Whelk Fishery Permit Byelaw

On 18 January 2013 Kent and Essex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (KEIFCA) Members met and approved the making of a Whelk Fishery Permit Byelaw.

This Byelaw has now been agreed by the Secretary of State and will become law from 3 April 2013.

We will now be issuing two different types of permit:

A Category One permit which will allow the setting of a maximum of 300 pots. The fee for this permit will be £100 and the cost of the tags at 30p each.

A Category Two permit which will allow the setting of maximum of 10 pots. The fee for this permit will be £30 and the cost of the tags 30p each.

Payment of the fee can be made either by cash, BACs or cheque (details of how to pay are on the application form). If you wish to collect your permit then you should phone the office to arrange an appointment to come into either the offices in Ramsgate or Brightlingsea.

The permit and tags can be posted out to you but we will ask you to pay for the postage and packing which will cost you an additional £10.

The new Byelaw requires that you may need to make some adaptations to your gear. These are as follows:

All whelks within a catch must be graded for size. As part of this procedure all whelks must be passed over or through a riddle constructed of parallel bars with a minimum spacing between bars which a gauge of 22 millimetres will pass through.

The number of escape holes required on each pot is 2. They should be positioned at least 150mm from the base of the pot or no more than 50mm from the top of the pot; these should allow a gauge of 22 millimetres to pass through unobstructed

Each string or shank of pots must be marked by a floating buoy or dahn, of at least 30cm diameter, at each end. As well as the PLN number of the vessel (if relevant) each of the buoys or dahns must be clearly marked with the whelk permit number. We will provide you with tags to enable you to do this.

We are happy to speak to you to explain these requirements if you wish.

We will ask you to contact K&EIFCA officers when any necessary adaptations have been made in order that they can carry out a compliance inspection.

We intend to hold a meeting with all our stakeholders in December 2013 to discuss any issues you may have so that we can then take any suggestions or concerns to the meeting of the full Authority in January 2014 when the current management measures will be reviewed. We will update the website nearer the time to let you know where and when this will be held.

To view a copy of the new Byelaw please click here

To view a copy of the Technical Requirements please click here

For a Category One permit application, click here

For a Category One nominated permit application, click here

For a Category Two permit application, click here

For a Category Two nominated permit application, click here

Application forms can either be posted to:

Kent & Essex IFCA
Paragon House
Albert Street
Ramsgate
Kent
CT11 9HD

or emailed to info@kentandessex-ifca.gov.uk

Please do not send cash through the post.