The public right to fish: Is it fit for purpose?

The comment: `we live on an island made of coalsurrounded by a sea full of fish, only an organisationalgenius could arrange a shortage of both at the sametime', is attributed to Aneurin Bevan. The RoyalCommission on Environmental Pollution, the EuropeanUnion, Downing Street3 and even this journal'seditor have highlighted the need for radical reformto stop over-fishing taking place in our seas. Inresponse, the UK Government has set aside time forlegislation in the form of a Marine Bill. Reform of thestructure of UK fisheries administration will play a keypart of that Bill.5 It is therefore timely to consider therole which the public right to fish plays in the currentlegal structure of fisheries, as it is an important oneand often overlooked by the commentators. Bylooking at its context, history and extent, this articlewill investigate whether there are mechanisms withincommon law to counter over-fishing or whether thepublic right itself needs to be reformed

Report into the establishment of marine protected areas in UK waters under existing legislation

The purpose of this report is to put into plain English the legal issues, which underlie the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs). Though there are numerous legal vehicles for regulating marine activities, the creation of closures for purely wildlife conservation purposes is a relatively novel concept. This novelty means that established regulatory bodies have to operate and take into consideration concepts concerning marine conservation, which were not in the past central to their brief. This raises the questions over a regulatory body’s ability to act and how it should react to the plethora of new legislation in this area. This report delineates the most appropriate bodies to develop MPAs and assesses whether have the powers to do so. It cannot claim to present an exhaustive list because of the numbers of regulatory bodies with marine powers. This report has attempted to identify those bodies with the most appropriate powers over marine activities

The crown's marine estate- A sovereign wealth fund?

A response to the Treasury Select Committee investigation of the management of the Crown Estate, focusing on the marine estate and highlighting the Crown Estate's stewardship responsibilitie

Fisheries law in action: An exploration of legal pathways to a better managed marine environment

This narrative addresses the issue of fisheries law, a specialist area combining aspects of international law, EU law, legislation from the UK and the devolved administrations and the common law. The research appraised and analysed marine fishing rights, the ownership of the UK marine fishery and the establishment of marine protected areas both under UK and aspects of EU law. The research adopted a doctrinal method triangulated via professional examples adopting aspects of action research.The scientific research, on which this research drew, established that there is a serious decline in UK fisheries and an urgent need to bring in measures to safeguard the fishery.The research found significant failings in the common law public right to fish, which designated the UK’s entire marine area as a fishery without apparent reasonable limitations as to use. It found that the absence of a stated public owner of the fishery with clear public duties makes it difficult to secure the public interest. It also highlighted the absence of clarity in the creation of derivative rights in the public fishery such as fishing quota, estimated in 1999 to be worth £1 billion. The research demonstrates the significant shortfall in the number of statutory marine protected areas created under the Marine Acts and raises concerns that these statutory measures could lead to paper parks with no active management measures. It shows the effectiveness of the application of the Habitats Directive to protect European marine sites and concludes that other European legislation could similarly be used to protect the marine environment from fisheries. It also found a lack of a coherent narrative relating to the mechanics and powers and duties of UK fisheries managers and concluded that there should be more comprehensive guidance on UK fisheries law, as the last comprehensive fishery texts date from the nineteenth century. The research recommends new Fisheries Acts to remedy some of the apparent defects in UK fisheries law

Brexit and the future of Scottish fisheries – key legal issues in a changing regulatory landscape

Brexit will overshadow the development of fisheries legislation for the next decade. The UK Government had developed no plan in the event of a “leave” vote for June’s advisory referendum and the months since the vote have been mired in politics and process as the Government and political parties attempt to formulate a strategy both within the UK and externally. The politics is beyond the scope of this article, but the legal process is of fundamental importance and will set the parameters for any political settlement. Nothing exemplifies this better than the case of R (ex parte Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. The Government had planned on using prerogative powers to trigger article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon in order to start the process of negotiating withdrawal from the EU, but the Supreme Court ruled that the prerogative does not extend to acts that result in a change to domestic UK law and that there was no statutory authority to trigger article 50, so enabling legislation will be required. At the same time, the Court acknowledged that arrangements for consultations between the devolved institutions and the UK institutions were of a political character and therefore the Scottish Parliament will not have a legal right to be consulted on future changes to the legal framework in the UK, let alone a veto on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. As we roll into the 'Great Repeal Bill' process, this delicate dance between the executive, the courts, Parliament and the devolved administrations is likely to be a constant

Case commentary - fishing quota: A very large squatting claim?

United Kingdom Association of Fish Producer Organisations vSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs[2013] This case was a judicial review over the reallocation of unused fishing quota from the from the larger to smaller scale operators. The larger operators sought to quash the decision on the grounds of legitimate expectation, interference with a possession under human rights law and discrimination. The claim was dismissed on all three grounds but the reasoning for the dismissal of the human rights claim potentially established fishing quota as a possession, before finding no interference as unused quota had no value. Since most quota in the UK is used this could require compensation to fishers if there are further adjustments

On the interpretation of lateral manganin gauge stress measurements in polymers

Encapsulated wire-element stress gauges enable changes in lateral stress during shock loading to be directly monitored. However, there is substantial debate with regards to interpretation of observed changes in stress behind the shock front; a phenomenon attributed both to changes in material strength and shock- dispersion within the gauge-encapsulation. Here, a pair of novel techniques which both modify or remove the embedding medium where such stress gauges are placed within target materials have been used to try and inform this debate. The behavior of three polymeric materials of differing complexity was considered, namely polystyrene, the commercially important resin transfer moulding RTM 6 resin and a commercially available fat lard. Comparison to the response of embedded gauges has suggested a possible slight decrease in the absolute magnitude of stress. However, changing the encapsulation has no detectable effect on the gradient behind the shock in such polymeric systems

Assessing the significance of the economic impact of Marine Conservation Zones in the Irish Sea upon the fisheries sector and regional economy in Northern Ireland

This paper highlights the tension between advocacy for ‘Blue growth’ in maritime policy and efforts to safeguard future economic growth via the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. In 2015, policy-makers withdrew three of four proposed Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in the Irish Sea from consideration for designation, due to concerns that they could significantly impact on the fisheries sector in Northern Ireland because they overlap with prawn fishing grounds in the Irish Sea. Although research has quantified the potential impact upon fishing vessels, none has quantified the impact upon the fisheries sector nor assessed the significance of this impact. Arguably, MCZ designations (or lack thereof) based on the ‘significance’ of an impact require robust underpinning evidence. This paper reports the findings of an Economic Impact Assessment, which has quantified the impact of a decline in landings upon the Northern Ireland fisheries sector and regional economy (data which is currently absent from the evidence base for the MCZ designation process in England). It finds that this will incur job losses in three fishing ports in Northern Ireland, but is unlikely to have a significant impact upon Northern Ireland's fisheries sector and regional economy in terms of jobs and Gross Value Added (GVA). In the worst case, the resulting economic impact is a decrease of £1.05–1.12 m/year GVA in Northern Ireland, which is 1.1% of the contribution of fishing and fish processing to the regional economy. Economic significance assessments, using this methodology, may be useful in supporting the evidence base underpinning MCZ designation and other aspects of marine planning

Minimising unsustainable yield: Ten failing European fisheries

Ten European fish stocks recognised by the European Union as "outside safe biological limits" are considered in light of widespread reforms to fisheries legislation in 2013, particularly the legal responsibility to exploit these resources sustainably. Given that some of these stocks are - as of 2013 - fished at over 150% the recommended intensity and many have been outside of these limits for the entirety of their assessment history, the utilisation of traditional fisheries management measures of sustainability are questioned and tougher approaches such as "zero-catch" and long-term, expansive spatial closure scenarios are considered. Finally, the pervasive issue of data-deficiency (the status of 54% of European stocks) is briefly considered, with specific reference to the understudied West of Scotland and North Sea stock of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). © 2014 Elsevier Ltd