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Severn Estuary Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority

Final Report

May 2011

Prepared For: Defra Prepared By: Food Certification International Ltd

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Contents 1 Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Aim of this report ...... 1 1.2 Context and boundary areas ...... 1 1.2.1 IFCA responsibilities and objectives...... 2 1.2.2 Local Authority boundaries ...... 3 1.3 Report structure ...... 3 1.4 Consultation ...... 4 2 Commercial fisheries ...... 5 2.1 Overview of landings and ports ...... 5 2.1.1 ICES Statistical Rectangles ...... 5 2.1.2 Value and volume of commercial landings ...... 6 2.1.3 Activity from ports within Severn Estuary area ...... 10 2.1.4 Economic costs and earnings ...... 11 2.2 Fisheries management regimes...... 11 2.2.1 Byelaws ...... 12 2.2.2 Strategy for the Severn Estuary ...... 14 2.3 Key commercial species ...... 15 2.3.1 Fish assemblages ...... 15 2.3.2 Stock status ...... 16 2.3.3 Key lifecycle stages ...... 19 3 Recreational fisheries ...... 22 3.1 Overview ...... 22 3.1.1 Fishing sites & catch characteristics ...... 22 3.1.2 Estimate of numbers ...... 23 3.1.3 Trends in recreational angling ...... 24 3.1.4 Estimate of recreational sea angling catches ...... 24 3.2 Businesses...... 25 3.2.1 Fishing tackle shops ...... 25 3.2.2 Sea angling clubs ...... 25 3.2.3 Commercial charter angling vessels ...... 26 3.2.4 Other downstream businesses ...... 27 3.3 Value of recreational fishing...... 27 4 Natural environment ...... 28

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4.1 Nature conservation ...... 28 4.1.1 Designations...... 28 4.1.2 Value of nature conservation ...... 28 4.1.3 Legislation, protection and existing controls ...... 33 4.1.4 Strategy for the Severn Estuary ...... 34 4.1.5 Local Authority Biodiversity Action Plans ...... 34 4.2 Wider ecosystem ...... 35 4.2.1 Benthic habitats ...... 35 4.2.2 Marine ecology ...... 37 5 Conclusions ...... 38 5.1 Gap analysis ...... 38 5.1.1 Stock status ...... 38 5.1.2 Fishing effort ...... 39 5.1.3 Environmental interactions ...... 39 5.1.4 Supporting management information ...... 39 5.2 Summary of findings ...... 40

Appendix 1 Bibliography ...... 41 Appendix 2 Maps and figures ...... 46 Appendix 3 Gap analysis matrix ...... 60

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List of Figures Figure 1: IFCA proposed boundaries (Source: Defra, 2010) Figure 2: Severn Estuary area of the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority District Figure 3: ICES Statistical Rectangles that overlap the Severn Estuary area of the Devon and Severn IFCA Figure 4: Live weight and value of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by UK vessels into UK ports from 2006- 2010 (Source: MMO, 2011) Figure 5: Live weight of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by UK vessels into UK ports from 2006-2010 (Source: MMO, 2011) Figure 6: Live weight and value of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by UK vessels into UK ports by species from 2006-2010 (Source: MMO, 2011) Figure 7: Location of landing ports for catches from Severn Estuary area across 2006-2010 indicating proportions by live weight (Source: MMO, 2011) Figure 8: Competent Authorities for Fisheries Regulation in England (Source: Symes & Boyes, 2005) Figure 9: Thornback ray in the Irish Sea (VIIa) and Bristol Channel (VIIf). Mean catch rates of from the UK 4 m beam trawl survey (1993 2007). Smoothed line is the three-year moving average (Source: ICES, 2008) Figure 10 Smalleyed ray in the Irish Sea (VIIa) and Bristol Channel (VIIf). Mean catch rates in the UK 4 m beam trawl survey (1993 2007). Smoothed line is the three-year moving average. Data use trawl stations from the Bristol Channel only (Source: ICES, 2008) Figure 11 Spotted ray in the Irish Sea (VIIa) and Bristol Channel (VIIf). Mean catch rates from the UK 4 m beam trawl survey (1993 2007). Smoothed line is the three-year moving average (Source: ICES, 2008) Figure 12: Conservation and Nature Designations (Source: JNCC, 2011) Figure 13: Severn Estuary SPA bird species (Sources: RSPB, 2011; Natural England and CCW 2009; Burton et al 2010) Figure 14: UK SeaMap seabed habitats (Source: UKSeaMap, 2010) Figure 15: Proportion of landings weight and value by vessel length of vessels under 10m, 10-12m, 20-30m and 30-40m Figure 16: Proportion of live weight and value of landings by gear type in 2010 Figure 17: Seasonality of total landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by weight from 2006-2010 (MMO, 2011) Figure 18: Seasonality of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by weight and species from 2008-2010 (MMO, 2011) Figure 19: Seasonality of key species from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by weight from 2006-2010 (MMO, 2011) Figure 20: Nursery grounds for species across Severn Estuary (Cefas, 2011) Figure 21: Nursery grounds for species across Severn Estuary (Coull et al., 1998) Figure 22: Spawning grounds for species adjacent to Severn Estuary area (Cefas, 2011) Figure 23: Spawning grounds for species adjacent to Severn Estuary area (Coull et al., 1998) List of Tables Table 1: UK registered vessels within the Severn Estuary Devon and Severn IFCA district Table 2: Examples of Byelaws in force in the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee (SFC) (2009) and South Wales SFC (2009) Table 3: Relative abundance of fish species caught at Hinkley Power Station 1981-2007 (Source: Royal Haskoning, 2008) Table 4: Status of demersal elasmobranch stocks in the Celtic Seas (ICES Areas VI, VIIa-c, e-k) (Source: ICES 2008) Table 5: Presence of spawning and nursery areas within the Severn Estuary (Source: Cefas, 2011 and Coull et al, 1998) Table 6: Migratory movements of diadromous species found within the Severn Estuary (Source: Royal Haskoning, 2008) Table 7: Assessment of condition of fish species in respect to conservation designations in the Severn Estuary (Source: Royal Haskoning, 2008) Table 8: Designations within and adjacent to Severn Estuary (Sources: JNCC, 2011 and Natural England, 2011) Table 9: Live weight landed from ICES rectangles 31E6, 31E6 and 32E7 by port from 2006-2010 (MMO, 2011)

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1 Introduction

1.1 Aim of this report Food Certification International Ltd (FCI) has been commissioned to collate, review and summarise available data and research material in relation to the Severn Estuary area of the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authority (IFCA). This will include information across the broad spectrum of potential responsibilities and objectives of the IFCA. The study has not included any primary research or assessments and has only carried out limited analysis of available data. The study culminates with a gap analysis which seeks to compare the available data and evidence, against anticipated research and data requirements of the IFCA in the Severn Estuary area, in order to broadly identify key areas of future work. The aim of this report is to present an overview of the available information relative to the Severn Estuary area of the Devon and Severn IFCA, therefore providing essential management insight for further research planning and development of regional fishery management plans. In addition, the study presents a summary of all available resources in the form of a comprehensive bibliography.

1.2 Context and boundary areas The Devon and Severn IFCA was created in October 2010 and begins its management role in April 2011. IFCAs replace the English and Welsh Sea Fisheries Committees (SFC). The proposed IFCA boundaries are presented in Figure 1. Figure 1: IFCA proposed boundaries (Source: Defra, 2010)

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The Devon and Severn IFCA therefore replaces the Devon SFC and, in effect, extends the previous Devon SFC boundaries to include Somerset and the Severn Estuary as shown in Figure 1. This study focuses only on the Severn Estuary area of the Devon and Severn IFCA, covering the area which will come under the authority of the Devon & Severn IFCA, but which was not previously under the jurisdiction of the Devon SFC. For the purposes of this study, The Severn Estuary study area is therefore defined as that portion of the new Devon and Severn IFCA district which runs from the Devon-Somerset boundary up to the further tidal extent of the Severn Estuary in Gloucestershire (Figure 2). Figure 2: Area of the Severn Estuary, managed by Devon and Severn IFCA and covered by this study

1.2.1 IFCA responsibilities and objectives IFCAs aim to “lead, champion and manage a sustainable marine environment and inshore fisheries, by successfully securing the right balance between social, environmental and economic benefits to ensure healthy seas, sustainable fisheries and a viable industry” (Defra, 2011). IFCAS have a duty to sustainably manage the marine environment in their districts. IFCAs will have a wide range of responsibilities including:  Seeking to ensure that the exploitation of sea fisheries resources is carried out in a sustainable way;  Seeking to balance the social and economic benefits of exploiting sea fisheries resources of the district with the need to protect the marine environment from, or promote its recovery from, the effects of such exploitation;  Taking any other steps which in the IFCA’s opinion are necessary or expedient for the purpose of making a contribution to the achievement of sustainable development; and

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 Seeking to balance the different needs of persons engaged in the exploitation of sea fisheries resources in the district.

1.2.2 Local Authority boundaries The extended boundaries of the Devon & Severn IFCA now take in the local authorities of North Somerset District Council; Somerset County Council; Bristol City Council; South Gloucestershire Council and Gloucestershire County Council. Although the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act (2009) places a new statutory duty (effective from April 2010) on Unitary and County Councils to prepare an Economic Assessment of their area, it is not clear that these have been completed for all local authorities, although some are available (EkoGen 2010). Furthermore, given the small scale of fisheries in these local authority regions, most fisheries information is grouped together with agriculture in local statistical analysis. Taking a more regional perspective for the South West, in order to set the study findings in some context, the Office for National Statistics report that:  Productivity and gross household income in the South West are below the UK averages but the employment rate is higher and the region has the largest proportion of people in employment with second jobs in the UK.  The employment rate for the region’s working-age residents was 75.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, compared with 72.0 per cent for the UK as a whole.  Of those in employment in the South West in the year to March 2009, almost half of females and one in eight males worked part-time. Both percentages were the highest in the UK. Over 5 per cent of people in employment in the region had second jobs, also the highest proportion. In 2008, over 14 per cent of those in employment were self-employed in their main job, the second highest proportion in the UK.

1.3 Report structure This review has been based on a desk top study of existing evidence within the scope of the IFCA's management duties. The structure of the report broadly reflects the objectives of the IFCA encompassing socio-economic, commercial fisheries and marine nature conservation aspects as follows:  Socio-economic: resources which may provide insight into the value of the fisheries sector to the region have been identified together with the value of recreational fishing to the region, the key fishing locations, and basic economic profiling of key fishing sectors operating within the region;  Commercial fisheries: an analysis of available landings data has been undertaken and discussed based on appropriate management regimes / measures. Evidence of stock status, fish assemblages and key lifecycle stages has been reviewed, including presence of commercially important nursery grounds, spawning grounds and migratory routes in the region.  Recreational fisheries: review of available information to provide insight into the level of recreational angling, the key areas, key species, number of dependent businesses etc.  Marine nature conservation: presents the key species and habitats in the region including the benthic invertebrates that feed the fish of the Severn, existing controls, legislation, designations, and their key interactions with commercial fisheries.  In conclusion, a gap analysis highlights the areas for further research, or management focus, in order for the IFCA to move swiftly toward achieving its stated objectives.

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1.4 Consultation The following bodies and organisations have been consulted during this study: Organisation Contact Natural England Gavin Black, Charlotte Pagendam and Angus Bloomfield Somerset County Council Joy Williams The Angling Trust David Mitchell The Bristol Channel Federation of Keith Reed Sea Anglers The Environment Agency Chris Bainger – Severn Fisheries Officer Martin Williams – South West Regional Office Charles Crundwell – Senior Fishery Technical Specialist – Midland Region Simon Thoms - Senior Fishery Technical Specialist – South West Region Eve Leegwater Devon & Severn IFCA Tim Robbins (Chief Officer) Living Coasts / Devon & Severn IFCA Elaine Hayes University of the West of England Dr David Bird In addition to these direct consultations, a comprehensive range of sources were reviewed and a bibliography of source material is provided along with the report, as an output of this study.

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2 Commercial fisheries

2.1 Overview of landings and ports

2.1.1 ICES Statistical Rectangles The principle source of data on the commercial fisheries that take part in the region has been provided by the MMO statistical team. Data has been provided on the landings taken from relevant ICES statistical landings, whether landed into Ports in the study region, or landed elsewhere. In all cases port of landing included so can be clearly shown. There are three ICES statistical rectangles which overlap with the study areas (31E6, 31E7 and 32E7), as shown in Figure 3. All commercial fisheries statistical data is recorded against the location of catches. As such the data reveals the commercial fisheries productivity of the study region, even where the economic benefits may be felt outside the study region, where fish are landed elsewhere. Figure 3: ICES Statistical Rectangles that overlap the Severn Estuary area of the Devon and Severn IFCA

Under the UK Registration of Fish Buyers and Sellers Regulations 2005 sales notes of fish sold from licensed commercial fishermen must be submitted. For over 10m vessels, these can be cross referenced with landing declarations and log books, for under 10m vessels the sales note provides a primary source of information. Although there are sometimes problems with the data1, or with recording processes, this does allow a reasonably accurate understanding of the volume and value of landings to an ICES rectangle scale – certainly providing a far more accurate insight than would have been available in previous years.

1 Once such an anomaly within the data set showed records of large Belgium beam trawlers active in ICES rectangle 32E7 in 2010. These records were removed from the data set prior to further analysis and this anomaly was queried with the MMO.

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The landings statistics presented in this section are for UK registered vessels (including English and Welsh) landing into UK ports where catches were taken from ICES rectangles 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7. For 31E6 it is important to note that the study area covers less than half of this ICES rectangle. These values are therefore not the total for the study area, but also include catches from the Welsh inshore portion of 31E6. Landing statistics have been obtained from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) for 2006- 2010 landings reported by month, vessel nationality, ICES rectangle, port of landing, vessel length category (under 10m, 10-15m etc), gear type, species, live weight and value.

2.1.2 Value and volume of commercial landings

By species In comparison to the rest of the UK inshore fisheries a relatively small amount of catch is landed commercially from the Severn Estuary area. The landings have however increased from approximately 50 to 90 tonnes over the past five years (Figure 4). A peak in landings volume is seen in 2008, due to the emergence of a whelk fishery (as seen in Figure 6) which remains in 2009-2010 although at a smaller scale. A peak in value occurred in 2007 (due to bass and brown crab) with total values remaining more or less consistent from 2008-2010 despite the decrease in volume over this period – likely to be due to the different proportions of species landed and their associated values. In total approximately £200,000 of landings were caught from the Severn Estuary area in 2010. From 2007 to 2010 100% of the catch has been from ICES rectangle 31E6, with only a very small proportion from 31E7 (2%) in 2006 (Figure 5). The overwhelming majority (~84%) of landings are caught by the Welsh registered fleet, with English vessels landing the remainder. While the interest in this particular study may be more focused on English fleets or vessels landing into ports in the study region, from a fishery management perspective the activities of Welsh vessels in the area is equally important and these activities will be subject to the Devon and Severn IFCA management measures and any associated byelaws. Consideration of Welsh landings from this area is therefore appropriate to this assessment. Figure 4: Live weight and value of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by UK vessels into UK ports from 2006-2010 (Source: MMO, 2011)

160 300 140 250 120 200 100 80 150 60 Value, £'000 Value, 100 40

Live weight, Live tonnes 50 20 0 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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Figure 5: Live weight of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by UK vessels into UK ports from 2006-2010 (Source: MMO, 2011) 160 140 120 100 80 60

40 Live weight, Live tonnes 20 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 31E7 English registered vessels 31E6 English registered vessels 31E6 Welsh registered vessels Figure 6a & b: Live weight (a) and value (b) of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by UK vessels into UK ports by stock from 2006-2010 (Source: MMO, 2011)

160 Other

Cod 140 Dogfish

120 Plaice

Sole 100 Brown crab

80 Lesser Spotted Dog

Lobsters 60 Live weight, Live tonnes Blonde Ray

40 Bass

Small-eyed Ray 20 Thornback Ray

Skates and Rays 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Whelks

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300,000 Other

Velvet crabs

250,000 Lesser Spotted Dog Spotted Ray

Cod 200,000 Turbot

Plaice

150,000 Brown crabs Value, £ Value, Blonde Ray

Whelks 100,000 Small-eyed Ray

Sole 50,000 Thornback Ray

Skates and Rays

0 Bass

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Lobsters

Whelks dominate the recent landings from the Severn Estuary area in terms of total weight, making up over a third of landings in 2010. This is followed by skates and rays, which as of 2009 are now reported at species level which is evident in 2010 landings, where thornback ray and small-eyed ray form the majority of Raja species in terms of both volume and value. Combined values of Raja species indicate that they are the most valuable fishery in the Severn Estuary (~32% of value in 2010). In 2010 this is followed by lobsters and bass, although in the previous four years bass contributed a higher proportion of the value. Other species of importance include sole, plaice and brown crabs. An emerging velvet crab fishery is noted to have developed from 2009 with landings increasing by six times in weight in 2010. Further figures on seasonality of landings for key species, vessel length and gear types are presented in Appendix 2.

Gear and fleet characteristics Landings are dominated by the under 10m fleet, although a higher than normal proportion of the catch was landed by the 10-20m fleet in 2008. This is due to large catches of whelks (98 tonnes) from 31E6 landed by Welsh vessels into Swansea and Saundersfoot from June to October (with small portion landed into Fishguard). Otter trawls and pots are the principle gears deployed in the area with otter trawls accounting for 40% of value and 38% of weight and pots 32% of value and 44% of weight. Otter trawls predominantly target ray species, notable small-eyed ray and thornback ray, as well as blonde ray and spotted ray. This gear will also catch plaice, sole and small quantities of dab, flounder, cod and bass. A smaller proportion of landings are caught by other gears including gill nets, pots, hook and line. Pots include both whelk pots and creels which target lobster and crab (brown, velvet and spider). Gill nets target ray species (mainly thornback ray), bass, sole and plaice with some bycatch of cod, mullet

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FOOD CERTIFICATION INTERNATIONAL LTD and dogfish. Hook and line is a very selective fishery targeting bass with minimal amounts of mullet, thornback ray and sea bream also taken.

By landing port The majority of fisheries operating in the Severn Estuary land outside of the Severn study region, typically into Welsh ports. This is expected given the proportion of landings by Welsh registered vessels. Based on a five year average across 2006-2010, over half of the commercial fisheries active within the Severn Estuary land into Swansea with just under a quarter (22%) into Porthcawl. The locations of landing ports for catches taken from the Severn Estuary area across this period are shown in Figure 7. Ilfracombe is also an important port of landing for catches taken from within the study area, accounting for 10% of landings by weight, followed by Saundersfoot (6%), Milford Haven (4%) and Salcombe (1%). In 2010 Milford Haven has accounted for a higher share of landings from the study region, representing a 68% increase on 2009 volumes into this port. From the point of view of the Devon and Severn IFCA, the data provided by the MMO for the study region does not show any commercial landings into ports within the Severn Estuary study area of the Devon and Severn IFCA. If there are landings into these ports, for example by some of the registered vessels in the study region, the data relating to those landings does not appear to be currently captured in the MMO data.

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Figure 7: Location of landing ports for catches from Severn Estuary area across 2006-2010 indicating proportions by live weight (Source: MMO, 2011)

2.1.3 Activity from ports within Severn Estuary area The MMO UK vessel list indicates that two vessels are registered as having a home port within the Severn Estuary area of the Devon and Severn IFCA. These vessels are both under 10m in length and based at Minehead (Table 1); neither vessels have a shellfish licence. Table 1: UK registered vessels within the Severn Estuary Devon and Severn IFCA district

Vessel Overall Registered Engine Vessel Year Home port reg. Vessel name length, m tonnage power, KW capacity units built Minehead PH7 Thistle 6.9 1.92 20 27.63 1980 Minehead BM276 Belinda Bee 7.74 2.42 9.5 24.012 1970 Walmsley & Pawson (2007) provide a review of the status of coastal fisheries in England and Wales. This report indicates that the two vessels based at Minehead operate on a part-time basis setting pots and taking out angling parties. Other activities reported and not captured in the landing statistics include two fishermen working on the Stert Flats, to the east of Hinkley Point, maintaining ranks of fixed stow or fyke-nets to catch shrimps, mullet, rays and sole from July to October.

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Furthermore, several part-time boats set pots and nets close inshore, between Highbridge and Burnham-on-Sea, and molluscs are gathered by hand. Although it is recognised that management and data relating to migratory species and salmonids will remain with the Environment Agency, from a context point of view, there is some value in understanding the scale of activity in this sector. In 2006 the licensed salmon and sea trout fishery in the Severn Estuary comprised 3 seine nets, 21 lave nets and 5 fixed engines (eg putchers). There are salmon putchers at the south-west and north-east ends of the Severn Bridge, at Aust and Beachley, and at Alvington below Lydney Lock (opposite Berkeley). Walmsley & Pawson (2007) also report that in 2006 more than 500 licensed dip nets are used to catch elvers from around November to March, principally in the upper Severn Estuary, above Sharpness, but also in an area just below Bridgwater. Most recently, Henderson and Bird (2010) report that these salmon, sea trout and eel fisheries are more or less no longer in existence. There are a few small commercial fisheries remaining that employ drift nets or beach seines at accessible sites to catch mainly flatfish. Mr. Sellick and son run the last fixed engine fishery at Stolford in Bridgwater Bay (Henderson and Bird, 2010). The fishery for these migratory species typically runs from June to August. Each active putcher would typically have a crew of 2, the seine net fisheries may typically employ 4 or 5 people per licence, with lave nets being just a single person (per licence). In the summer months therefore, there is still a reasonable level of activity (albeit far less than in a historic context). The Severn Netsmen Association is thought to have around around 100 members. From a marine species (i.e IFCA) point of view, it is worth noting that these migratory species fisheries are perfectly entitled to take bycatch of marine species, indeed lave nets deliberately target a bycatch of brown shrimp for the local market. The study team have not identified any estimates of the amount of marine species taken in these fisheries, and this data is almost certainly not recorded.

2.1.4 Economic costs and earnings The best estimates of crew earnings and typical vessel operating costs, earnings and profit can be made by reference to the Seafish ‘2008 Economic Survey of the UK Fishing Fleet’. Although not directly applicable (there is no dedicated survey for the vessels identified in this study), good indications can be taken from analysis of typical economics of UK under 10m fleet. This survey provides estimates for active vessels. For the Severn region, there may be a more varied economic picture, with some fishermen combining commercial angling trips with commercial fishing, and perhaps also combining summer licences for migratory species. These are likely to complicate interpretation of the Seafish national picture, and may warrant a more local socio-economic investigation. In 2003, Ekos & Nautilus carried out a Socio-Economic Baseline Study of the South West Fishing Industry on behalf of PESCA. This does not appear to include the Severn Study region, but could be used as a source of appropriate information on multipliers in order to build a picture of the overall value of commercial fisheries to the region..

2.2 Fisheries management regimes The majority of the fishery management regulations are determined at an EU level, through directives, implemented into national law. Aspects such as fleet licensing, gear characteristics, reporting requirements, landing controls etc, are all set out at this level, regardless of the species being targeted. Further management is in place, again mainly determined at an EU level and implemented at a national level, for pressure stocks. These are the most commercially important or vulnerable stocks within the EU fishery (or stocks which are transboundary and therefore also have a high priority for coordinated management approaches). For these, annual assessment and scientific advice is available (through ICES – with CEFAS contributing data and expertise for England and

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Wales). Typically for these species, management measures will be determined at an EU, or even Coastal States level (i.e. including relevant non-EU countries which may target the resource e.g. Norway). Management measures may include quota restrictions (TAC) or effort restrictions. There is national scope for managing the application of these, such as determining division of quota allocation, but less scope at a local (IFCA level) to shape the management of these stocks. At a local (IFCA) level, the main tool used to manage fisheries within a locality has been through application of appropriate byelaws, typically focussing on area, gear, size or seasonal restrictions and typically (but not exclusively) related to the capture of non-pressure stocks. As such, there has traditionally been less focus in local fishery management in rapid and routine response (for example annual management responses) to changes in stock abundance through measures such as quota or effort restriction or other types of harvest control rules. Within the area of the Severn Estuary that will come under the jurisdiction of the extended boundaries of the Devon & Severn IFCA, there had previously been little relatively focused management of local marine fisheries, unlike other areas which were previously under the jurisdiction of a Sea Fisheries Committee. Technically the Environment Agency has acted as the SFC in this area, but given the relatively low level of commercial fishing activity in the area, the focus of the EA work (both enforcement and data collection) has quite reasonably been on migratory species (e.g salmonids & eels).

2.2.1 Byelaws The Byelaws currently in operation in the South Wales SFC and Devon SFC are summarised in Table 2. A report by the Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies published in 2005 provides a review of fisheries management regimes and relevant legislation in UK waters (Symes & Boyes, 2005). This goes into detail of the structure of management devolved from UK Government to UK states and the inshore fisheries management regimes in operation as of 2005. The governing legislation for England and Wales detailed in the report includes:  Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966  Sea Fisheries (Conservation) Act 1967  Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967  Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975  Water Resources Act 1991  Sea Fisheries (Wildlife) Conservation Act 1992  Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc) Regulations 1994  Environment Act 1995 The Symes and Boyes (2005) report also presents details of the valid nature conservation regulations and the managing authorities responsible for their delivery. The competent authorities for fisheries regulations in England are summarised in Figure 8.

