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Topic Groups, Fishing and Aquaculture

The port of Milford Haven has been the centre of Pembrokeshire's fishing industry since the 17 th century. In its heyday it was home to Britain 's fifth largest fishing fleet, comprising 130 vessels and work for 4000 people. However, the UK industry has been in decline since the war, and the annual catch at Milford Haven has dropped from the high of 58,000 tonnes in 1946, to around 6,000 tonnes currently (Milford Docks Company records.)

Pembrokeshire also has an important inshore fishing sector. In 1999, the annual shellfish catch in the county had a first sale value of over £1.6 million, with 95% of the South Wales catch for lobster/brown crab being landed in Pembrokeshire. This is also considered to add to the diversity and culture of coastal communities.

Aquaculture is slow to develop in Pembrokeshire, although there is considerable potential for aquaculture and mariculture activities both in the coastal zone and inland.

A few of the issues identified at the topic group meetings on this subject were:

• Some forms of commercial fishing can have significant environmental impacts including disturbance of, or damage to, substrates and their associated communities; entrapment of non-target species.
• Depletion of stocks of fish and shellfish through over-fishing and other means reduces biodiversity and affects ecological balances.
• There is inadequate funding support for the development of large aquaculture enterprises in Pembrokeshire.

This Topic Group was chaired by Stephen Thomson of the fish farm, Haven Harvest. To download a full report on this subject in PDF format, including all the issues identified at the meetings, click here. If you would like the document in Welsh, please contact Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum on 01646 696174.

PLEASE NOTE THESE PAPERS WILL NEED REGULAR UPDATING TO REFLECT CHANGES TAKING PLACE AND THE EMERGENCE OF NEW INFORMATION SO ANY FEEDBACK ON THEIR CONTENT IS WELCOMED.