ESFJC

Eastern Sea Fisheries Joint Committee is one of twelve Sea Fisheries Committees that operate around the coast of England and Wales. We are based at King's Lynn in Norfolk and our district covers the coast around Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, extending to six miles offshore. In total we are responsible for managing and patrolling 1000 square miles of sea.

Our primary task is to manage and enforce fishery legislation within our district, but as much of the coast is now protected by environmental designations, we also have a responsibility to ensure that fishing practices do not have an adverse impact upon the environment. To enable proper management to occur it is important to have a good understanding of what stocks are present in the district. For this we have a research department, of which I am the senior research officer.

Part of our role is to enforce fisheries legislation. This includes National legislation, European Regulations and local Byelaws. Enforcing these laws entails us checking undersize fish are not landed, the correct size nets are being used, boats are only fishing in areas they are allowed to fish in, and that they are only fishing when allowed to.

To enable us to do this we have a 24-meter patrol boat, Protector III, and two Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIB's) - Sea Spray and Pisces II. Protector III was built in 1994 and is capable of speeds of about 26 knots. It's three double and one single cabin are sufficient to sleep seven crew, but on most patrols five crew are used, and can be expected to be at sea for patrols that last about five days. The RIB Sea Spray is carried within Protector III, housed in a special ramp that is accessed via a stern door (similar to a hatchback in a car). Protector was the first boat to be built with a ramp of this type, which allows the RIB to launched and recovered much easier than using davits or winches. This allows the RIB to be launched in worse weather than would otherwise be possible.

The RIBs are used for conducting boardings at sea. Both are capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots, which is sufficiently fast to catch all of the fishing boats within the district. While the RIBs are being used to board the fishing boats, Protector III will use its radar and plotter to record the fishing boats positions, ensuring they are were they are supposed to be.

To enable the best management policies to be implemented it is important to have a good knowledge of what fish stocks are present. For this we have the research department, whose duty is to conduct stock surveys and also to conduct research into the damage fishing equipment may be causing to both the fish and the environment. To help us in this role we have the research vessel Three Counties and the RIB Runner. Because of the importance of the shellfish stocks in the Wash, which in 2006 were worth a first-sale value of £5 million, much of Three Counties' time is spent in the Wash surveying the stocks of cockles and mussels. There is also a reef-building worm, Sabellaria spinulosa,  present in the Wash that is of environmental importance. Time is spent, therefore, using electronic equipment to map the location of these reef features, so that they can be protected from fishing activities.

The research department uses a variety of equipment including Grabs, Dredges, Beam Trawls, Underwater Cameras, Remotely Operated Vehicals (ROV), plus electronic equipment such as Echo Sounders, Geographical Positioning Systems and Roxann Acoustic Ground Discrimination Systems. Even with all of this equipment, however, much of the time is still spent walking on the sandbanks and mudflats at low tide when it is possible to see first hand the shellfish stocks.