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Table 2: Examples of Byelaws in force in the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee (SFC) (2009) and South Wales SFC (2009)

Devon SFC Byelaws South Wales SFC Byelaws Shellfish Minimum Landing Sizes (including) Minimum Landing Sizes (including) Lobster: 90mm carapace length Lobster: 90mm carapace length Brown crab: 140mm (female), 160mm (male) Brown crab: 140mm Escallop: 100mm Crawfish: 110mm carapace length Winkle: must not pass through 16mm square gauge Whelk: must not pass through 35mm square gauge Other species as per EU requirements Winkle: must not pass through 13mm square gauge Oyster: 70mm; Shellfish conservation Mussels: 51mm Ban on clawing brown crab Cockle: must not pass through 19mm square gauge Ban on landing v-notched lobsters and berried lobsters Scallops: 110mm Velvet crab: 65mm Area and gear restrictions Scallop restrictions – curfew, closed season Jul-Sep, bycatch Shellfish conservation limit of 120 scallops per day for trawlers, dredge gear Ban on clawing or detaching any crustacean body parts. restrictions including use of spring loaded tooth bar, max of Ban on landing v-notched lobsters 12 dredges per vessels, maximum tow bar length of 5.18m. Burry Inlet Cockles Additional scallop dredge restrictions within Salcombe and Various byelaws including no Sunday or night gathering, a Dart Estuary. daily quota of 100g cockles and spatial and temporal closed Temporal closures of shellfish beds for mussels, oysters, areas. clams and periwinkles. No pots for lobster and crab (brown and spider) should have a soft eye unless fitted with an escape gap. Prohibited areas for shore crab Finfish Minimum Landing Sizes (including) Minimum Landing Sizes (including) As per EU requirements Bass: 37.5 cm; Grey mullet: 35cm; Sole: 24cm; Cod: 35cm Skate and ray: 450 mm between tips of wings, or 220 mm of Area and gear restrictions max dimension when wing is detached from the body Prohibited trawling in Start Bay and trawling restrictions within estuaries. Area and gear restrictions Prohibited netting within River Exe for salmon species, trout Prohibited areas within Milford Haven for towed gear, trawl and eel. and seine nets. Prohibition of netting in Rivers Tamar, Plym and Yealm Prohibited areas for dredges and beam trawlers in Skomer Prohibition of spear fishing, trawling, potting and netting in Bass nursery restrictions – total closure or temporal closure Lundy MCZ from 1st May-31st Oct at four locations. Lundy Island No Take Zone Prohibited areas for fixed nets and drift nets including many rivers and bays. Technical gear restrictions Including minimum mesh sizes, maximum mesh lengths and a maximum length of beam of 4m for beam trawls Other General General Vessel size restriction of 15.240 m (with some exceptions) Vessel size restriction of 150 VCU All vessels must have permit to fish which is valid for one All vessels must have permit to fish which is valid for one year and non transferrable. year and non transferrable. Marking of fishing gear and keep pots Recreational fishing limits of: Maximum of five pots and/or nets of maximum headline of 100m. Bag limits of one lobster or one crawfish per person, not exceeding a total of eight shellfish (including brown crab and spider) per boat; 8 kg of velvet crab, green crab, prawn or shrimp; 8kg of whelk, mussels, oysters, scallop, cockles or other bivalves. Voluntary Codes of Practise for angling, netting, buoy markers and operations within Skomer Marine Nature Reserve.

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Figure 8: Competent Authorities for Fisheries Regulation in England (Source: Symes & Boyes, 2005) Note: pre implementation of IFCAs, MMO, Natural England

2.2.2 Strategy for the Severn Estuary The Strategy for the Severn Estuary was published by the Severn Estuary Partnership (SEP) in 2001. The SEP is an independent Estuary-wide project set up by Local Authorities, the Environment Agency and the countryside agencies. It forms a partnership between all organisations and individuals who have declared an interest in a coordinated approach of the management of all activities on the Severn Estuary. The Strategy’s overall aim in relation to fisheries is to support and promote the sustainable use of the Estuary’s fisheries and to protect estuarine habitats whilst recognising the value of the fisheries to local communities. The Strategy lays out a series of policy objectives for fisheries which each have associated proposals for action. The policy objectives for fisheries which can be read in full within the Strategy are summarised below:  Policy F1: Encourage a situation whereby salmon and sea trout can continue to migrate freely through Estuary Waters  Policy F2: Where there is over-exploitation of mixed stock salmon, encourage reductions in fishing in order to maintain fish stocks at a sustainable level.  Policy F3: Conserve traditional methods such as putchers and other heritage fisheries at a sustainable level whilst encouraging that mixed stock salmon are protected.  Policy F4a: Promote liaison between landowners, nature conservation organisations, recreational users and fishermen to resolve apparent conflicts, by providing guidance and assisting in conflict resolution on issues of access, litter, fish stocks and bait digging.  Policy F4b: Support measures to improve access to the shore, which must be balanced against safety and conservation measures and the requirements of other users.  Policy F5: Harmonise and promote awareness of fishery byelaws.  Policy F6: Support improved understanding and management of eel stocks in the Severn

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2.3 Key commercial species

2.3.1 Fish assemblages Henderson and Bird (2010) provide a detailed review of fish and macro-crustacean communities in the Severn Estuary. This is largely based on data obtained from fish entrained on the cooling-water- intake screens at various nuclear power stations sited along the shore of the Severn Estuary. In particular two sites on the English coast of the Severn Estuary, Oldbury and Hinkley Point have provided detailed accounts of seasonal changes in fish numbers and species composition over several decades. Records are available from the 15th Century, but the first reliable accounts started from the late 1800s. What is very interesting is that Henderson and Bird (2010) show that based on these data, the most abundant fish species present in the estuary have not changed since the 1850s. Based on sampling from Hinkley Point and averages across the period 1981-2008:  The most common fish species caught are: sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus, bass Dicentrarchus labrax, whiting Merlangius merlangus, sprat Sprattus sprattus, Norway pout Trisopterus esmarkii, thin-lipped mullet Liza ramada, flounder Platichthys flesus, sea snail Liparis liparis, herring Clupea harengus and European eel Anguilla anguilla. These ten species make up 90% of power station samples. Other fish also recorded include poor cod Trisopterus minutus, Dover sole Solea solea, pout T. Luscus, five-bearded rockling Ciliata mustela and plaice Pleuronectes platessa.  The most common crustacean species caught are: brown shrimp Crangon crangon, white glass shrimp Paciphaea sivado, pink shrimp Pandalus montagui, common prawn Palaemon serratus, flying crab Liocarcinus holsatus, brown crab Cancer pagurus, green crab Carcinus maenas, velvet crab Necora puber and Henslow’s swimming crab Polybius henslowii. An Environmental Statement undertaken by Royal Haskoning on the Bristol Deep Sea Container Terminal published in 2008 provides actual data from the Hinkley Point Power Station, shown in Table 3. This indicates that the most common species are sprat and whiting, which are present at an order of magnitude higher by number than the next most abundant species namely poor cod, sand goby, sea snail, pout and sole. The fish community is notably species rich and exceeds 100 species in total for the estuary (Henderson & Bird, 2010). For fish, both species richness and the total abundance reach a maximum in late summer and autumn. The timing of this peak varies between the upper and lower estuary. This seasonal maximum is primarily caused by the arrival of the new recruits which use the estuary as a nursery. In contrast, crustaceans tend to be at their most diverse and abundant in early to mid summer. Based on the data collected from the Oldbury and Hinkley Point power stations, it is apparent that the abundance of many species of fish has increased between the 1970s and 1990s. Furthermore, since about 2002, the rate of increase has accelerated by a factor of two to four (Henderson, 2007 as cited in Henderson and Bird, 2010).

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Table 3: Relative abundance of fish species caught at Hinkley Power Station 1981-2007 (Source: Royal Haskoning, 2008)

1 cumec % com- 1 cumec % com- Species Species for a year position for a year position Sprattus sprattus 12986.2 34.55% Enterlurus aequoreus 55.5 0.15% Meriangius merlangus 11779.2 31.34% Pleuronectes platessa 46.8 0.12% Pomatochistus minutus 2606.8 6.94% Agonus cataphractus 46.2 0.12% Trispoterus minutus 1882.1 5.01% Cyclopterus lumpus 33.7 0.09% Solea solea 1565.1 4.16% Mullus surmulectus 33.1 0.09% Trispoterus luscus 1205.1 3.21% Pollachius pollachius 31.5 0.08% Liparis liparis 808.6 2.15% Callionymus lyra 23.7 0.06% Dicentrarchus labrax 779 2.07% Crenimugil labrosus 23.4 0.06% Platichthys flesus 738.7 1.97% Raja clavata 21.8 0.06% Limanda limanda 453.3 1.21% Ciliata septentrionalis 20.6 0.05% Ciliata mustela 400.3 1.07% Micromesistius poutassou 19 0.05% Clupea harengus 381.5 1.02% Syngnathus rostellatus 19 0.05% Liza ramada 355.6 0.95% Pomatochistus microps 16.5 0.04% Gadus morhua 340.4 0.91% Maurolicus nuelleri 15.9 0.04% Eutrigla gurnardus 151 0.40% Pomatochistus picus 15.6 0.04% Alosa fallax 148.5 0.40% Gasterosteus aculeatus 14.4 0.04% Aphis minuta 130.1 0.35% Syngnathus acus 12.2 0.03% Anguilla anguilla 95.5 0.25% Scyliorhinus caniculus 10.9 0.03% Conger conger 83 0.22% Trigla lucerna 9.7 0.03% Trisopterus esmarkii 72.7 0.19% Gobius niger 8.4 0.02% Merluccius merluccius 61.5 0.16% Other 80.4 0.21%

2.3.2 Stock status For certain pressure stocks of fish and shellfish (either commercially important or vulnerable) the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) provides advice on stock status in the North Atlantic Ocean with the latest advice on fish stocks available for download from their website. For certain stocks therefore, the status of populations in the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary (ICES division VIIf) are already assessed as part of a larger stock unit. For these species landed in the region there are clear management measures, typically set at Brussels and typically including TAC and quotas, or in some cases further restrictions such as days at sea regulations. For the many of the stocks commercially caught in the study area there is no ICES advice, nor any quota or effort restrictions. This includes whelk, lobster, bass etc. However, some of the species which make an important contribution to the commercial catch do have ICES advice, albeit typically as part of a far larger stock unit. Of the species shown to be caught in the study area there is ICES advice and resulting management for sole and elasmobranchs, which are reported below. There is also advice for other species, such as cod and plaice, although as these only make a minimal contribution to the catch in the study area these are not reported in detail here.

Elasmobranchs Skates and rays, and demersal sharks are widely spread throughout the Celtic Seas ecoregion. They are mostly caught in mixed fisheries for gadoids and flatfish such as plaice and sole. Due to their life history characteristics they are usually very susceptible to fisheries. Larger elasmobranchs such as common skate, white skate, and angel shark are particularly vulnerable and have become locally depleted or extirpated (ICES, 2008).

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TACs and quotas are established for skates and rays and set at 3,460 tonnes for the UK in VIab and VIIa-c, e-k (therefore including the Severn Estuary VIIf). Table 4 presents the latest ICES advice for elasmobranch species. Under EC Regulations 43/2009, which came into force on 16th January 2009 and EC Regulations 23/2010 of 14 January 2010 five species of ray are required to be recorded separately in landing statistics (as opposed to being entered as ‘Skates and Rays’). This includes cuckoo ray, thornback ray, blonde ray, spotted ray and starry ray. Statistics from Section 2.1.2 indicate that thornback ray, blonde ray, small eyed ray and spotted ray are landed from the Severn Estuary area. Table 4: Status of demersal elasmobranch stocks in the Celtic Seas (ICES Areas VI, VIIa-c, e-k) (Source: ICES 2008)

Species Area State of stock Common skate Dipturus batis VI, VII Depleted Thornback ray Raja clavata VIa, VIIa, f, g Stable/increasing Spotted ray Raja montagui VIa, VIIa, f, g Stable/increasing VIa Stable/increasing Cuckoo ray Leucoraja naevus VII Uncertain Blonde ray Raja brachyura VIa, VIIa, VIIf Uncertain Undulate ray Raja undulata VIIj, VIIde Uncertain, but with cause for concern Smalleyed ray Raja microocellata VIIf Stable/increasing VI Uncertain Sandy ray Leucoraja circularis VIIb, c, h-k Stable/increasing Shagreen ray Leucoraja fullonica VII Uncertain White skate Rostroraja alba VII Severely depleted Lesser spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula Via and VII Stable/increasing Greater spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus stellaris VII Locally stable and increasing in VIIa Smooth hounds Mustelus mustelus and M. asterias VII Stable/increasing Angel shark Squatina squatina VII Severely depleted

Thornback ray stocks are considered by ICES (2008) to be stable or increasing with catches in the main areas of abundance (VIa, VIIa,f,g) noted to have been stable/increasing in recent years (Figure 9). ICES advise that exploitation can remain at current levels. The status of the blonde ray is uncertain. This species is reported to have a patchy distribution in the Celtic Seas ecoregion, so interpretation of survey trends is problematic. Blonde ray is widely distributed in the Celtic Seas ecoregion, however ICES advise that this species has a tendency to form local aggregations and so may be prone to localized depletions. Stock indicators are therefore unknown for blonde ray. Smalleyed ray is considered to be stable or increasing with catches in the main area of the stock distribution (VIIf) stable or increasing over the survey time-series (Figure 10). Smalleyed ray in VIIf has a restricted distribution and is locally abundant in the Bristol Channel, ICES advise that this stock should be monitored to ensure that it does not decline. Spotted ray are also considered to be stable or increasing with catches in the main areas of abundance (VIa, VIIa,f,g) stable or increasing in recent years (Figures 5.4.39.4 and 5.4.39.5). ICES advise that exploitation boundaries can remain at current status quo catch levels.

