August 19, 2015 — Sustainable scallop fishing within the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) could be possible, thanks to the world’s largest ever fishing impact study led by scientists from Wales’ Bangor University.
Bangor University worked together with the Welsh Fishermen’s Association, Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales for the study, which focused on understanding the amount of scallop fishing within the SAC that would be considered sustainable and that would not damage the conservation features of the area.
“This is the first study of its kind that provides information that would enable us to advise on the amount of fishing that the seabed within the SAC can tolerate, it provides the basis for a truly ecosystem based approach to management of a potential fishery in the area,” said Professor Michel Kaiser who leads the fisheries and conservation science group at Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences.