Up Frenchman's creek: A case study on managing
commercial fishing in an English special area of
conservation and its implications

Solandt, Jean-Luc; Appleby, Thomas; Hoskin, Miles

Abstract

The Habitats Directive has matured over the years since it
has been implemented. One of the last industries to feel its
application is the commercial sea fishing industry: the
industry which according to the Royal Commission on
Environmental Pollution has the most direct effect on the
marine ecosystem. This article outlines one of the earliest
applications of the directive to commercial fishing in the
UK's Fal and Helford Special Area of Conservation (SAC),
where a national NGO brought pressure to bear on local and
national administrators over failure to implement the
directive in a European marine site. It goes on to describe
how different regulators took differing approaches to their
roles and how the lack of enforcement capacity of one
statutory nature conservation agency meant that the NGO
had to threaten a complaint to the European Commission
and potential infraction proceedings against the UK before
the European marine site was closed to damaging fishing
operations. It then explains how this test case has percolated into UK fisheries management around the UK, leading to the closure of damaging fisheries in Welsh marine sites, policy changes over the management of English sites and a growing debate over whether the proper application of the Directive and other European environmental legislation to marine fisheries is inevitable in the rest of the UK and the European Union. Commercial fishing will undoubtedly
continue in UK waters but it is likely that those fishing
methods which have a significant impact on the marine
environment will face an increasing burden of regulation
where they wish to continue to operate in marine protected
areas.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Journal: Environmental Law and Management
• Print ISSN: 1067-6058
• Publisher: Lawtext Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Pages: 133-139
• Keywords: fisheries, marine conservation, habitats directive, IFCA
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/940389
• Publisher URL: http://www.lawtext.com/lawtextweb/default.jsp?PageID=2