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Figure 9: Thornback ray in the Irish Sea (VIIa) and Bristol Channel (VIIf). Mean catch rates of from the UK 4 m beam trawl survey (1993 2007). Smoothed line is the three-year moving average (Source: ICES, 2008)

Figure 10 Smalleyed ray in the Irish Sea (VIIa) and Bristol Channel (VIIf). Mean catch rates in the UK 4 m beam trawl survey (1993 2007). Smoothed line is the three-year moving average. Data use trawl stations from the Bristol Channel only (Source: ICES, 2008)

Figure 11 Spotted ray in the Irish Sea (VIIa) and Bristol Channel (VIIf). Mean catch rates from the UK 4 m beam trawl survey (1993 2007). Smoothed line is the three-year moving average (Source: ICES, 2008)

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Sole Sole in the Celtic Sea and West of Scotland ICES VIIf and g divisions are managed as one ecoregion stock. ICES advice for this stock in 2010 states that the spawning stock biomass is above maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for biomass and fishing mortality (F) is well below F limit and below F MSY. Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and quotas are set for this VIIf,g stock with a 279 tonne quota for the UK in this area. ICES advice states that fishing at FMSY would result in a 45% TAC increase for 2011 however there is a 25% TAC constraint applied to this stock. The ICES advice (2010) also reports on the results of recent tagging experiments which suggest that there is only limited movement of sole between the Bristol Channel (Division VIIf) and adjacent areas (Division VIIg).

2.3.3 Key lifecycle stages

Spawning and nursery grounds The Severn Estuary acts as an important nursery ground for many commercially valuable species, to the extent that many of the fish found within the Estuary are in their juvenile life stages. This explains the comparatively low level of commercial fisheries for marine species, since a large proportion will be under minimum landing sizes. The key lifestages of important commercial species have been investigated in relation to the location of spawning and nursery grounds. During the late 1990s a collaborative project between the national fisheries laboratories (Cefas and the then Fisheries Research Services, Aberdeen), the UK Offshore Operator's Association (UKOOA), the Scottish Fishermen's Association (SFF) and the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO) produced the Fisheries Sensitivity Maps in British Waters. This report (Coull et al., 1998) includes maps of the main spawning and nursery grounds for 14 commercially important species (cod, haddock, whiting, saithe, Norway pout, blue whiting, mackerel, herring, sprat, sandeels, plaice, lemon sole, sole and Norway lobster). Cefas scientists have recently undertaken additional analyses to complement the original maps (Cefas, 2011). The spawning and nursery grounds present in the study areas are illustrated in a series of maps presented in Appendix 2. Table 5 provides a summary of the spawning and nursery areas based on both Cefas (2011) and Coull et al (1998) sources. No spawning grounds are recorded within the Estuary, likely due to the fact that many of the species are broadcast spawners that spawn within the water column or seek specific gravelly habitats such as herring. As discussed, the Severn Estuary is a key nursery ground for many species including anglerfish/monkfish, lemon sole, Nephrops, plaice, sole, spotted ray, thornback ray, tope shark and whiting. Although not unique in terms of its community, Henderson & Seaby, 2000 (as cited in EDF, 2010) conclude that the extent of sheltered estuarine habitats present within the Severn Estuary means that it must be considered to be one of the more important nursery areas in Britain.

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Table 5: Presence of spawning and nursery areas within the Severn Estuary (Source: Cefas, 2011 and Coull et al, 1998)

Nursery grounds Spawning grounds Species Cefas, 2011 Coul et al., 1998 Cefas, 2011 Coul et al., 1998 Anglerfish Blue whiting Cod Common skate European skate European hake Haddock Herring Horse mackerel Lemon sole Ling Mackerel Nephrops Norway pout Plaice Saithe Sandeel Sole Sprat Spotted ray Spurdog Thornback ray Tope shark Undulate ray Whiting Summary Nursery grounds Spawning grounds Grounds Anglerfish, lemon sole, Nephrops, present for plaice, sole, spotted ray, thornback None species: ray, tope shark and whiting Grounds not Cod, horse mackerel, lemon sole, present, but in Herring and sandeel Nephrops, plaice, sandeel, sole and close vicinity: sprat

Key Present Not present, but close Not present Not assessed

Migratory species Although jurisdiction for the management of migratory species will remain with the Environment Agency, and therefore not directly relevant to the newly formed IFCAs, the study presents a brief summary of key species characteristics. The estuary is one of the most important British estuaries for three rare species - river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis, sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus and twaite shad Alosa fallax which are designated features of the SAC. These species together with salmon Salmo salar, sea trout Salmo trutta, eel Anguilla anguilla and allis shad Alosa alosa are also a designated feature of the Ramsar Site.

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Diadromous species primarily utilise the Estuary for migration between their natal rivers, most notably the rivers Wye, Usk and Severn, and marine feeding grounds. Seasonal migratory utilisation of the Severn Estuary is presented in Table 6 based on data from Royal Haskoning (2008). Sea and river lampreys spend their adult life in the sea or estuaries but spawn and spend the juvenile phase in rivers, therefore using the Severn Estuary as a migratory passage to and from their spawning and nursery grounds in the rivers. The allis and twaite shad enter the Severn Estuary in spring and move up into the rivers to spawn. The estuary serves as a nursery area for juvenile shad where they feed on plankton. The Severn Estuary supports an important run of migratory salmon and sea trout which pass through the estuary on their way to and from their spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the rivers and the open sea. The Severn Estuary has the largest eel run in Great Britain (ASERA, 2010). Table 6: Migratory movements of diadromous species found within the Severn Estuary (Source: Royal Haskoning, 2008)

Species Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Salmon Smolt Sea trout Shad Shad (juv.) Sea lamprey Sea lamprey (juv.) River lamprey River lamprey (juv.) Eel Elvers

The Royal Haskoning report (2008) provides a detailed breakdown of the information known on the status of diadromous species present within the Estuary. In summary the report provides an assessment of the condition of fish species relative to conservation designations, which is shown for the Severn Estuary in Table 7. Table 7: Assessment of condition of fish species in respect to conservation designations in the Severn Estuary (Source: Royal Haskoning, 2008)

Species SAC SSI SPA Salmon U U* U* Sea trout * * Allis shad U U* U* Twaite shad F* F* F* Eel U U* U* Sea lamprey F* F* F* River lamprey F* F* F* F: Favourable, U: Unfavourable, * indicates if species is qualifying feature of designation Eel Management Plans have been implemented for the Severn Catchment which aim to provide escapement of silver eel biomass that is at least equal to 40% of the potential escapement to be expected in the absence of anthropogenic influence. In addition, the European Eel Regulation (Council Regulation No 1100/2007) requires that a system is in place to ensure that by 2013 60% of eels less than 12 cm long that are caught commercially each year are used for restocking in suitable habitat (EDF Energy, 2010).

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3 Recreational fisheries

3.1 Overview The Bristol Channel and Severn estuary provides some of the best shore fishing in the country and the significant number of charter fishing boats are also testimony to the attraction of the region for sea fishing from boats. The region has a long and celebrated history of recreational sea angling and many of the clubs in the region have long and proud histories. This north coast of the study region provides an excellent variety of shore fishing venues for the recreational angler, depending on weather, season and target catch. As well as numbers of resident anglers, the proximity to the M4 / M5 means it is a very popular area for non-resident anglers coming from further afield. The stretch of coastline offers varying sea angling opportunities from shore side angling to boat angling, and from muddy estuarine waters to clearer marine waters in the West of the area. The fast tidal flow in the Severn estuary causes significant sedimentation in the water, creating potentially dangerous conditions and high turbidity. But there are some associated benefits for the skilled recreational sea angler. Firstly, the high nutrient loads attract large numbers of fish, to important nursery and feeding grounds. But in addition, target fish which could normally only be caught by shore anglers in the hours of darkness can be fished during daylight. Below the report summarises some of the key characteristics of recreational sea angling in the study region and seeks to give some scale context to the level of activity in the region. No dedicated study has been done on recreational sea angling in the region, but cautious conclusions can be inferred from wider studies in the South West. Additionally, a number of key stakeholders have provided valuable information to inform this study. These include representatives of the Angling Trust, The Bristol Channel Federation of Sea Anglers and The Environment Agency. Additional information, links and resources are available from several web portals, such as:  www.Bristolchannelangling.co.uk  www.gethooked.co.uk  www.severnichthys.co.uk  http://bcfsa.webs.com/

3.1.1 Fishing sites & catch characteristics2

East of the Study area Beginning at the M4 / M48 Severn crossings, rapid tidal flow and potentially dangerous reefs restrict recreational sea angling to the shore, where anglers target cod and codling in the winter months (~ 1 – 3 Kg). From the beaches to the south of the bridges, large quantities of pin whiting can be caught (upto 0.5 Kg). Later in the year, flatfish such as dabs and flounders and occasional sole (around 0.5Kg) are also caught. As the water warms toward the summer months bass are caught, but only rarely as far north as the bridges. Conger eels (heavier line) and rays (lighter line) are also targeted in this area from mid-summer onwards.

Central study area Clevedon, Portishead and north of Weston are characterised by rock marks and kelp, with anglers targeting congers and rays. Occasionally larger thornbacks (over 4Kg) can be caught in sandy bays along this stretch. To the south, Brean, Berrow and Burnham on Sea are characterised by sandy

2 Adapted from notes provided by The Angling Trust

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FOOD CERTIFICATION INTERNATIONAL LTD bays, where typical sea angling catches include bass, whiting and flatfish, but anglers will also target rays, conger and codling.

West of the study area Hinkley is characterised by more broken ground and mud flats which are generally not fished and only beyond Hinckley Point power station at Lilstock do the high sedimentation and high turbidity of the estuarine waters begin to clear as the estuary funnels out. Fish are able to see their food as compared to smelling it so bigger bass (up to 6Kg) are caught along with dogfish and the odd mackerel and Tope on reefs in this area.

3.1.2 Estimate of numbers Arriving at an exact figure of the number of sea anglers fishing in the Severn Study area is a challenge and considerable caution should therefore be used when interpreting the estimate. However there are a variety of sources that can be used to give an indication to propose a reasonable representative figure. The Angling Trust report that on a given day there may be an estimated average 200 anglers along the shoreline of the study area, targeting sea fish catches (as opposed to migratory salmonids). The Bristol Channel Federation of Sea Anglers request information from affiliated member clubs (all except one on the English coast), on membership numbers, and this, among other things, informs their insurance premium. In past years they have estimated that total affiliated club members to be 2,000 but have more recently reduced this number down to 1,200. However, it is stressed that clubs do not always give an accurate indication of membership, so this is only a rough estimate. Furthermore, this number does not include residents of the area who are not members of an affiliated club, which could be significant. The federation therefore estimate that the total number of sea anglers in the region may be well over double their own estimate – with the figure of 5,000 being seen as a reasonable estimate. Other studies have shown that typically only 10 – 20% of sea anglers are in club membership, so this estimate could reasonably be a little higher. A DEFRA Study (Drew Associates 2004) indicated that 184,400 households in the South West participate in sea angling. The Invest in Fish South West project report on ‘The Motivation, Demographics and Views of South West Recreational Sea Anglers and their Socio-economic Impact on the Region’ take this to be equivalent to 240,900 individuals. If it can be assumed3 that around 10% of these are in the Severn study region, then this would suggest that there were around 25,000 recreational Sea Anglers resident in the region. This estimate is considerably higher than the one informed by the BCFSA information and also appears higher than the Angling Trusts’ estimate of typical daily numbers would suggest. This highlights both the challenges in arriving at a representative figure, and the dangers of extrapolating figures from other sources. Neither the DEFRA study nor the Invest in Fish study gave an estimate of the number of days that resident anglers would fish in a given year, so within this estimate there will be significant variation in the amount of time that resident anglers fish, from the odd day per annum, to some fishing more than once a week throughout the year (BCFSA pers comms.). As well as resident anglers, there is also a significant number of visiting anglers who also make an important contribution to the local economy. The Invest in Fish Project used Tourist board data to show that 600,000 visitors to the South West participate in sea angling, fishing on average 1.25 days. Again taking the assumed 10% figure for the Severn Region would equate to 60,000 visiting anglers fishing 75,000 days per year. This estimate again seems high, given the Angling Trust estimate of 200 on a given day, or even when viewed in the context of around 20 charter vessels in the area.

3 See 3.3 for a rational for this 10% estimate

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3.1.3 Trends in recreational angling As indicated above, the Bristol Channel Federation of Sea Anglers have revised down their estimate of numbers of members in affiliated clubs from 2,000 to 1,200. The Angling Trust also refer to anecdotal evidence of a decline in numbers of non-resident anglers over time in response to a decline in the number of cod seen in the Bristol Channel. Reported declines in flounder and some migratory species (including eel) are also reported to have caused a decline in numbers, with a drop in the level of entry into competitions. By contrast, more recently, a run of small codling produced a ‘mini boom’ with local businesses recording increased revenue. It is also reported that anglers are attracted to the region for the wide range of species caught (14 or 15 is not uncommon). The arrival of new species, such as trigger fish, to some extent compensates for the decline on other species and perhaps goes some way to slowing the decline in angler numbers. This points to an overall picture of slight decline in numbers, but perhaps more importantly to a close correlation between the status of stocks of fish prized by recreational sea anglers, and their willingness to visit the area (and in so doing so support the local economy). In short recreational sea anglers will travel to where there are positive reports of good fishing. The Invest in Fish project also pointed to the strong conclusion that the size of fish caught by recreational anglers also plays an important role in determining their choice of venue. A well managed recreational sea angling resource, may therefore expect to lead to benefits to the local economy. The Invest in Fish project concludes that in the South West as a whole: Participation levels (in recreational sea angling) appear to be stable at present. There is potential for growth if the sport improves (including improved fish resources) and through the emergence of saltwater fly-fishing. Threats to the sector include the likelihood of participation levels falling if stocks continue to decline; a possible lack of recruitment and retention of young anglers; and the possibility (considered remote at present) of animal welfare interests threatening angling as an activity.

