Intertidal hand gathering of shellfish in Northern Ireland: A call for evidence

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Consultation opened on 09 June 2022. Closing date 01 September 2022.

Summary

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs have launched a public consultation and welcomes your views on the development of management measures for intertidal hand-gathering of shellfish in Northern Ireland. Intertidal hand gathering of shellfish is currently unregulated by DAERA and as a result, the Department holds limited information on the commercial scale of this fishery. DAERA has a duty to manage fishing within sustainable limits and ensure that it does not have detrimental impacts on marine protected areas (MPAs) and protected habitats and species. The aim of the consultation is to add to the limited information held by DAERA and improve the evidence base, allowing the Department to make better informed decisions when finalising the management measures.

Documents

Consultation - Covering letter
PDF (363 KB)
Consultation document - Intertidal shellfish gathering in Northern Ireland - A call for evidence
PDF (987 KB)
Strangford Lough periwinkle study
PDF (3.9 MB)
Habitats Regulation Assessment
PDF (1.8 MB)
Regulatory Impact Assessment
PDF (473 KB)
Rural needs impact assessment
PDF (593 KB)
Equality and Human Rights Screening
PDF (690 KB)

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Consultation description

This consultation outlines potential management measures that are intended to protect intertidal shellfish stocks from unsustainable exploitation and to provide protection for habitats and species that could be damaged or disturbed by intertidal shellfish gathering.  The Department is also making a call for evidence to inform the socio-economic impact assessments. There is a questionnaire which seeks respondents opinions on the potential measures and requests further information based on their knowledge and experience related to shellfish gathering.

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