The proposed Dee Estuary Cockle Regulating Order, which is currently being considered by Welsh Ministers and the DEFRA Minister will, if approved, enable a sustainable, safe fishery that will boost the local economy as well as protecting wildlife.

This early call for interested parties is a move to accelerate the process should the Order be agreed by Assembly and Government ministers.

If the Order is made, the Agency expects to complete the allocation process in time for the fishery to open to 50 license-holders on September 1.

Alan Winstone, leading on the Order for Environment Agency Wales, said: “Even though the order has not yet been fully considered by ministers, we have started the application process early.

“This is because the process will take some weeks to complete and we have to make sure we issue the first licences properly. We want to make sure that, if the Order does get ministerial approval, we have everything in place to issue licences as swiftly as possible so the cockles can be harvested.”

The process for selecting successful licence applications will be subject to strict criteria. Each fisherman will have to demonstrate that they are a commercial cockle fisherman with a history of fishing the Dee Estuary.

The cost of each licence, which will be about £1,000 per year, will enable the Agency to cover the costs of regulating, managing and controlling cockle fishing on the Dee.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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