Source: City of Plymouth
Plymouth City Council Leader has escalated his call for urgent reform of crab potting rules.
An explosion in octopus numbers across the south west’s inshore waters is wreaking havoc on local fisheries — but while Cornish crabbers are hauling in pots full of valuable catch, Plymouth fishermen are left with empty traps and mounting bills.
Council Leader Tudor Evans has now written to Fisheries Minister Daniel Zeichner, urging immediate intervention. This follows his letter earlier this week to the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA).
“This is a crisis,” said Councillor Evans. “The Devon and Severn IFCA must act now to support our fishermen by removing the requirement for escape hatches in pots — a rule that’s now doing more harm than good.”
Under current DS IFCA regulations, pots must include escape gaps designed to let undersized crabs and lobsters out. But with a surge in Octopus vulgaris — a highly efficient predator — these same escape hatches are allowing octopus to enter, feed on the catch, and slip away undetected.
“Elsewhere, fishermen are able to retain and sell the octopus they catch. But here, our pots are being raided and left empty — and our fishers are left with nothing,” Evans added. “It’s a cruel irony that a conservation measure is now helping predators destroy the very stocks it was meant to protect.”
Tudor stressed that the long-term ecological impact of the octopus boom is serious, but that allowing fishermen to catch and remove them is part of the solution — not the problem.
“Fishing families can’t wait. Their bills don’t stop just because the octopus have shown up. We need urgent, practical action — and we need it now.”