Seafish: Fishing industry must become involved in WFD

The WFD has far-reaching implications for fisheries and aquaculture activities in freshwater, estuarine and coastal waters, yet so far, there has been little formal involvement from the fishing industry.

There are real concerns that the Directive may lead to new demands for regulation of fishing and aquaculture activities in areas deemed environmentally sensitive.

Marcus Jacklin of Seafish states: “The fishing industry cannot afford to be left out of this process. At a regional level, commercial sea fishing interests are represented on very few of the river basin liaison panels that have been set up. Representation at this level is vital to ensure that fishing interests are not overlooked when the management plans are being drawn up.”

Seafish says that the WFD is the most substantial piece of environmental legislation ever produced by the European Commission. It came into force in 2003 and requires that all inland and coastal waters out to one nautical mile in England and Wales and three nautical miles in Scotland will achieve ‘good environmental status’ by 2015.

The Directive will become the major driver for better water management in the UK and the other Member States for many years to come and will address a range of environmental impacts, including industrial effluent discharges, aggregate extraction and fishing activities.

Although the industry will benefit from a better environment, the WFD might create new controls for fishing and aquaculture, or not provide the same level of protection as the legislation it will replace.

There are already indications that commercial fishing activities in some sensitive inshore areas might not be consistent with the aims of the Directive, and restrictions might be needed in some areas.

Other issues include the possible lack of a microbiological standard in the WFD, which could put shellfish growing waters at risk when the Shellfish Waters Directive is repealed in 2013.

The WFD will be implemented on a regional basis, using a planning system based on river basins, watercourses and associated coastal areas. For each district, a River Basin Management Plan (RBMF) will be drawn up, which will include input from stakeholders. The plan will assess environmental information and identify the key issues within each area that will require management action.

Consultation on published documents listing the significant water management issues for each river basin district has been completed, and new management plans for each area, based on these documents, need to be finalised by 2009. Seafish is calling on fisheries stakeholders to become directly involved now.

To help ensure that fishing interests are not compromised, Seafish has produced a detailed technical briefing document on the Directive, which includes information and guidance on how fisheries stakeholders can engage in the consultation and implementation process, including contact details of the relevant bodies involved. This document can be accessed through the Seafish website www.seafish.org.uk and through the Seafish Business to Business website at www.seafish.org/b2b.

Also available on the Seafish Business to Business website is a summary of the WFD that provides a timetable highlighting key dates and the industry actions that need to be carried out within these deadlines. The summary can be found at www.seafish.org/b2b under ‘Resource sustainability and Environment / Seafish information’ pages.