History& Constitution
In the late 1860's a group of fishermen and fish merchants from Scotland petitioned
the Board of Trade "entreating them to take immediate steps for preserving
from utter and complete annihilation the mussel scalps, (off Boston), which
have hitherto supplied bait for the haddock fishery, not only to your memorialists
but to thousands of fishermen along the north east coast of England".
The Board of Trade subsequently granted the Borough of Boston powers to regulate
the local mussel and oyster fisheries and shortly thereafter gave similar
powers to King's Lynn Borough Council for the beds on the Eastern side of
the Wash.
Following a report by Frank Buckland in 1875, and after prolonged discussions with the industry, a Joint Committee was appointed under the terms of the Sea Fisheries Act 1888 and charged with managing the inshore fisheries from Donna Nook in Lincolnshire to Happisburgh in Norfolk. The inaugural meeting was held on 21st February 1894 at the Town Hall in King's Lynn.
Since 1894 the area of Jurisdiction of the Joint Committee expanded southwards and on April 1st 1978 Suffolk united with Lincolnshire and Norfolk to create the current landward boundary of ESFJC which covers some 172 miles of coastline and resulted in the inshore fisheries of England and Wales being regulated by a total of 12 Sea Fisheries Committees.
In October 1993 Sea Fisheries Committee's jurisdiction was extended from three to six miles offshore which resulted in the Committee’s District being increased to an area slightly in excess of 1,000 square miles. The Committee’s work remained exclusively concerned with British fishing vessels and the fisheries which they exploit.
In 1995 the introduction of the Environment Act resulted in the remit of the Committee being expanded even further to take into account environmental factors when considering fisheries. The Act gave powers to the Committees to introduce byelaws to protect other marine flora and fauna and habitats from fisheries activities which might lead to damage to those habitats and species.
In 1994, following the extension of the Committee’s District to six miles, the Committee commenced a review of its byelaws and in 1997 the previous 19 byelaws were replaced with 13 which were more in line with modern fisheries needs. One of the more innovative byelaws was concerned with the development of the fisheries and the ability of the Committee to call for data from the fishermen on the catch and effort being placed on a particular fishery so that it may be better managed.
Constitution of the Committee
The Committee has a total of 20 members of which 10 are appointed by the three County Councils involved, 9 members are appointed by the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and 1 by the Environment Agency.
Lincolnshire County Council and Suffolk County Council each appoint 3 members while Norfolk County Council appoints 4 members with the Counties being levied with a similar proportion of the Committees budgetary requirements i.e. Lincolnshire 30%, Norfolk 40% and Suffolk 30%.
Eight of the Secretary of State’s appointees are drawn from throughout the Committee’s District, "being persons acquainted with the needs and opinions of the fishing interests of the District"; as defined in the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966. The remaining appointment reflects the environmental role which the Committee has and the member brings environmental expertise to the Committee.
Although this direct involvement between elected Councillors and an industry may not be unique it is perhaps unusual and it does mean that the members, while sitting, do have immediate access to expert opinion from the industry concerned.
Sub-Committees to deal with matters such as Finance and General Purposes, Personnel, Vessels, Byelaws and Management of the Wash are elected as necessary. Most of the Sub-Committees have executive powers to a greater or lesser extent but all report to full Committee. If executive powers are granted then membership of the sub-committee is in the same proportion as that of the full Committee so that the balance of power lies with the County Councillors.
Role and Function
Sea Fisheries Committees are charged under the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966 with the management of those sea fisheries prosecuted within their District. The same Act gives SFCs powers to make byelaws to apply locally. All such byelaws require confirmation by the Secretary of State for DEFRA, and if to apply outside baselines, consent from Brussels. Other powers are derived from the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 and the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967. The former gives officers of the Committee the authority to enforce national legislation relating to minimum landing sizes for fish and minimum mesh of nets, whilst the "Shellfish" Act gives Committees powers to promote Regulating and Several Orders for the maintenance, improvement and cultivation of molluscan shellfish. The Sea Fisheries (Wildlife Conservation) Act 1992 and the Environment Act 1995 require the SFCs to have regard for the wider implications of their actions in relation to fisheries as far as other flora and fauna are concerned and the latter Act gives SFCs the power to promote byelaws to control fishing if there is a wider environmental need for such action.
Broadly speaking the Committee has two roles, both aimed at maximising sustainable yields from the fisheries within its District. Firstly it enforces, through its officers, EEC, National and local legislation aimed at conserving stocks and secondly it strives through research and education to improve and develop those fisheries, within its District. Conservation objectives in common with other environmental groups have in recent years demonstrated the interdependence of the various factors making up the marine ecosystem. At the same time it has been realised that the pressures being placed upon, in particular, the North Sea, have become intolerable and that a greater understanding of the effect of the demands being placed on this fragile environment is needed as a matter of urgency.
The extraction of marine aggregates, the creation of large offshore wind farms, over fishing by highly sophisticated vessels, the erosion of wildlife habitat and the use of estuaries for the disposal of urban waste are but a few of the areas in which the Sea Fisheries Committees are uniquely positioned to take their place in debates on environmental issues.