A legal geography of the right to fish in English coastal waters: The contribution of the public trust

Bean, Emma

Abstract

The health of oceanic fish stocks is a cause for concern. In UK waters, just under half of monitored stocks are being harvested at or beyond sustainable levels. This thesis seeks to identify the potential role for the legal doctrine of the public right to fish in targeting sustainable fishing. This right exists in English tidal waters, yet is relatively poorly understood even in legal scholarship, with technical issues such as the ownership of the right remaining unclear. Nonetheless, government has often stressed the importance of the public interest in fisheries management. It is therefore important to understand more deeply the exact legal nature of this interest, especially with respect to the implications for the powers and duties appertaining to those managing the interest.

This thesis uses a legal geography methodology to identify both how the public fishery is owned and what duties (if any) are attendant upon such ownership. Part of this challenge is squarely within the remit of black letter legal analysis, though this by itself is insufficient to address the research question. Empirically this research explores how the public fishery is understood and experienced in practice by key institutions and actors within the Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority. Through a novel synthesis of the legal and social dimensions of the IFCA, a critical legal geography of the public fishery and its potential links to sustainably fishing emerges.

This thesis demonstrates that there is a clear and coherent legal argument underpinning a legal view of the fishery as managed as a public trust. The public trust imposes duties on those responsible for managing the fishery to ensure that management decisions taken are for the wider public benefit (including future generations). In addition, the case study shows that those involved in the practice of fishing already identify this public interest in the fishery and the notion of balance in the use of fishery resources that it prompts. Furthermore, the legal geography of the public fishery identified the potential for a public trust interpretation of the fishery to continue the task of redistributing power within the fishery such that it takes account of the wider public interest including the interest in more sustainable development.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Sep 25, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 8, 2021
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6706313
• Award Date: Feb 8, 2021