A Saundersfoot County Councillor has shared the outcome of discussions with local authorities over ongoing concerns involving illegal shellfish-picking in the seaside village, after a recent incident on Mother’s Day saw an estimated 200 to 250 people hit the locality to ‘rinse’ the seabeds, leaving with trollies full.

Welsh Government marine enforcement officers were said to be in the seaside village at the time, monitoring the situation. Referring to the matter following the uproar it caused, Cllr Chris Williams, said: “Whilst large number of, mostly families, were noted, no fisheries offences were noted by officers.

“The Fisheries department also informed me that they do maintain a presence at irregular times in the area. Whilst on some days we had some larger numbers of people, each bucket/container inspected was fully compliant with both size and quantity of shellfish.”

Another point Cllr Williams has continuously raised, is the inconvenience to the residents at the Glen, referring to the fact that at one point at 2am, roughly 60 cockle pickers descended at low tide onto the beach, blocking the access route down to people’s homes.

“This is totally unacceptable as picking cockles after dusk is illegal,” he continued.

“There is also a total disregard to the residents at this time of the morning as they are oblivious to the noise they are making, slamming doors, all with torches and carrying on with their conversations.”

According to  Natural Resources Wales - currently, cockle, mussel, and razor clam harvesting at Saundersfoot does not require consent, permission, or authorisation from the Welsh Government.

Previous joint investigations into shellfish gathering at Saundersfoot have involved the Fisheries Division, local Environmental Health departments, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), along with local police forces.

Cllr Williams recently contacted Natural Resources Wales again regarding concerns over intensive shellfish gathering activity in Saundersfoot.

“My main question to NRW was - how is this level of fishing affecting current shellfish stocks, is it impacting other species, and is it currently sustainable, as during the weekend of March 30, Saundersfoot experienced unusually high activity, with hundreds of individuals fishing daily over a five-day period due to very low tides,” he continued.

“NRW noted they are open to attending a multi-agency meeting to clarify their position, but emphasized their limited jurisdiction in this matter.”

NRW responded with the following key points:

• The Welsh Government’s Fisheries Division manages marine fisheries in Wales, except for the Burry Inlet and Dee Cockle fisheries, which are under NRW’s jurisdiction.

• If such permissions were required, NRW could provide nature conservation advice. However, that is not the case at present.

Fresh calls for a clampdown on shellfish pickers continually targeting a Saundersfoot beach have been made, with an estimated 200 to 250 people said to have hit the locality on Mother’s Day to ‘rinse’ the seabeds, leaving with trollies full.
Fresh calls for a clampdown on shellfish pickers continually targeting a Saundersfoot beach were made recently, with an estimated 200 to 250 people said to have hit the locality on Mother’s Day to ‘rinse’ the seabeds, leaving with trollies full. (Facebook)

NRW went onto recommend that any concerns from the community, be directed to - the Welsh Government Fisheries Division [if anyone suspects illegal fishing or unsustainable practices taking place]; Pembrokeshire County Council’s Environmental Health Team [if shellfish may be entering the food chain]; GLAA (if the activity appears to be organised or exploitative].

Contact details for the Milford Haven office of the Welsh Government Fisheries Division are as follows: phone: 03000 253500; email: milfordhavenfisheriesoffice@gov.wales