3.1.4 Estimate of recreational sea angling catches

Sources of Information Recreational Sea Angling for marine species can be done without a licence and there is no requirement to report catches. Given the lack of targeted study of the question of recreational sea angling in the Severn Estuary it is therefore difficult to make an estimate of catch numbers. Many anglers will do ‘catch and release’, so catch does not necessarily reflect mortality. Local study would again be required to ascertain local preferences for catch and release, and where catch is retained, what criteria are used for retaining the catch – species or size. Although many of the Severn Estuary recreational angling clubs may hold excellent archive data, in many cases going back many years, this has not been centrally collated, and it is quite possible that some clubs may be reluctant to share their data. However, should this data be made available it could provide a valuable indication of trends in recreational angling catches, albeit with due caution used in interpretation on account of:  Only certain species are likely to be recorded  Only species above a certain size are likely to be recorded  Greater emphasis (both in terms of targeting and recording) will be placed on certain prize species  Apparent catch trends may reflect changing fashions for target fish  Advances in fishing equipment and tackle may influence catch patterns

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Notwithstanding the above, interpretations of trends and relative species abundance, may be possible. This may provide a qualitative indication to inform management, and may give an indication of the geographic characteristics of recreational landings, but is likely to lack quantitative rigor. Recently (from 2006), the Bristol Channel Federation of Sea Anglers have begun a database of ‘specimen’ catches caught by affiliated clubs. Specimen sizes, are the threshold for entering a fish in for a competition. These listed sizes are always larger than the minimum landing size. In addition to the bulleted list of cautionary notes above, for when interpreting recreational angling club data, it should be noted that specimen sizes, which determine whether a fish is recorded, may also change. For example, the specimen size for cod has recently been reduced, reflected the lower numbers of catches being recorded above the specimen size. A complete list of specimen and minimum sizes is contained in the annex to this report (table 10). The study team have obtained a copy of the database, which is included in the information resources included in this study submission.

Main target species The main species of interest to recreational anglers in the study area are bass, conger, rays, gadoids (cod, whiting) and flat fish (dab, plaice, flounder). A review of the BCFSA database of recorded specimen catches over the last 5 years, shows an emphasis on elasmobranch species, such as ray (small eyed & thornback), spurdog, Tope, Lesser spotted dogfish and smoothhound. In addition catches of bass, cod, mullet (thick and thin lipped), conger, sole and whiting were also recorded.

3.2 Businesses

3.2.1 Fishing tackle shops The Angling Trust provide an estimate of fishing tackle shops in the North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Avon regions, including inland tackle shops, of around 20+ shops. The ‘Invest In Fish South West’ report puts the number slightly higher than this with 20 in Somerset and 16 in Avon. A very quick telephone directory review of the number of tackle shops advertised in the region, supports this higher claim. In total the Invest in Fish report states that for the whole of the South West, turn-over from tackle shops is £15.6 million, supporting 245 jobs. As roughly a quarter of these shops are in the Severn study region, this would equate to roughly £4 million in turnover and about 60 jobs. However, again, such extrapolation should be treated with considerable caution and it is also worthwhile approaching the estimate from a different direction. The Angling Trust estimates that an angler may typically spend around £20 for a day’s bait, plus some extra on extras such as lures, tackle or other equipment. Assuming around 200 anglers are fishing on a given day would represent say £4,000 spent in the region on bait alone. To this can be added further spend on tackle or other equipment, which the Angling Trust estimate at £10. This would equate to £2.19 million per annum. So turnover within the range of 2 – 4 million may be indicative. Again, this highlights that different sources point to different conclusions and support the need for more in depth research.

3.2.2 Sea angling clubs Below is a list of the known clubs sea angling clubs in the study region. This is based on details contained in the weblinks highlighted at the beginning of chapter 3, and where possible has been

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FOOD CERTIFICATION INTERNATIONAL LTD corroborated via 2 sources and is thought to be reasonably comprehensive and certainly indicative to inform assessments of scale and level of activity. Avonmouth SAC Mendip ASA Avon & Somerset Constabulary SAC Minehead & District SAC Bristol Channel FSA North South & Central SAC (Bristol) Birnbeck SAC (Weston Super Mare) Porlock Weir SAC Birnbeck Breakaways SAC Portishead Small Boat & SAC Birnbeck Over 60's Taunton SAC Bishops Lydeard SAC Tenby & District SAC Blackdown SAC (Minehead) Burnham, Berrow & Brean SAA Bridgwater SAC Tor SAC Brunel SAC (Minehead) Wells & District SAC Burnham Boatowners SAA West Coast & Watchet SAC Cheltenham SA & CC Weston Dolphins SAC Clevedon Breakaways SAC Weston Outcasts SAC Clevedon Pier SAC Weston Small Boats SAC Clevedon Pumpers SAC Weston Specimen & Match Group SAC In carrying out this study, the team have not contacted each club individually, in order to ascertain information, such as , among other things, membership numbers, catch records, visitor numbers (for example if the club runs competitions).

3.2.3 Commercial charter angling vessels It is thought that there are somewhere in the region of 20 recreational sea angling charter boats operating in the region of the study. Port No Vessels Porlock Weir 1 Minehead 8 - 9 Watchet 2 - 3 Burnham on Sea 1 Portishead 1 Clovelly 1 Weston Super Mare 1 Clevedon 1 The Angling Trust report that a charter boat will cost between £160 to £600 a day, with £350 being a typical figure. Vessel sizes vary, accommodating from 6 – 10 paying passengers. Weekend trips and high season trips, where demand is higher may be more expensive. For the best boats, demand is high and bookings may be made a year ahead. According to the Invest in Fish project, covering the whole of the South West, ‘charter boats and mackerel trips have a combined turnover of £7.7 million, resulting in 231 jobs’. Assuming 10% of this is in the Severn study region then this would represent a turnover of around £770,000 and 23 jobs. Assuming there are 20 charter boats in the region, then each would have an average turnover of £38,000 and most would only employ a single person. Given the costings listed above, of typical trip price and the fact that several boats will employ 2 people, this seems like a conservative estimate, and both employment and turnover from charter boat operations in the region may be higher.

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3.2.4 Other downstream businesses There are likely to be a number of other downstream businesses which more indirectly benefit from sea angling. This may be a relatively complex picture with different types of business benefitting in different ways from resident or visiting anglers. For example, resident anglers are likely to take advantage of local marine services (boat storage and maintenance), which may take less of a direct economic benefit from visiting anglers. By contrast visiting anglers are likely to make a significant contribution to the local economy, through accommodation (hotel / B & B) and restaurant trade. Similarly if the reason for selecting the study area as a holiday destination was due to sea angling opportunities, there is justification in including economic revenue taken on non-fishing days or even by non-fishing members of the party. Fishing competitions, which are popular in the area are also known to provide significant local economic revenue generation. For example, the Angling Trust report that “a boat competition in July will book all the rooms at the local pub in Minehead for the weekend and will put money for food and drinks behind the bar – rough cost to each angler for the weekend will be around £500 - which will all go into the local economy”. This estimate could be scaled up for each competition in the region, and gives an indication of the potentially significant contribution to the local economy.

3.3 Value of recreational fishing A key source for the determination of an estimate of the value to the local economy of recreational Sea Angling has been the Invest in Fish South West study, carried out in 2005 which covered Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset and Avon. This gives headline economic values for the value of recreational angling, including all downstream spend to the regional economy, knock-on benefits to other businesses, induced effects and consumer surplus. Before extrapolating these figures to estimate a figure relevant to the study region under consideration in this report, it must first be determined the proportion of those headline figures that came from Somerset and Avon. This is greatly complicated by factors such as the different proportions of resident to visiting anglers in each county, and the differing proportion of coarse and sea angling in each region. A simple analysis, taking the number of tackle shops to be indicative of overall recreational fishing effort, would imply about a quarter of recreational angling in the South West takes place in the Severn study region. However, this figure appears too high, perhaps biased by the larger number of tackle shops in areas of greater population or where there are more resident coarse anglers. By contrast, looking at the number of charter vessels in the South West to provide an indication of overall levels of activity, would imply that the Severn study region covered in this report accounts for around 10% of the recreational sea angling in the overall South West region. As indicated above, 10% seems to generate figures which more closely corroborate other sources. This may be a more representative figure, however, even taking this more precautionary figure, the headline numbers should be interpreted with caution. Using this 10% proportion to the conclusions of the Invest in Fish study, suggests that recreational sea angling in the Somerset and Avon district (as defined by that project) generates £16.5 million annual benefit to the local economy.

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4 Natural environment

4.1 Nature conservation

4.1.1 Designations The Severn Estuary is one of the largest estuaries in Britain and is well known for having the second largest tidal range in the world – at more than 12 metres. There are a number of nature conservation designations within the Severn Estuary area including Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protected Areas (SPA), Ramsar sites, Special Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and National Nature Reserves (NNR). The locations of these sites are presented in Figure 12 and the full descriptions of qualifying features are provided in Table 8. The Severn Estuary SAC covers habitats of tidal rivers, estuaries, mudflats, sandflats, salt meadows, sandbanks and reefs. Sea and River lamprey and twaite shad are also protected by this designation. The boundaries of the SAC are shown in Figure 12 and border with nine Local Authorities as follows: in England – City of Bristol; Gloucestershire; North Somerset; Somerset and South Gloucestershire and in Wales - Bro Morgannwg/ Vale of Glamorgan; Caerdydd/ Cardiff; Casnewydd/ Newport and Fynwy/ Monmouthshire. The marine SPA is present predominately in the coastal areas of the in the Severn Estuary and overlaps parts of the SAC area. The site is important in the spring and autumn migration periods for waders moving along the west coast of Europe, as well as in winter for large numbers of waterbirds including swans, geese, ducks and waders. These bird populations are regarded as internationally important. Qualifying bird species listed within the SPA are as follows: Gadwall Anas strepera, greater white- fronted goose Anser albifrons albifrons, dunlin Calidris alpina alpine, Berwick’s swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii, common shelduck Tadorna tadorna, redshank Tringa tetanus. Further details of these species are provided in Figure 13. Other species listed as a component of the assemblage include wigeon, teal, pintail, pochard, tufted duck, ringed plover, grey plover, curlew, whimbrel and spotted redshank. Numbers of migratory and wintering wildfowl and waders are monitored annually as part of the national Wetland Birds Survey (WeBS) organised by the British Trust for Ornithology, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (see Figure 13). The SPA area is also designated as a Ramsar site, which was introduced in 1995 pre SPA designation. The bird species protected under the SPA are also included in the Ramsar site, as are the habitats and fish species that form qualifying features of the SAC. The Ramsar site also includes many other birds species and other flora species (as presented in Table 8). Collectively the marine SAC, marine SPA and Ramsar site are known as the Severn Estuary European Marine Site.

4.1.2 Value of nature conservation The study team have not identified any studies done to date on the value of nature conservation in the study area. Although some assessments have taken place elsewhere, these are not directly applicable. In undertaking this type of work, there are various different approaches taken, which vary from the direct value of nature conservation to the local economy (spend by visitors to nature reserves etc) to studies which seek to place inherent value on ecosystem services.

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Perhaps the most relevant work was undertaken by Economics for the Environment Consultancy (eftec), on behalf of Department of Energy and Climate Change, who, for example carried out an economic evaluation exercise of various shortlisted tidal power options in the Severn. This focused on seeking to place a valuation on the inherent characteristics of ecosystem services.

