Ancient fishing rights and modern uses of the sea: Are the two compatible?

Appleby, Thomas

Abstract

The Court of Appeal case of Isle of Anglesey CC v Welsh Ministers [2009] EWCA Civ 94 contains a hidden bombshell for those seeking to carry out marine development. Developers have traditionally needed a lease of the seabed and any relevant consents. The Isle of Anglesey case makes the point that not only is consent required for any development under any regulatory regime, specific statutory authority is also required to remove fishing rights. Fishing rights are exceptionally poorly understood, as generally in common law jurisdictions their ambit is defined by a collection of ancient court cases under the public right to fish. This paper explores the history and nature of fishing rights under the common law and finds that a coastal state’s entire marine area is often designated as a fishery, leaving developers with the difficult task of negotiating with the fishing industry before they commence their work. The paper then investigates the bases for compensation and points out the competing obligations on public bodies to avoid frustrating legitimate expectations of the fishing industry and the rules on illegal state aid. The paper then concludes that the whole approach to compensating fishermen in the United Kingdom may need to change as the use of UK waters diversify from oil and gas exploration to include less remunerative activities such as wind farming, recreation and marine conservation.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Management of Land and Sea Resources – What's New?
• Start Date: Jul 7, 2013
• End Date: Jul 10, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 7, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: crown, marine property, fish, possession, public right
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/929849
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy: Management of Land and Sea Resources – What's New?