The root cause of over-fishing in UK waters is due to the lack of clear legislation regarding the public’s right to fish in tidal waters, says a researcher from the University of Bristol.

In a paper published this week, Tom Appleby from Bristol University’s School of Law questions the basis for damaging fishing activities in UK waters and calls on the Government to invest in a clearer definition of the public’s right to fish to save the stock and the fishing industry.

At the moment, nearly all fishing (commercial and recreational) in UK waters is permitted by ancient unwritten rights. It is a general principle of these old common law rights that such activities should be limited to what is ‘reasonable’.

Appleby said: “Although over time the scope of these rights may be re-interpreted by the Courts, this may not be soon enough to save the stock. The Government needs to encourage a legal framework to protect a reasonable and sustainable fishery, as their current administrative methods do not seem to be working.”

There is an increasing body of evidence that modern fishing techniques such as scallop dredging (where steel bags with sprung loaded teeth are dragged across the sea bed) are associated with significant marine damage. Whether such damage is ‘reasonable’ and permitted by the common law right to fish is open to question.

Such unreasonable fishing activity could lay operators open to legal claims from others within the industry who have suffered a loss – the Crown Estate (the public body which owns the seabed), for example, and various interest groups.  These claims could lead to significant damages.