[breffni]

Does anyone have any biblio references on the impact of cockle fishing on seabirds. Specifically the method is a combination of pneumatic extraction and dredging. In the area of concern about 10% of the known stock is removed annually. There is no apparent impact on bird numbers to date (it has been in place for about 5 or 6 years but expanding each year) - in fact oystercatcher, the species that depends most on cockles are slightly increasing over the period (there are many complicating factors). However impact on diving ducks is unknown due to difficulty in estimating populations (among other things).

Also any information on the impact this has on other fauna and flora in a large (1000+ hectare) area of mudflat?

Merci!

[StuartReeves]

If I remember rightly there has been quite a lot of work done in relation to the impact of cockle fishing on birds, primarily oystercatchers. I think most of the work has been done on the Wash. However, I don't have any references, although John Goss-Custard's book on the Oystercatcher would be a good place to start.

Stuart

[Rhion]

I think the BTO did a survey for the CCW on the impact of cockle fishing on Oystercatcher populations on Traeth Lafan. I don't know if it was published though - I'll ask.