People who have a fish pot licence can now use two traps thanks to an approved revision to the licensing rules – but they both have to be officially tagged.
The National Conservation Council agreed to update the National Conservation Council (Licence and Permit) Directives (2022 Revision) during its general meeting on 6 Dec.
Past regulations only allowed for two pots to be owned per household to stop people from using the fishing equipment for commercial activity.
But during the meeting, John Bothwell, National Conservation Council secretary, said it was a “very inefficient” restriction because it was hard to tell if people were part of a household.
Fish pots are specialised fishing gear designed to capture fish by luring them into an enclosed structure, allowing for efficient and targeted harvesting.
The Marine Conservation Act 2003 first required people to have a licence to possess a fish pot or to use one to take marine life.
The Marine Conservation Directives (2003 Revision) also said the Marine Conservation Board could “not grant a licence to any person to use more than two fish pots”.
The board at some point modified this to a limit of two pots per household, according to the agenda for the National Conservation Council meeting.
“The two-pot limit was to discourage the accumulation of multiple pot licences by a primary individual for the purpose of commercial fishing,” it read.
The National Conservation Council (Licence and Permit) Directives, 2016 (2022 Revision) eventually limited the possession of fish pots to a maximum of two per person per licence.
“This was not a change from the directives as written, but a relaxation from the practice of the Marine Conservation Board,” the meeting agenda said.
However, Department of Environment outreach material on fish-pot licensing referred to two licences per household.
The department said it has seen an “undocumented uptick” in people enquiring about licences, including for multiple pots, or multiple licences for commercial purposes.
“Some enforceable limit on the overuse of fish pots by individual fishers is therefore desirable, to prevent unsustainable fishing for commercial purposes,” the notes said.
Because of the increased interest, the council put together a new proposal to limit the possession and use of fish pots to two per person per licence.
It also says that the council will attach tags to all licensed fish pots and anyone caught using an unlicensed pot will be committing an offence.
Bothwell said, “This isn’t a significant change from the current and previous practice of people being able to get two fish pots, but not fish multiple loads of pots.
“However, this new system, we hope, is more enforceable and gives us a chance to clean up the directives.”
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