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Figure 12: Conservation and Nature Designations (Source: JNCC, 2011)

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Table 8: Designations within and adjacent to Severn Estuary (Sources: JNCC, 2011 and Natural England, 2011)

Designations within or adjacent to Severn Estuary SAC EU code UK0013030 Area (ha) 73715.4 Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site 1130 Estuaries 1140 Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide 1330 Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco-Puccinellietalia maritimae) Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site 1110 Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time 1170 Reefs

SevernEstuary SAC Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site 1095 Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus 1099 River lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis 1103 Twaite shad Alosa fallax Annex I Birds and Regularly Occurring Migratory Birds not Listed on Annex I Gadwell Anas strepera, greater white-fronted goose Anser albifrons albifrons, dunlin Calidris alpina alpine, Berwick’s swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii, common shelduck Tadorna tadorna, redshank

Tringa tetanus

Article 4.1 Qualification (79/409/EEC) Over winter the area regularly supports: Berwick’s swan C. columbianus bewickii 3.9% of the GB population Article 4.2 Qualification (79/409/EEC) Over winter the area regularly supports: Gadwell A. strepera 0.9% of the population; greater white-fronted goose A. albifrons albifrons 0.4% of the population; dunlin C. alpina alpine 3.3% of the population; common shelduck T. tadorna 1.1%

of the population; redshank T. tetanus 1.3% of the population SevernEstuary SPA Article 4.2 Qualification (79/409/EEC): An Internationally Important Assemblage of Birds: Over winter the area regularly supports waterfowl including: Berwick’s swan C. columbianus bewickii, greater white-fronted goose A. albifrons albifrons, common shelduck T. tadorna, Gadwell A. strepera, dunlin C. alpina alpine, redshank T. tetanus. In addition to species within SPA and SAC the Ramsar site includes consideration of: Birds: Lesser black-backed gull, Ringed plover, Eurasian teal, Northern pintail, Herring gull, Little

egret, Ruff, Whimbrel, Eurasian curlew, Common greenshank, Eurasian wigeon, Northern shoveler, Ramsar

Common pochard, Water rail, Spotted redshank

Fish: Allis shad site Invertebrates: Tenellia adspersa, Corophium lacustre, Gammarus insensibilis Higher plants: Aster linosyris, Alopecurus bulbosus, Althaea officinalis, Bupleurum tenuissimum, Hordeum marinum, Lepidium latifolium, Petroselinum segetum, Puccinellia rupestris, Trifolium SevernEstuary squamosum, Zostera marina/angustifolia, Zostera noltei Bridgwater Bay National Nature Reserve (NNR) is 2559 Ha in area located on the north Somerset coast, approximately 5 km north of the town of Bridgwater. This NNR comprises the lower reaches of the River Parrett and its estuary, which flows into the Bristol Channel. Along the coast the site extends north to Burnham-on-Sea and west to Lilstock. The NNR is also part of the Severn Estuary SPA and SAC, and is a Ramsar site The reserve consists largely of intertidal mudflats with saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. The site has an important bird population with approximately 190 species

NatureReserve recorded on the reserve including large numbers of wintering waders and waterfowl. Wildfowling is permitted in some areas but the main body of the reserve is a wildlife sanctuary. BridgwaterBay National Terrestrial SAC’s bordering the Severn Estuary include: Exmoor Heath, Emoor and Quentock

SACs Oakwoods Terrestrial SSSI’s that border the Severn Estuary include: Blue Anchor to Listock Coast, Perlock Ridge

and Saltmarsh, Bridewater Bay and Berrow Dunes SSSIs

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Figure 13: Severn Estuary SPA bird species (Sources: RSPB, 2011; Natural England and CCW 2009; Burton et al 2010)

Species Severn Estuary bird count from 1988 to 2007 UK population size

Gadwall Anas strepera 600 UK breeding: 790 pairs 400 UK wintering: 17,500 birds 200

Bird countBird Severn Estuary 0 wintering: 244 birds 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2007

Greater white-fronted goose 6000 UK wintering: 26,790 Anser albifrons albifrons birds; 4000 Severn Estuary

2000 wintering: 748 birds Bird countBird 0 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2007

Dunlin Calidris alpina alpine 80000 UK breeding: 9,150- 60000 9,900 pairs. 40000 UK wintering: 577,100 birds;

Bird countBird 20000 Severn Estuary 0 wintering: 21,430 bids

1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2007

Berwick’s swan Cygnus columbianus Europe population: bewickii 600 >23,000 birds (winter); 400 UK: wintering: 8,240 birds; 200

Bird countBird Severn Estuary 0 wintering: 244 birds. 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2007

Common shelduck Tadorna tadorna 5000 UK breeding: 10,900 4000 pairs; 3000 UK wintering: 81,300 2000 birds;

Bird countBird 1000 Severn Estuary 0 wintering: 3,492 birds 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2007

Redshank Tringa tetanus 4000 UK breeding: 38,300 3000 pairs; 2000 UK wintering: 125,800 1000 birds; Bird countBird Severn Estuary 0 wintering: 2,312 birds 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2007

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4.1.3 Legislation, protection and existing controls Although there are high levels of natural habitat erosion within the Severn Estuary due to the strong tidal streams present, the estuary is also vulnerable to large scale interference by human actions. These include habitat impacts and direct and indirect disturbance to qualifying features of the European Marine Sites. Predominately including land-claim, aggregate extraction/dredging, physical developments such as barrage construction flood defences, pollution (industrial, oil spillage), eutrophication and tourism based activities and disturbance. These issues are being addressed through existing control measures and as part of the Severn Estuary Strategy (see Section 4.1.4). There are various organisations working for nature conservation in the Severn Estuary. The Association of Severn Estuary Relevant Authorities (ASERA) was formed in recognition of the practical and resourcing difficulties which would be experienced by many organisations if they were to individually attempt to discharge their statutory duties in respect of the nature conservation designations on the Severn Estuary. It is intended that through ASERA, the relevant authorities will be able to discharge their statutory duties in the most efficient and cost effective way possible. Given the statutory duties that all relevant authorities share, and the benefits of sharing the costs for discharging them, the Association now represents 32 of the 43 relevant authorities on the Severn Estuary. In September 2004 ASERA launched the Management Scheme for the Severn Estuary European Marine Site. All ASERA members annually review their activities and the potential for them to impact on the designated birds and habitats of the estuary. They work collectively with user groups to raise awareness of the nature conservation designations, and how users can help minimise their impact on the birds and habitats. The existing Management Scheme is currently being reviewed and will be updated to take account of the Ramsar and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) designations for the Severn Estuary. The 2004 Management Scheme assessed various activities to identify which have the potential to impact the designated features of the European Marine Site. In relation to fishing and angling the following activities were assessed:  Fishing (commercial) – assessed as constituting a plan or a project and therefore competent authority to apply Habitat Regulation 48-53 i.e. Appropriate Assessment should be undertaken.  Eel and elver fishing – assessed as constituting a plan or a project and therefore competent authority to apply Habitat Regulation 48-53 i.e. Appropriate Assessment should be undertaken.  Bait digging – no impact identified.  Angling (recreational) – impact unknown i.e. potential for the activity to cause deterioration or significant disturbance to a feature(s), but there is insufficient current information to determine whether or not it is causing deterioration or significant disturbance Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) have a duty under Regulation 33(2)(b) of The Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 to advise other relevant authorities as to any operations which may cause deterioration of natural habitats or the habitats of species, or disturbance of species, for which the Severn Estuary site has been designated. Details of this are laid out within the Severn Estuary European Marine Site Advice Given Under Regulation 33 reports by Natural England and CCW (2005 and 2009). Natural England advise that Appropriate Assessments in relation to SAC and SPA features have not been undertaken specifically for commercial fisheries or recreational angling activities (Angus Bloomfield, pers comm., 2011).

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4.1.4 Strategy for the Severn Estuary In relation to nature conservation and wildlife the Severn Estuary Strategy’s aim is to maintain and enhance the biodiversity and abundance of wildlife, especially the habitats and species that contribute to the character and integrity of the Estuary. In the same approach as fisheries the Strategy lays out a series of policy objectives for nature conservation and wildlife which each have associated proposals for action. The policy objectives for nature conservation and wildlife which can be read in full within the Strategy are summarised below:  Policy N1a: Support and encourage the establishment of the statutory scheme of management for the Severn Estuary SPA and a shadow scheme of management for the pSAC (now SAC).  Policy N1b: Promote Estuary-wide co-ordination to develop mechanisms for the enhancement of biodiversity and to prevent the deterioration of estuarine habitats.  Policy N1c: Encourage initiatives to raise awareness and increase understanding of the range of existing statutory regulations and non-statutory initiatives affecting nature conservation.  Policy N2: Raise awareness of international designations and the proposed statutory management scheme for the SPA and pSAC (now SAC).  Policy N3a: Identify and record wildlife resources in a format that is accessible for planners, developers and other interests.  Policy N3b: Protect and monitor wildlife resources through the planning process and other management initiatives.  Policy N3c: Encourage an appropriate impact assessment of effects of development proposals on sites, habitats or species of nature conservation importance.  Policy N4a: Seek to avoid disturbance to wildlife from existing recreation and tourism.  Policy N4b: Encourage the development and operation of recreation and tourism activities and facilities which avoid and decrease adverse impact on wildlife.  Policy N5: Support and promote the development and implementation of mechanisms for providing better public information about pollutants released into the Estuary and their impacts; support and promote existing and emerging pollution controls.  Policy N6: Encourage and promote management initiatives and regimes that maintain and enhance habitats and species in a way that benefits the character of the Estuary as a whole.  Policy N7: Support and encourage the protection, identification, notification, and promotion of geological and geomorphological features including GCR (Geological Conservation Review) sites and RIGS (Regionally Important Geological/Geomorphological Sites).

4.1.5 Local Authority Biodiversity Action Plans Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) have been created at a national and local level to protect and enhance the diversity of flora and fauna. The UK BAP (Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan, 2004) sets out action plans for priority species and habitats. Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) are used to identify the local contributions that can be made to achieving the UK BAP priorities as well as identifying other local biodiversity priorities. LBAPs covering the study area include:  Biodiversity Action Plan for Gloucestershire, 2000  South Gloucestershire Local Biodiversity Action Plan, 2008  Bristol Biodiversity Action Plan, 2008  North Somerset Biodiversity Action Plan – Action for Nature, 2005  Sedgemoor Local Biodiversity Action Plan, 2008  West Somerset Biodiversity Action Plan, 2008  West Somerset Coastal and Marine Habitat Action Plan, 2008

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The North Somerset Biodiversity Action Plan includes an Estuary Habitat Action Plan which details potential activities that could disturb sensitive habitats together with a proposed set of actions. Actions within this plan tend to be less fisheries specific and more general towards all activities such as:  Reduce disturbance in sensitive areas  Ensure appropriate uses of the estuary are addressed through liaison with user groups  Protect habitats, wildlife and geological sites through development plan policies Herefordshire Council (2008) undertook a Habitat Regulation Assessment under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, to ensure that its plans do not adversely affect any European important site within the council area. This included consideration of the Severn Estuary SAC and SPA and Appendix 3 of the report lists the environmental conditions needed to support site integrity for the features of these designations as follows:  Maintain tidal regime  Prevention of water and air borne pollution  Control of recreational activities  Control of extraction and other industrial activities  Protection of bird sites It is unknown whether other Local Authorities have undertaken Habitat Regulation Assessments in relation to any plans or projects within the Severn Estuary.

4.2 Wider ecosystem

4.2.1 Benthic habitats The UK SeaMap 2010 project produced a new seabed habitat map for the UK marine area. It builds on the previous work of the Irish Sea Pilot, UKSeaMap 2006 and MESH (Mapping European Seabed Habitats). The project provides seabed habitat information for the entire UK continental shelf area and uses the EUNIS (European Nature Information System) habitat classification system. The UK SeaMap for the Severn Estuary is presented in Figure 14. The study area largely constitutes habitats of shallow coarse and mixed sediments plains and shallow sand and mud plains. There is an area of aphotic rock to the north west of the study area. Unfortunately the UKSeaMap data does not distinguish the habitats types further up the Severn Estuary and classifies it simply as ‘Estuary’. The combined EUNIS MESH habitat mapping, which is also available for GIS, presents more detailed information including identification to biotope level. However, with over 200,000 different biotope records, analysing the data set has not been possible within the scope of this study.

