PROPOSED conservation zones off the coast of west Cornwall have been slammed as a threat to fishermen's livelihoods.
The latest plans for protected marine areas unveiled this week indicate that Mount's Bay, Land's End and Cape Bank, the Isles of Scilly, and St Ives Bay could all be within the Marine Conservation Zones, which would restrict activities at sea that could damage fragile eco-systems.
Finding Sanctuary, the project for the South West made up of bodies including Defra and Natural England, says the proposals have been put together by "a wide-ranging panel of sea users" to create a network to protect the marine biodiversity in the region, including rare and threatened underwater habitats.
But the zones, which will be set out by the end of 2012 after public consultation, have sparked concerns over their impact on the fishing industry.
In Mount's Bay, harbours at Mousehole, Newlyn, Penzance and St Michael's Mount would all be affected by the seafloor protection ruling, while St Ives and Hayle could see water column conservation measures taken.
Paul Trebilcock, chief executive officer of the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation, which has a seat on the Finding Sanctuary project, said the process was "a very real threat to the livelihoods of many fishermen". He criticised the make-up of the steering group behind the plans, saying fishermen were under-represented.
"There are still no management measures – such as what fishing activity can or cannot continue – for the proposed areas, and we believe many of the assumptions made are fundamentally flawed," he told The Cornishman, adding that the process was being rushed without proper scientific evidence to back it up. The harbour-master at St Ives, Stephen Bassett, agreed that the lack of details on the plans was frustrating. "I am 100 per cent opposed to it at the moment," he said. "There is no way that I can back anything if I don't know what is going to be put in place."
Newlyn's harbour commission has registered its objection to the plans because the proposed zone covers an established dredge-dumping area. The bay is also used by vessels for anchoring – which could be banned – and questions have been raised over whether trawling, re-netting and placing shellfish pots would be axed.
Anchoring
"If Natural England say that there will be no fishing, anchoring or dumping, it could adversely affect the harbour," warned harbour-master Andrew Munson.
Newlyn harbour commissioner Kevin Bennetts said the zone would affect the port's fishermen. "Marine conservation zones are a very good idea in principle but to propose one in a bay when there are 50 to 60 small boats that rely on that bay for a living is crass," he said.
Andy Brigden, maritime manager at Cornwall Council, said: "A lot of harbour authorities already have legislation in place for what they are doing; we have environmental responsibilities. But it is not solely a conservation issue; they should be taking socio-economic factors into consideration as well."
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN