Concerns over the possibility of commercial cockling taking place in the area were once again voiced at the monthly meeting of Saundersfoot Community Council.

Among those present to discuss the issue was Mr. Tony Edwards, who was welcomed by the chairman, Clr. Mrs. Rosemary Hayes.

Chairman Hayes also reported to members that there were two errors in the e-mail sent by Clr. Baker to the February meeting, these being:

1. The testing period is not for 10 weeks, but 20 weeks.

2. The results will be known by the end of July 2004 and licences will not be issued by the South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee.

The clerk then read out a letter he had received from Mr. Phil Coates which said the following:

1. Cockle fishing takes place under public rights under the Magna Carta.

2. Fisheries managers can restrict those right for fishery management, and in recent years in designated marine sites, on environmental protection grounds.

3. SWSFC byelaws limit collection to hand gathering, no night fishing and minimum size. Seasonal closures are also an option, on the presumption that beds will re-open when stocks are sufficient.

4. Fisheries cannot be kept closed by fishery management measures for any other reason.

5. Commercial fishing requires the beds to be first classified on public health grounds.

6. No significant long term impact on cockles, clams, lugworm, razor fish etc is anticipated. Cockles are short-lived and show large scale natural variation in numbers. They may attain densities of economic interest in some years. At Saundersfoot, such events are infrequent and largely beyond management control. Hand gathering has been demonstrated to have limited impact upon the benthos.

7. Issues of vehicle control, safety, litter and tourism impact are properly the responsibility of others.

8. Wider issues are not a matter for SWSFC, but they endeavour to act within the law.

9. Licensing is not an option for beds of such a short-lived nature.

Chairman Hayes then invited Mr. Edwards to address the meeting.

Mr. Edwards expressed his grave concern at the proposal to introduce commercial cockling in Saundersfoot and said he had set up a petition which had been placed in various establishments around the area.

He said he had also either written or spoken to the SWSFC, Christine Gwyther AM and Nick Ainger MP on the matter.

The reply from the SWSFC stated that the committee did not licence cockle collection, but regulated the public right under powers available to it in order to maintain shellfish populations which showed natural variation in numbers.

The letter went on to say that any commercial interest would be short-lived in Saundersfoot as the takeable stock was less than 20 tonnes and comprised mainly one year class, indicating the occasional nature of the cockle population there and populations would then fall back to baseline levels and commercial interest would dissipate.

Mr. Edwards went on to say that he felt very strongly about the issue and once he had read the report in the Tenby Observer he immediately contacted Chairman Hayes and Clr. Brabon, who totally supported him. Following consultation with Nick Ainger MP and Mr. Phil Coates, he was assured that he would receive copies of any correspondence on the issue.

Mr. Edwards then decided to set up a petition against the proposals and sent copies of this to various bodies, including National Parks, SWSFC, the Wildlife Trust and South and West Wales, Christine Gwyther AM, Nick Ainger MP and Saundersfoot Harbour Commissioners.

He continued to say that his petition had been highlighted by the media and was also on the BBC News Online internet website.

He said the petition would continue for sometime and thanked everyone who was helping to distribute the forms, and also for the overwhelming public support he had received.

He also thanked Chairman Hayes and Clr. Brabon for their co-operation, which had helped considerably in his campaign.

Clr. Allsop was concerned that although SWSFC did not issue licences, commercial cockling could still take place.

Clr. Talbot asked what was the Harbour Commissioners' view on the matter?

Chairman Hayes said they were totally against it and had already stopped vehicles accessing the beach.

After further discussion, the clerk was instructed to write to the Environment Minister at the Welsh Assembly expressing the council's concern at the proposals and also to the owner of the beach asking what were his plans for the future use of the beach.