. We have a dedicated Environmental Assessment Support Officer who can provide you with free advice on environmental issues: Mark Gray, Seafish, Seafish House, St Andrew s Dock, Hull HU3 4QE, Tel 01482 327837 Mob 07966 764150 Email m_gray@seafish.co.uk. Further information is provided in the Seafish 'Environmental Toolkit' which is available from our website, (www.seafish.org) Disclaimer The material provided in this guidance note is general in nature and should not be regarded as an attempt to comprehensively cover every possible aspect of the particular issues being addressed. It should not be relied upon or treated as a substitute for legal advice in relation to individual situations. Except in respect of the Seafish Industry Authority, the author shall have no responsibility for any loss which may arise from reliance on any part of the material contained in this guidance note.