New Byelaws have been passed to protect the humble cockle

The byelaws, applying to all of Cornwall's larger estuaries, are the result of over four years of negotiations between the Environment Agency, landowners including the Duchy of Cornwall, local and national fishermen, conservation bodies including VMCA and legal experts.

The five new byelaws, recently approved by DEFRA, will protect cockle stocks on the Camel, Helford, Fal, Fowey and Looe estuaries where only non-mechanical hand harvesting will be permitted. The legal minimum cockle size is now 20mm to protect stocks of the young shellfish.

Under the byelaws, the Environment Agency has powers to temporarily close cockle beds to harvesting if the stocks fall below critical levels. It also has powers to give permission for cockles to be collected for scientific purposes or to develop and improve local shellfish populations under special exemptions.

Cockles are an important natural resource that are a valuable source of food for estuary birds and humans. The new byelaws will help us ensure Cornwall's cockles are harvested sustainably so that present and future generations can enjoy them.

James Burke

Extract from HVMCA newsletter No.26 Spring 2003