Sussex Inshore Fisheries And Conservation Authority | Public Notice

Notice is hereby given that Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority intends to apply to the Minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to revoke the ‘Fixed Engine Byelaw 2010’ and to confirm the ‘Netting Permit Byelaw 2019’.

The Netting Permit Byelaw 2019 establishes a permit based management system for both commercial and recreational netters within the Sussex District. Under permit conditions, a year-round minimum 1.5 metre distance from the headline to the surface is introduced, along with prohibition boxes around river mouths and harbours, controls on the buoyage/marking of nets and it also introduces regulatory controls for recreational netting.

In September 2019, the Authority invited stakeholders to participate in a statutory formal consultation on the proposed management measures within the Netting Permit Byelaw 2019. In response to this consultation, significant information was received by the Authority from the inshore commercial fishers indicating a disproportionate impact that elements of the Byelaw and the Flexible Permit Conditions could have on inshore fisheries. These objections resulted in amendments to the proposed Byelaw before its approval by the Authority and submission for confirmation in 2020. In 2023 Defra advised the Sussex IFCA to reconsult on those amendments made after the original consultation process. All stakeholders will thereby be given the opportunity to comment on the amendments.

Notice is hereby provided that a second, formal consultation is proposed by the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, to allow stakeholders to consider and respond to those Netting Permit Byelaw 2019 amendments made after the first consultation in 2019.

The full amended Byelaw and Flexible Permit Conditions with regulatory notice, impact assessment and information on the formal consultation process can be found here: https://www.sussex-ifca.gov.uk/live-consultations

Any person wishing to comment; object or approve on the confirmation of the amended byelaw must make representations in writing by 27th June 2024 to:

Marine Conservation and Enforcement Team, Marine Management Organisation, Lancaster House, Hampshire Court, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE4 7YH. Email: ifcabyelaws@ marinemanagement.org.uk

Also please send a copy of this representation marked ‘Netting Permit Byelaw Consultation’ to the Sussex IFCA, 12a Riverside Business Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 6RE. Email: admin@sussex-ifca.gov.uk

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