Fishing pots owned by States of Jersey Fisheries (FOI)

​Request

Under the FOI law I would like to request the following

In regards to SOJ fisheries

A
How many pots have been lost/misplaced in the past 5 Years?

B
Please break this down to year, pot type e.g. creel, parlour.

C
How many pots does fisheries own (excluding lost/misplaced pots?)

Please break this down into types

D
What is the total cost of all pots (including lost/misplaced) in the past 5 years

E
Have fisheries recovered any pots they generally believed to be lost/misplaced, lost to the elements.

F
Do fisheries return all (including dead) catch to the location they are caught or is the catch transported- please provide a brief description of what happens if they are transported e.g. sold, used as bait, kept by the crew?

Response

A
The Department of the Environment, Marine Resources section, does not hold this information.

Commercial vessels must have a pot tag on each pot but these are issued by the Jersey Fishermen’s Association (JFA), not Marine Resources. We don’t hold any information on recreational fishing equipment as there is no requirement to register it.

B
Please see answer above.

C
The Department of the Environment, Marine Resources section owns 30 parlour pots and 45 whelk pots.

D
The Department of the Environment, Marine Resources section have not had to replace any pots during the past five years, therefore, no costs have been incurred.

E
The Department of the Environment, Marine Resources section do not hold a register of lost pots. We do not actively recover lost pots and are generally not engaged in activities, such as trawling, where we would encounter lost pots.

We occasionally recover lost pots when they are washed up on the beach, usually following a storm. We will contact the owner of the lost pot if there are identification marks or tags on the pot but the pot will be disposed of at Bellozanne if it is unidentifiable or damaged beyond repair.

F
Any catch found in recovered or confiscated pots is returned to the sea as soon as possible, usually near to the location of capture.