The impact of the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) on Welsh inshore fisheries and marine management

Abstract

This paper is based on a qualitative study undertaken between April 2016 and February 2017 of key informants and secondary documents concerned with the management of the Welsh marine environment in the pre and post Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) (MCAA) era. Since taking over direct responsibility for the Welsh marine environment, the Welsh Government has failed to integrate fisheries management and marine conservation as effectively as has been achieved by relevant English authorities, particularly Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs). A key contributing factor to this failure is that, whilst MCAA created a clear statutory framework for England's IFCAs, Welsh Government resisted the imposition of similar management duties for Wales, and, subsequently, the National Assembly for Wales has not used its legislative powers to create a suitably robust Welsh regime. Furthermore, the suspension in 2016 of the stakeholder ‘Inshore Fisheries Groups’ has partly dismantled the relatively weak co-management regime in Wales. Although the Welsh Marine Fisheries Advisory Group remains, its scope has been much reduced. Post MCAA, the Welsh system has centralised decision making, creating a more remote and less responsive management structure than had existed previously.