Police step up crackdown on illegal cockle pickers
Constable Laurie Irving and Marine Compliance officers Kenny Merrilees and Jen Allan at Powfoot. Credit: Police Scotland
Marine Scotland Officers and Police Scotland officers have stepped up their patrols in relation to illegal cockle pickers on the Solway.
The crackdown is targeting people who are illegally harvesting cockles along specific areas of the Solway, where there are reports that poaching is taking place on a regular basis.
Constable Laurie Iriving, who has been patrolling the shores with Marine Scotland, said:
“The Solway has been a rich source of income for those who carry out illegal cockling and the force is keen to assist Marine Scotland to proactively patrol likely areas where the cockling occurs.
"We are also able to share information and intelligence about who is carrying out this type of activity, when they are doing it and where they are doing it.
"The public are a crucial part of this operation and we rely on their local information about what is going on in their communities.”
A Marine Scotland spokesman said:
“Marine Scotland Compliance now has a significant presence in the Solway area and is working closely with Police Scotland."
A meeting to determine the best way of managing cockling on the Solway estuary will take place tonight (18 October).
Marine Scotland will meet with local fishermen, politicians and landowners in Dumfries to discuss the future of cockling in the area.
The cockle beds have been the source of illegal poachers in recent years and concerns have been raised about their safety, because of the treacherous flow of the estuary.
The beds have been closed since September last year to allow stocks to recover.
It's hoped that tonight's meeting will allow local people a bigger say in how cockling is policed.
" Without the views and interests of the local people, then they might as well leave the fisheries shut and just let the poachers get on with it. Without those views then the whole thing is a bust frankly.
"I really hope that the message that comes out of tonight's meeting is that the Government are willing to work very closely with stakeholders to bring about a local fishery for the benefit of the local economy, this is a about localism and that's as it should be. "
– Alex Fergusson MSP, Galloway and West Dumfries, Conservative
It's ancient, it's highly regulated and it's exclusive to the Solway. The Environment Agency issue only 150 licences each year to salmon fishermen who maintain the old Viking art of Haaf Net Fishing.
They use the ebb and flow of the tides on both the English and the Scottish sides of the Solway to net their catch.
