Solway Cockle Fishery Management Study

5. The Management Study

The Scottish Government's vision is for a sustainable, safe, controlled and locally managed cockle fishery in the Scottish Solway Firth which brings longer term employment, local benefits and a high quality, safe, food product to market. Table 1 outlines the overarching objectives for the fishery in the Solway.

Table 1: Key program goals

To explore how this could best be achieved, MS put out to tender a management study which required a partner to commercially harvest cockles and assist MS in trialling a management regime that was capable of meeting the overarching goals outlined in table 1. Thisstudyproposed to test some of the internal practises outlined by the TURF system as well as a centralised distribution centre (explained in detail below) to improve compliance and food traceability. The successful contractor would assist in the delivery of the management study in exchange for a commercial volume of cockles (known as a concession contract which allows the contractor to benefit from the sale of the harvested product). In line with procurement rules, the invitation to tender was posted in the European Journal, which advertised the project at a European scale because the potential value of the contract exceeded £113,000 (€120,000).

5.1 Requirements for Testing under the Management Study

The tender offered the opportunity to extract a commercial volume of cockles whilst testing a range of mechanisms practised under the TURF model to reduce rent dissipation and unsustainable practises. For this management study no restrictions were mandated by MS except the method of collection which was limited to hand collection ^[2] , an upper limit on removals i.e. a TAC and the need for a central distribution centre. Tenderers were expected to outline how they planned to manage the internal running of the contract and what type of approaches they would use to meet the criteria outlined in table 1. The main objective for taking this approach was to gather practical ideas from experienced fishers and other key stakeholders to explore the running for the fishery and not 'rule out' any innovative ideas to improve on current/future cockle management. The four sections below outline the key requirements which applicants needed to fulfil.

5.1.1 Safe and Controlled Extraction of Cockles on the Beach

The health and safety of all pickers was the primary concern, so key criteria for bidders were: the controlled movement of pickers on and off the beach; planned collection with local authorities informed; and training opportunities for increasing knowledge of the area (trial of the Solway Shore Awareness course). As the controlled and safe removal of cockles is a key consideration, the mechanisms and capacity within the management team to harvest only cockles designated for collection (no removal of under sized, from closed beds etc.) needed to be explained and a formal risk assessment was required. Communication with all enforcement agencies on a daily basis was also required and bidders were asked to detail how they proposed to achieve this.

5.1.2 Transportation between Beach and Collection Point

The documented and transparent movement of cockles from different locations was required to record fishing activity and allow for full traceability of the cockles for the food agencies. This included the full, transparent documentation and administration (detailed record keeping) of cockles collected by each picker or cockle team on the beach, the transportation from the beach to a beach-side collection point and the loading and storage of cockles (safe and hygienic) prior to final transportation to the distribution point. Communication between pickers and affected local communities was required to address the local concerns raised in earlier episodes of cockle collection and how this was to be achieved needed to be outlined in the tender.

5.1.3 Fair and Transparent Treatment and Payment of Pickers

Due to repeated reports of unfair treatment of cockle pickers in past fisheries, a system which allowed pickers some security over their trade was required. One suggestion was a fixed rate of pay per kg on a weekly basis which offered security to pickers on earnings for that week. This could coincide with fair charges for the administration of the fishery, with full documentation of the process and the payment of pickers.

5.1.4 Single Distribution Centre

At the core of this study, a central distribution centre was to be tested. The Centre would serve four purposes: 1) improve compliance and enforcement capacity - the selling and movement of cockles is a major challenge for governing this fishery as selling from the beaches has caused social issues for the police, local communities and harvesters. Using the central distribution centre is mandatory under this study; 2) improve food safetyand examine whether full traceability is a viable aspiration - cockles can be stored in a suitable environment and food safety officers have access to all cockles for certification; 3) enable premium branding as a viable aspiration and; 4) improve local wealth generation. How this was to be established and managed needed to be described in the tender and how the handling of the cockles would be documented. Value-added was not central to this model, however, methods thought feasible by the tenderer were to be outlined should they wish to test different markets. All sales to market needed to be documented.