Fisheries committee holds last meeting after 121 years

The first committee met in 1890. It had just one chief fishery officer who visited various ports in the district by train, and was responsible in 1893 for overseeing 1,840 vessels which provided employment for over 10,000 men.

Made up of 11 coastal authorities led by East Riding Council, the NESFC has 15 fishery officers, who manage and enforce over twenty fisheries byelaws conserving stocks of lobsters, edible crabs, cockles, mussels and sea bass.

Every year around 20 fishermen are taken to court for infringements of regulations and byelaws, primarily landing under-sized shellfish.

As a result of the Marine & Coastal Access Act 2009, the NESFC is now being replaced by the North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.

Chief fishery officer David McCandless said there was a high level of compliance on the Yorkshire coast – not so further north, from the Tees to the Tyne, where large quantities of undersized lobsters were landed. He said the future would be focused increasingly on environmental work with the emphasis on knowing exactly which areas of the seabed were sensitive environmentally.

He said: “The introduction of Marine Conservation zones is the next big thing.

“Some will be no take zones, others will protect certain habitats and that means we’ll have to significantly improve our knowledge and understanding of marine habitats locally.”

Their £1.5m patrol boat North Eastern Guardian 111 has acoustic systems on board which can map different types of seabed as well as a remotely operated vehicle, which is used to take pictures or samples of seabed.

Mr McCandless said: “ A good proportion of sea-time will in future be taken up with research activity. We need to know exactly what there is there to avoid blanket bans. The last thing we want to see is huge areas where activities are totally prohibited.”