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The hatchery currently operates as a charity and began operating as such in 2004. Prior to this we operated as a not for profit company. We are not just a stock enhancement programme and have three primary charitable outputs:
We were initially set up as a pilot scheme to assess whether such an organisation could be self supporting and generate sufficient revenue in order to continue operating.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the fishery around Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly saw a declining catch despite increasing fishing effort. Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee, responsible for fisheries management out to six miles, decided to take a multi-dimensional and proactive approach to managing stocks. In 1994 a bye law raised the minimum landing size slowly to 90mm (above the European and National minimum landing size) and closed the fishery for egg bearing (berried hen) lobsters and Crayfish. Local and national legislation also prevented the taking of V-notched lobsters. Edwin Derriman (Chief Fisheries Officer) for CIFCA proposed the hatchery, as an additional safeguard to conserve our stocks.
Capital funds were raised from a variety of sources including RDA, Cornwall County Council, Tesco and ERDF. The hatchery was purpose built and located on the quay in Padstow in 2000. Operational costs were to be supported by the visitor centre, shop and research funding.
In summer 2017 our second hatchery at Newlyn Harbour was installed with the help of Shellfish Hatchery Systems Ltd. Funding from the Marine Management Organisation and European Maritime & Fisheries Fund has allowed the hatchery to be designed and built. It currently provides our lobster stock enhancement programme with up to 20,000 juveniles per year.
The hatchery itself is located within two shipping containers and is fitted with the most up to date lobster rearing equipment. Unfortunately this facility is not open to the public and serves purely to expand the amount of lobsters we are able to rear each year. However, the hatching and rearing process in Newlyn is almost identical to the Padstow hatchery, which is open to visitors year round.
(Ref: Cornwall IFCA report: Monthly Shellfish Permit Statistics Analysis, Lobster (Homarus gammarus) Pot Fishery 2022.
Since the comprehensive survey of shellfish stock undertaken from 2003 – 2006 by the Cornwall Sea Fisheries committee, the monitoring of the shellfish stocks around Cornwall has reduced. Since 2016, the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) has produced annual reports to provide information reporting on fishing effort, quantities and Landing Per Unit Effort (LPUE) for shellfish species by potting and netting. These data are mainly obtained through the permit returns which must be completed by all fishers who fish in the district.
The latest IFCA report was issued in 2022. At this time, the IFCA reported that female edible crabs were the most exploited shellfish species with 836 tonnes being landed from netting and potting combined. The next highest volume fishery was reported to be lobster with reported landings of 168.4 tonnes. Using an average value of £9 per kg, this fishery was estimated to be worth £1.52 million annually in Cornwall. This coupled with the value of the crab landings (£1.3 million) really does demonstrate the economic importance of the shellfish inshore fishing fleet directly and associated ancillary industries.
From 2018 to 2022 the Cornwall IFCA reported an increased LPUE of lobsters from 7.33 kg/100 pots hauled to 10.6 kg/100 pots hauled. This would indicate that the lobster population remains healthy. However, it is important to realise that this is a very small snapshot of a much larger, more complicated picture of assessing the lobster fishery.
For up-to-date reports on all shellfish landings in Cornwall, please visit the Cornwall IFCA website: Research Reports : Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (CIFCA) (cornwall-ifca.gov.uk)
