I attended a meeting of the new Marine Management Organisation yesterday. I was there representing the Angling Trust. At the meeting were representatives from the Marine & fisheries Agency, Department of Energy and Climate Change, North Tyneside Council, National Oceanography Centre, Northumberland County Council, Joint Nature Conservation, Marine Scotland, Severn Estuary Partnership, Scottish Fishermans Federation, North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee etc,. etc,.
The meeting was to discuss proposals for marine licensing for when the new management organisation comes into being which will be after the Queens approval and signature is put to the bill in November.
The meeting went on all day so I’m not going to bore you with everything that was discussed. The main office for the M.M.O. will be in Newcastle and will employ 240 staff, yes, that’s what I thought 240.!!!!!.
The organisation will have total control for what happens in the M.C.Zs. These haven’t been allocated yet, but there will be one along the N.E. coast.
There were suggestions made that licences may be brought into force for various activities in the M.C.Z.s e.g. diving, water sking, jet skiing and angling. But these were just suggestions, I don’t know if they will happen. There will be no netting of any kind allowed in these zones.
A discussion took place about the removal of some of the exemptions regarding various do’s and don’ts such as depositing waste into the sea. One of these laws we looked at I think might be of interest, it reads, “Deposit of any substance or article (otherwise than for the purpose of disposal) in the course of, for the pupose of, or in connection with, the propogation or cultivation of fish or shellfish. The legistlative origin of this exemption is Deposits In The Sea (Exemptions) Order 1985 3.11.
I don’t know whether this would apply to people putting tyres down for crabs, but it certainly suggests that to me.
If you want to have a look at the Organisation’s website it is Marine and Fisheries Agency.
I will keep you updated with any further information I receive.
