Guidance: Regional Fisheries Groups - South West 7efg

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Marine Management Organisation

October 4

07:59 2024

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Current projects:

Small eyed ray project aiming to remove the non retention policy in 7e.
New fisheries management measures are being implemented in Lyme Bay
New fisheries management measures being considered and implemented for southwest crawfish fishery. The consultation for the 2024/25 closure will be published shortly.

Catch Limit Decisions

Decision record RJU_7DE Jan 2024

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Southwest crawfish fishery

The fishing industry shared concerns regarding the recent increase in crawfish (Palinurus spp) landings coupled with an observed increase in the size of the fishery.

MMO held a co-design workshop on 03 October 2023 with fishers to discuss the current issues with the southwest crawfish fishery, and proposed options for management in the short-term. Further information on the workshop including meeting notes and outputs is available below.

MMO proposed two initial solutions in the workshop. These were:??

An increase in the minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) from 95 millimetres (mm) to 110 mm in English waters of ICES area 7,
A seasonal closure of the fishery during the off-peak fishing period in English waters of ICES area 7.?

There was unanimous agreement in the workshop to implement a MCRS increase from 95 mm to 110 mm in English waters of ICES area 7. Following this, MMO has announced a licence condition regarding this change will come into force from 01 January 2024. Further information on the rationale behind the MCRS increase is available below.

Following consultation and required notifications, the first seasonal closure for crawfish in English waters of ICES area 7 was introduced between 05 February 2024 to 30 April 2024. A furtherworkshoptook place on 13 February 2024 where a further seasonal closure was discussed, with support for a repeat to the annual closure.

MMO ran a consultation on a potential seasonal closure from 23 July 2024 to 18 August 2024. The closure would prohibit the retaining and landing of crawfish in English waters of ICES area 7 for all UK and EU vessels using all gear types.MMO engaged directly with fishers to gather the industry experience from the last closure during port drop in events held at Newlyn, Cadgwith, Newquay and St Marys.

Having considered the consultation responses, port visit feedback, scientific evidence and socio-economic impacts MMO will introduce a closure of the crawfish fishery for all UK and EU vessels in:

English waters of ICES area 7 from 16 December 2024 to 31 May 2025.

This closure length extends the protection of berried and juvenile crawfish whilst balancing socio-economic considerations and allowing the shellfish industry time to adapt business processes.

Although this chosen closure period was not an option outlined in the consultation, it has been chosen following consideration of responses from the consultation process and stakeholder engagement. This highlighted the impact of decreased fishing opportunities in the southwest and requests for closure dates to be closer aligned to tides to allow for fishing opportunities.

The closure will be enacted via a licence variation.

Further information on a summary of the consultation and reasoning behind the decision is available here.

Consultation responses and feedback from industry continues to indicate that further measures may be required to ensure long-term sustainable fishing of the crawfish industry. MMO alongside the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will continue to explore whether additional measures, including potential effort management can be considered.