Calls for scallop ban extension

Fisheries experts have been monitoring scallop stock levels

Restrictions on fishing for scallops in Cardigan Bay could be extended amid concerns about dwindling stocks and the condition of the sea bed.

Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones has asked officials to lengthen a dredging exclusion zone from three to six nautical miles.

There has been no scallop fishing in the bay since June 2008 because of environmental concerns.

An annual dredging ban from June to December has been extended until May.

Concerns about fishing levels and damage to the sea bed caused by steel dredges used to net scallops have been raised in the past.

In March last year, an eight month, three-mile restriction zone was placed around an area off the Ceredigion coast between New Quay and Cardigan, measuring some 12 miles in length.

Then in May 2008, a ban on fishing for scallops along the entire length of Cardigan Bay was extended by a month from June to the end of December.

Elin Jones said: "I have become increasingly concerned about the level of scallop fishing within Cardigan Bay.

"I have already asked officials to work with the Countryside Council for Wales and industry representatives to determine whether the management of scallop fishing can be further improved.

"Today I have asked my officials to write to the North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee, who lead on fisheries management in the inshore region covering Cardigan Bay, to ask them to consider extending the area of their temporary scallop prohibition out to six nautical miles until the end of the season on 31 May."

Ms Jones has also asked officials to commission research into the sustainability of scallop fishing, which could lead to more effective controls.

The Welsh Assembly Government said 28 vessels were authorised to dredge for scallops in Cardigan Bay, 14 measure more than 15m in length.