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Figure 14: UK SeaMap seabed habitats (Source: UKSeaMap, 2010)

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4.2.2 Marine ecology The plant and animal communities present within the Severn Estuary are typical of those found in extreme physical conditions of strong flows, mobile sediments, changing salinity, high turbidity and heavy scouring. The result is low diversity invertebrate communities that frequently include populations of ragworms, lugworms and other invertebrates in high densities. These communities form an important food source for many species including passage and wintering birds. The impoverished benthic fauna means that the fish productivity of the estuary is primarily dependent upon hyperbenthic species and mobile (and predominantly intertidal) crustacea including mysids and amphipods, and the brown shrimp (Henderson & Holmes, 1989 as cited in EDF Energy, 2010). Few fish complete their entire life cycle in the Estuary. Rather, most marine species exploit the estuarine conditions as juveniles, moving in and out of the Estuary seasonally in response to limitations of low temperature and salinity in the latter part of winter. Whilst in some UK estuaries, the benefit of this behaviour may be a combination of food availability and energetic advantage, food availability is a less likely benefit in the Severn although the very high turbidity levels may limit predation. The variable chemical and physical conditions prevalent in the Estuary, combined with low levels of small zooplankton required by larval fish, render it unsuitable for growth. Post-juvenile fish thus migrate offshore to waters with more stable physico-chemical conditions and a greater abundance of planktonic prey. On maturation, many fish move offshore. Eggs and larvae are then flushed back into the estuary via tidal movements in the summer and autumn, although some post- larval fish such as sprat and transparent goby may enter in early spring. Further details of the marine ecology of the Severn Estuary can be found in comprehensive Environmental Statements completed for a number of developments including:  Severn Tidal Power (2010)  Hinkley Point C (EDF Energy, 2010)  Bristol Deep Sea Container Terminal (Royal Haskoning, 2008)

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5 Conclusions

5.1 Gap analysis In considering how the information and analysis which is either presented here or known to be available, may compare with the level of information and analysis that may be required by the IFCA to carry out it tasks, it is first important to consider the data requirements for best practise in fisheries management. As discussed earlier in the report, many of the commercial marine species are managed at an EU level, with management scaled at the level of 1 or typically many large ICES areas and divisions (as opposed to the small ICES statistical squares used in the analysis presented in chapter 2), with stock assessment advice provided by ICES, at a similarly large scale. The regulatory requirements for vessels operating in the Severn Estuary targeting these species are therefore typically determined at a high level through TACs and other restrictions on gear, effort and landing sizes etc. Even for these species whose status may be assessed at a much greater scale and where management decisions are taken in Brussels, there is still a strong case for maintaining appropriately robust and comprehensive local information as part of routine fishery monitoring and control operations. However, many other species occurring in the Severn Estuary may not be subject to either ICES stock assessment or anything other than very generic EU management measures. For these species there is greater scope, and arguably greater requirement for local management initiatives to be taken to safeguard local populations, and ensure a sustainable resource remains available to local fisheries. Prior to making stock assessment estimates, it is important to refer to the geographic range of the species. If a population is only in the estuary for a short part of its lifecycle, then local stock assessment and management actions are likely to be compromised, and therefore both assessment and management must be done is conjunction with the scientists and management authorities in the other jurisdictions where the fish occur. However, where populations are geographically restricted, or the majority of their life cycle is in the study region and there is reason to assume that local management measures would produce a response in the local population, then there is every reason to introduce information collecting measures to support the scientific estimation of stock status and the implementation of more effective management. It should also be noted that at the point of introduction of management, particularly where an estimate of stock status is required, a historical data set is often invaluable. For this reason there is justification in recording relevant data even in advance of wishing to take management action. Below are some of the main areas of information that may be appropriate to inform the work of the new IFCA. Not all of the data collection requirements will fall to the IFCA, with some areas of responsibility lying with MMO or CEFAS, however from an IFCA perspective there is value in considering where information collection responsibilities lie, and whether there is merit in augmenting local routine data collection operations in order to facilitate local management action.

5.1.1 Stock status  Landings statistics: over 10m; under 10m and; recreational  Discard statistics (commercial and recreational)  Other sources of mortality (IUU, incidental)  Biological sampling data – length frequency, size / weight ratio, genetic etc  Egg survey data  Larval data  Environmental data (that may affect fish populations – temperature, salinity, turbidity, nutrient levels, planktonic assemblages)

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5.1.2 Fishing effort  Commercial Fleet Data o Number of vessels over 10m o Number of Vessels under 10m o Estimate of effort (days at sea) o Gear characteristics  Recreational Fleet data o Number of resident recreational anglers o Number of visiting recreational anglers o Typical level of activity for both resident & visitors

5.1.3 Environmental interactions  Habitat: o Distribution & changes over time o Location of key vulnerable habitats o Role of key habitats in supporting other ecosystem components (e.g wading birds) o Key spawning / nursery grounds o Impacts of gear on habitats  Endangered, threatened and protected species o Presence of such species in the IFCA area o Direct effects (both actual and potential) of fishing o Indirect effects (both actual and potential) of fishing (e.g. lost gear).  Information to improve ecosystem modelling to support ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management: o Trophic relationships and food web dynamics.

5.1.4 Supporting management information  Information on levels of enforcement & control and record of infringements.  Socio-economic profile of commercial fleet o Number of active fishermen o Number of part time fishermen o Costs and earning per fleet sector o Downstream multipliers (value to the local economy)  Socio-economic profiling of recreational sector o Number of resident anglers o Number of visiting anglers o Level of activity o Downstream multipliers (value to the local economy)  Representative structures  Key contacts of representative bodies for commercial and recreational fishing.  Clear understanding of consultation mechanisms, including for outreach to both commercial and recreational anglers who may not be affiliated with an association or club.  Key contacts with other stakeholders, including NGOs  Information to support management review & evaluation o IFCA management objectives should be assessed against pre-determined performance indicators that are well defined and measurable. Information to enable this should also be routinely collected.

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5.2 Summary of findings In conclusion, this study has been able to draw upon a diverse range of information which could be used to inform the management role of the IFCA in the Severn Estuary. There is good understanding of the ecology and biodiversity of the region, taken from specific local studies. In relation to fisheries, the information is more based upon interpretation of national statistics, corroborated by local anecdotal information (in the case of commercial fisheries), or based almost on entirely anecdotal assessment, corroborated by some local, non-comprehensive statistics (in the case of recreational fisheries). The exact actions that should be taken by the IFCA or other relevant bodies in addressing information and analysis needs will depend on management priorities; both from a local and national perspective. It is beyond the remit of this study to propose an action plan for addressing information or analytical gaps as this is essentially a strategic and to a certain extent, policy -driven decision. That said, the gap analysis does highlight some areas where there is obvious potential to improve upon the level of information, understanding and analysis to support the work of the IFCA in their new boundaries. Clearly not all of the responsibility for carrying out this work lies with the IFCA, but it is certainly important that the IFCA is fully aware of information or analysis, that may support fisheries management decisions, but that exists within the jurisdiction of other statutory bodies. At the outset of the new IFCA boundaries, it will be of considerable value to carry out a rigorous baseline / ground-truthing exercise, focusing on the information gaps highlighted in the gap analysis. IFCA staff members and in particular patrol vessel crew have exceptional understanding of local fishery characteristics, patterns and behavioural trends. Inevitably it will take some time for this level of knowledge to be the same within the extended boundaries. Prioritising mapping of effort and fishery characteristics (beyond the level of detail shown by simple analysis of available data) should likely therefore be a priority. The more this can be done in a quantitative form, the greater the potential value of the information to guide management decisions, particularly where this ‘baseline’ is updated over time to show changing trends and monitor responses to management action. Overall, the picture of the fishery in the Severn district shows relatively minor importance of commercial fisheries in the study region (compared with say the fishery in the old Devon SFC boundary), both in terms of employment and value to the local economy. Much of the commercial fisheries in the region are landed outside the region. However, it is important to note that the IFCA still have responsibility to manage fishing activity (and vessels must comply with IFCA byelaws), even where it is not landed in their district. From the Severn crossings to the furthest tidal extent of the estuary, the study has not found evidence of any commercial fishing activity (targeting marine species) although some of the licence holders for the seasonal fishery on migratory species may catch and sell marine species to local supply chains, although this is not captured in any data. The Severn Estuary study area does appear to be relatively important in a national context for recreational Sea Angling, although perhaps less so that neighbouring counties of Devon & Cornwall. Comparing the value of commercial and recreational angling to the regional economy is a notoriously difficult exercise and should be done with caution, and ideally based on locally specific information. This report does estimate a figure for the value of recreational angling to the area (extrapolated from a figure for the South West) but no such equivalent figure is available for commercial fishing in the area (other than value of landings, which does not take into account upstream and downstream multipliers). However, it is clear that where fleets are based outside the region, and catches are landed outside the region, then there is likely to be less economic value captured locally.

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Appendix 1 Bibliography

A comprehensive bibliography is provided below. These reference sources organised by topic have also been provided as a separate MS Excel File. In addition, where available, all papers and sources have been provided in a separate project resource CD.

ASERA, 2004. Severn Estuary European Marine Site Management Scheme ASERA, 2010. ASERA Implementation Officer Work Programme for the Severn Estuary Management Scheme ASERA, 2010. Severn Estuary European Marine Site Communications Strategy 2007 – 2010 Atkins, 2009. Severn Estuary Shoreline Management Plan Review (SMP2) and Flood Risk Management Strategy (FRMS). SEA Scoping Report Barker, N., 2008. Severn Estuary Partnership Annual Report & Action Plan 2008-09 BCFSA Specimen Catches Database (2006 - 2010) - MS excel file. Bird, D.J. and L. C. Newton, 2009. The Fish Assemblage of the Severn Estuary & Bristol Channel School of Life Sciences University of the West of England, Bristol Bristol Channel Angling The Handbook 2011 Bristol City Council, 2008. Biodiversity Action Plan Burton,N.H.K., A.J. Musgrove, M.M. Rehfisch, N.A. Clark, 2010. Birds of the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel: Their current status and key environmental issues. Marine Pollution Bulletin 61 (2010) 115–123 Cefas, 2008. Radiological Habits Survey: Berkeley and Oldbury, 2007 Cefas, 2011. Spawning and nursery areas of fish of commercial and conservation importance Coull, K.A., Johnstone, R., and S.I. Rogers. 1998. Fisheries Sensitivity Maps in British Waters. Published and distributed by UKOOA Ltd Council Regulation (EU) No 23/2010 of 14 January 2010 fixing for 2010 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in EU waters and, for EU vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required and amending Regulations (EC) No 1359/2008, (EC) No 754/2009, (EC) No 1226/2009 and (EC) No 1287/2009 Crowther, S., Dickson, A. And Truscoe, K. 2008. Severn Estuary Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Crundwell, C., 2010 Management of eels and elvers in the Severn estuary Presentation given to Association of Severn Estuary Relevant Authoritiies Annual General Meeting David Tyldesley and Associates and Browne Jacobson, 2000. Extent of Local Authority Jurisdiction in the Marine Environment Report to European Wildlife Division Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions DECC, Welsh Assembly Government and South West Development Agency, 2010. Imapct Assessment: Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study- Phase 2 DECC, Welsh Assembly Government and South West Development Agency, 2010. Severn Todal Power Commercial Assessment

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DECC, Welsh Assembly Government and South West Development Agency, 2010. Severn Todal Power Commercial Assessment Legal Review DECC, Welsh Assembly Government and South West Development Agency, 2010. Severn Todal Power Feasibility Study Conclusions and Summary Report Defra, 2009. Impact Assessment for the establishing Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authority Districts Boundaries Defra, 2009. Proposed Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) Defra, 2010. Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities: vision, success criteria and high-level objectives Defra, 2011. Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs). Available at: http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/environment/marine/wwo/ifca/ Devon Sea Fisheries Committee, 2009. Byelaws. Available at: http://www.devonsfc.co.uk/byelaw.html Drew Associates, 2004 (Crabtree et al. 2004). Research into the economic contribution of sea angling. Final report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 71 pp. plus 7 Annexes. EDF Energy, 2010. Hinkley Point C Pre-Application Consultation Appendicies A.1 Environmental Status Report EDF Energy, 2010. Hinkley Point C Pre-Application Consultation Stage 2: Environmental Appraisal Volume 2: Chapter 19 Marine Ecology EDF Energy, 2010. Hinkley Point C Pre-Application Consultation Stage 2: Environmental Appraisal Volume 2: Chapter 19 Marine Ecology eftec, 2010. Economic Valuation of the Effect of the Shortlisted Tidal Options on the Ecosystem Services of the Severn Estuary SUMMARY REPORT Submitted to Department of Energy and Climate Change EkoGen (2010). The State of the Somerset Economy; An Economic Profile Ekos & Nautilus (2003). Socio-Economic Baseline Study of the South WestFishing Industry. For PESCA. English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - Appendix I List of Relevant Authorities English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - Appendix II Location maps of the Severn Estuary SPA English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - Appendix III Map showing supporting habitats of the Severn Estuary SPA European marine site for Bewick’s swans and European white fronted geese. English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - Appendix IV Maps showing supporting habitats of the Severn Estuary SPA European marine site English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - Appendix V Map showing the mean number of all waterfowl species recorded in the winters of 1987/88 to 1991/92 from BTO low tide count data across the Severn Estuary SPA

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English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - Appendix VI Map showing the mean number of all waterfowl species recorded in the winter of 2002/03 from BTO low tide count data across the Severn Estuary SPA English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - Consultation Response Form Severn Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) Reg 33 Advice Package Consultation by English Nature/Countryside Council for Wales Summary Response Table English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, 2005. The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area European Marine Site - English Nature & the Countryside Council for Wales’ advice for the Severn Estuary Special Protection Area given under Regulation 33(2) of the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 Englsih Nature, 1997. Severn Estuary Natural Area Profile Environment Agency, 2011. Severn Estuary Flood Risk Management Strategy Strategic Environmental Assessment Report Frost, N. Undated. Presentation on The Severn Estuary Coastal Habitat Management Plan Gloucestershire County Council. 2000. Biodiversity Action Plan Henderson, P.A. and D.J. Bird, 2010. Fish and macro-crustacean communities and their dynamics in the Severn Estuary. Marine Pollution Bulletin 61 (2010) 100–114 Herefordshire councl 2008 Habitat regualtions assessment ICES, 2008. Advice Book 5.4.39 Demersal elasmobranchs in the Celtic Seas (ICES Areas VI, VIIa c, e k) ICES, 2010. Adice Book 5.4.13 Advice June 2010 ECOREGION Celtic Sea and West of Scotland STOCK Sole in Divisions VIIf,g (Celtic Sea) Invest in Fish South West (2005). The Motivation, Demographics and Views of South West Recreational Sea Anglers and their Socio-economic Impact on the Region JNCC, 1995. Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands; Severn Estuary JNCC, 2006. Natura 2000 Standard Data Form Severn Estuary SPA JNCC, 2011 Severn Estuary SPA http://www.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2066 JNCC, 2011. Environmentally Sensitive Areas. ESRI shapefiles JNCC, 2011. Local Nature Reserves. ESRI shapefiles JNCC, 2011. Marine Special Areas of Conservation. ESRI shapefiles JNCC, 2011. Marine Special Protected Areas. ESRI shapefiles JNCC, 2011. National Nature Reserves. ESRI shapefiles JNCC, 2011. Ramsar Sites. ESRI shapefiles JNCC, 2011. Severn Estuary SAC http://www.jncc.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0013030 JNCC, 2011. Special Sites of Scientific Interest. ESRI shapefiles Langston, W.J., B.S. Chesman, G.R. Burt, S. J. Hawkins, J. Readman and P. Worsfold. Site Characterisation of the South West European Marine Sites Severn Estuary pSAC, SPA.

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Marine Management Organisation (MMO), 2011. Landing Statisitcs for ICES rectangles 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 detailing year (2006-2010), month, vessel nationality, port of landing, gear, vesel length category, species, volume and value Marine Management Organisation (MMO), 2011. The United Kingdom fishing vessel list (excluding islands) as at 1 February 2011. Contains registered and licensed vessels of over 10 metres overall length Marine Management Organisation (MMO), 2011. The United Kingdom fishing vessel list (excluding islands) as at 1 February 2011. Contains registered and licensed vessels of 10 metres and under overall length Natural England and Countryside Council for Wales, 2009. The Severn Estuary / Môr Hafren European Marine Site comprising : The Severn Estuary / Môr Hafren Special Area of Conservation (SAC) The Severn Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) The Severn Estuary / Môr Hafren Ramsar Site Natural England & the Countryside Council for Wales’ advice given under Regulation 33(2)(a) of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, as amended. Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales and Welsh Assembly Governemnt, 2009. Appendix 1 Map showing the extent and relationship of the Severn Estuary SAC, SPA and Ramsar Site North Somerset Council, 2005. Biodiversity Action Plan - Action for Nature Ordnance Survey, 2009. Boundary-Line User guide and technical specification Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2008. Severn Todal Power SEA Topic Paper Migratory and Estuarine Fish Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Severn Tidal Power - Sea Environmental Report Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Severn Todal Power Feasibility Study Report to Inform a Stage 1 (Screening) Habitats Regulations Assessment Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Severn Todal Power Feasibility Study Report to Inform a Stage 2 (Appropriate Assessment) Habitats Regulations Assessment Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Severn Todal Power SEA Topic Paper Freshwater Environment and Associated Interfaces Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Severn Todal Power SEA Topic Paper Migratory and Estuarine Fish Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Severn Todal Power SEA Topic Paper Other Sea Users Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Severn Todal Power SEA Topic Paper Waterbirds. Prepared in association with Black and Veatch Limited and the British Trust for Ornithology Parsons Brinckerhoff, 2010. Strategic Environmental Assessment of Proposals For Tidal Power Development In The Severn Estuary Options Definition Report Pawson, M.G., G.D. Pickett and P. Walker, 2002. The Coastal Fisheries of England and Wales, Part IV: A Review of Their Status 1999-2001. Science Series Technical Report Number 116 For Cefas Royal Haskoning, 2008. Bristol Deep Sea Container Terminal ; Environmental Statement: Chapter 13 Fisheries Royal Haskoning, 2008. Bristol Deep Sea Container Terminal: Environmental Statement: Non Technical Summary RSPB, 2011. Bird Guide by name. Available at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/index.aspx Sedgemoor District Council, 2008. Local Biodiversity Action Plan

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Severn Estuary Partnership, 2001. Strategy for the Severn Estuary Severn Estuary Partnership, 2006. The habitats and species of the Severn Estuary: a basic introduction for developers and decision makers Severn Estuary Partnership, undated. An Angle on Angling. Available at:http://www.severnestuary.net/sep/pdfs/an%20angle%20on%20angling.pdf Severn Estuary Partnership, undated. Fisheries. Available at: http://www.severnestuary.net/sep/pdfs/jir11.pdf Somerset Biodiversity Partnership, 2008. West Somerset Coastal and Marine Habitat Action Plan South Gloucestershire Council, 2008. Local Biodiversity Action Plan South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee, 2009. Byelaws. Available at: http://www.swsfc.org.uk/home.htm South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee, 2009. Indicative Fishing Activity Intertidal netting South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee, 2009. Indicative Fishing Activity Static Gear - pots South Wales SFC, 1997. Fishing Intensity Maps: Bristol Channel general fishing areas Symes, D and S. Boyes, 2005. Review of Fisherie Management Regimes and Relevant Legislation in UK Waters. Report to: Countryside Council for Wales, Englsih nature and Scottish Natural Heritage. Report by: Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies University of Hull. Walmsley S.A. and Pawson, M.G., 2007. The coastal fisheries of England and Wales, Part V: a review of their status 2005–6. Sci. Ser. Tech Rep., Cefas Lowestoft, 140: 83pp. Welsh Assembly Government, 2010. Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study Phase 2: Regional Economic Impacts Study. Produced on behalf of Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study Regional Workstream West Somerset Council, 2008. Biodiversity Action Plan WWF, 2009. Across the waters: Implementation of the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act and devolved marine legislation: cross-border case studies. The Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel

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Appendix 2 Maps and figures

Figure 15: Proportion of landings weight and value by vessel length of vessels under 10m, 10-20m, 20-30m and 30-40m

100% 6% 9% 90% 27% 24% 80% 23% 70% 68% 60% 30-40m 50% 20-30m 91% 40% 10-20m 73% 71% 76% 30% <10m

Proportion by live Proportionlive by weight 20% 32% 10% 0% 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

100% 4% 13% 13% 90% 18% 23% 80% 35% 70% 60% 30-40m 50% 20-30m 87% 87% 40% 82% 10-20m Proportionvalue by 73% 65% 30% <10m 20% 10% 0% 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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Figure 16: Proportion of live weight and value of landings by gear type in 2010

Live Weight Value

3% 8% 15%

20% 38% 40%

44% 32%

Otter trawls Pots Gillnets Hooks and lines

Figure 17: Seasonality of total landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by weight from 2006-2010 (MMO, 2011)

40

35

30

25 2006 2007 20 2008

15 2009 Live weight, Live tonnes 2010 10

5

0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

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Figure 18: Seasonality of landings from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by weight from 2008-2010 (MMO, 2011) Other 40 2008 Cod 35 Lobsters 30 Blonde Ray

25 Sole

20 Crabs (C.P.Mixed Sexes) 15 Plaice

Live weight, Live tonnes Mullet - Other 10 Bass 5 Skates and Rays 0 Whelks J F M A M J J A S O N D

25 Other 2009 Sole

20 Crabs (C.P.Mixed Sexes) Lobsters

15 Plaice

Mullet - Other 10

Thornback Ray Live weight, Live tonnes Blonde Ray 5 Bass

0 Skates and Rays J F M A M J J A S O N D Whelks

25 Other 2010 Plaice

20 Sole

Crabs (C.P.Mixed Sexes) 15 Lesser Spotted Dog

Lobsters 10

Blonde Ray Live weight, Live tonnes Bass 5 Small-eyed Ray

0 Thornback Ray J F M A M J J A S O N D Whelks

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Figure 19: Seasonality of key species from 31E6, 31E7 and 32E7 by weight from 2006-2010 (MMO, 2011)

'Skates & Rays' and Ray spp Bass 10 4.5 9 4 8 3.5 7 3 6 2.5 5 2 4

3 1.5 Live weight, Live tonnes Live weight, Live tonnes 2 1 1 0.5 0 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Lobster Whelk 1.8 35

1.6 30 1.4 25 1.2 1 20 0.8 15 0.6

10 Live weight, Live tonnes Live weight, Live tonnes 0.4 0.2 5 0 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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Table 9: Live weight landed from ICES rectangles 31E6, 31E6 and 32E7 by port from 2006-2010 (MMO, 2011)

Year Port 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Swansea 19.50 46.73 88.15 71.38 44.13 Porthcawl 16.85 21.37 22.49 26.94 28.78 Ilfracombe 7.17 19.91 1.97 7.40 14.09 Cardiff 1.49 2.02 0.49 0.96 Burry Port 0.30 0.59 Milford Haven 6.02 0.17 0.13 Port Talbot 0.04 0.09 Saundersfoot 27.43 2.61 0.03 Swanage 0.56 0.01 Appledore 0.39 Brixham 0.07 0.07 Clovelly 0.10 Fishguard 4.45 Lynmouth 0.02 0.59 0.46 Pwllheli 1.13 Salcombe 7.04 Workington 0.19 TOTAL 50.99 96.12 147.37 111.04 88.81

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Figure 20: Nursery grounds for species across Severn Estuary (Cefas, 2011)

Plaice Anglerfish

Sandeel Herring

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Sole Spotted ray

Thornback ray Tope shark

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Whiting

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Figure 21: Nursery grounds for species across Severn Estuary (Coull et al., 1998)

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Figure 22: Spawning grounds for species adjacent to Severn Estuary area (Cefas, 2011)

Cod Horse mackerel

Plaice Sole

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Sandeel

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Figure 23: Spawning grounds for species adjacent to Severn Estuary area (Coull et al., 1998)

Legend

Spawning_Sole Spawning_Whiting Spawning_Plaice Spawning_Lem_Sole Spawning_Nephrops Spawning_Sprat Spawning_Cod

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Table 10: Minimum sizes and specimen weight used in recreational angling (Bristol Channel Federation of Sea Anglers).

Minimum Size Specimen Size Boat Shore Boat Shore Species Kg or mm Kg or mm Kg Kg Angler 2.730kg 2.730kg 7.27 9.08 Bass 510mm 510mm 3.74 3.74 Bream Black/Gilt/Rays/Red 255mm 255mm 0.57 1.14 Brill 360mm 360mm 0.68 1.14 Bull Huss 660mm 610mm 4.77 6.13 Coalfish 360mm 360mm 1.02 1.02 Cod 460mm 385mm 5.45 7.27 Conger 4.550kg 915mm 8.1 13.6 Dab 205mm 205mm 0.46 0.46 Dogfish Lesser .Spotted 460mm 460mm 1.25 1.36 Flounder 255mm 255mm 1.02 1.02 Forkbeard 0.46 1.14 Garfish 460mm 460mm 0.51 0.68 Gurnard Grey 0.46 0.68 Gurnard Red 230mm 230mm 0.68 1.14 Gurnard Tub 230mm 230mm 0.8 1.82 Haddock 385mm 385mm 1.36 1.7 Hake 305mm 305mm 0.85 1.36 Halibut 2.270kg 2.270kg 4.09 4.09 John Dory 330mm 330mm 0.68 0.68 Lemon Sole 0.57 0.57 Ling 715mm 715mm 2.27 5.45 Lumpsucker 2.27 3.63 Mackerel 305mm 305mm 0.46 0.91 Monkfish 6.810kg 6.810kg 9.08 13.6 Mullet Golden 0.8 0.8 Mullet Thick Lipped 330mm 330mm 1.82 1.82 Mullet Thin Lipped 330mm 330mm 1.82 1.82 Mullet Red 230mm 230mm 0.46 0.46 Plaice 255mm 255mm 0.8 0.8 Pollack 385mm 385mm 1.48 5.45 Pouting 230mm 230mm 0.8 1.14 Ray Blonde 2.730kg 2.730kg 5.45 9.08 Ray Bottle Nose 2.730kg 2.730kg 6.81 16.35 Ray Cuckoo 1.365kg 1.365kg 1.25 1.46 Ray Eagle 2.730kg 2.730kg 4.54 12.6 Ray Electric 2.730kg 2.730kg 9.08 13.6 Ray Sandy .910kg .910kg 0.91 0.91 Ray Small Eyed 2.270kg 2.270kg 4.77 5.28 Ray Spotted 1.365kg 1.365kg 2.22 2.22 Ray Sting 2.730kg 2.730kg 6.81 11.35 Ray Thornback 2.730kg 2.730kg 5.9 7.04 Ray Undulate 2.730kg 2.730kg 3.18 3.18 Rockling Three Bearded 230mm 230mm 0.8 0.8 Rockling Shore 0.46 0.46 Scad 255mm 255mm 0.46 0.68 Shark Blue 13.620kg 13.620kg 18.16 28.15 Shark 13.620kg 13.620kg 18.16 68.1 Mako/Porbeagle/Thresher

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Silver Eel 510mm 510mm 1.02 1.02 Skate Common 3.405kg 3.405kg 6.81 22.7 Smoothound 510mm 510mm 4.54 7.04 Common/Starry Spurdog 585mm 585mm 2.44 5.34 Sole 305mm 305mm 0.97 0.97 Tadpole Fish 0.46 0.46 Tope (includes by formula) 9.080kg 9.080kg 12.71 14.53 Triggerfish 255mm 255mm 1.48 1.48 Turbot 410mm 410mm 0.97 1.82 Weaver Lesser/Greater 205mm 205mm Whiting 280mm 280mm 0.91 1.25 Wrasse Ballan 280mm 280mm 2.05 2.05 Wrasse Cuckoo 230mm 230mm 0.46 0.57 All Other Species 230mm 230mm

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Appendix 3 Gap analysis matrix

A Gap analysis matrix is provided as a separate MS Excel worksheet.

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