Inshore Potting Agreement (IPA)

The Inshore Potting Agreement (IPA) is a zonal and temporal fishery management system designed by inshore fisherman to reduce conflict between static gear (pots and nets) and towed gear (trawl and dredge) and is regulated through a fishing licence condition.

The Issue

  • After the 1970s there were improvements in gear and technology. This allowed crabbers (to leave their pots out for longer as the materials were more durable) and towed gear (which had previously been unable to target this rougher ground) to come into competition for access to valuable fishing grounds.
  • Prior to the agreement, many static-gear fishermen experienced huge financial costs due to lost gear that was towed away or damaged.

The Solution

  • As a response to growing conflict for space among different industry sectors, an inshore potting agreement was developed by South Devon & Channel Shellfishermen Ltd (SD&CS).
  • The Inshore Potting Agreement (IPA) is a fishery management system designed by inshore fishers to reduce conflict between static gear (pots and nets) and towed gear (trawl and dredge) and is regulated through a fishing licence condition.
  • The solution embodied in the IPA set out zoned exclusive or shared access for different fishing activities, allowing fishermen using static gear to fish in areas they knew to be designated for this activity.
  • The zonal management works well as fishermen are stewards of their area, take pride and reduce gear conflict.

The Process

  • In the 1960s, local crab and lobster fishermen in South Devon joined together with fishing industry professionals including merchants, processors and gear suppliers to create the South Devon Shellfishermen Ltd (now named the South Devon & Channel Shellfishermen Ltd (SD&CS) to protect their shared marine resource.
  • A voluntary agreement was put in place in 1978 to reduce conflict following a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries with fishermen from the different sectors.
  • In the 1990s there were reports of increased pot losses when an increasing number of fishermen moved from the whitefish sector into the scallop fleet.
  • In 2002, the agreement was formalised into legislation as a commercial fishing license agreement where compliance was monitored and infringements persecuted.
  • IPA is an international recognised conflict resolution system. This management system evolved over through annual negotiation with different sectors to develop the zonal and temporal management. Today the management system is still known as the Inshore Potting Agreement (IPA), an area covering approximately 450km2.
  • The South Devon IPA Trawling and Crabbing Chart was created to reduce conflict between the different sectors of the fishing industry and is reviewed on an annual basis by members of the IPA committee who represent different fishing sectors.
  • There are potters working in this area from Dartmouth and Salcombe, of which most are under 12 metres, a few over 12 metres.
  • Over 70 fishing vessels operate within the IPA; some areas are open exclusively to potting all year, some areas are open to potting seasonally, some zones are open to trawling and scalloping when the potting gear is not present.
  • Creating zones in which static gear can operate exclusively creates a sense of custodianship of the resource amongst fishermen, making sure that they are managing the stocks for the next years of business. They are mindful of their environmental responsibilities as the area they work in has two MPAs in place, the Skerries Bank and Surrounds MCZ and the Start Point to Plymouth Sound SAC. The fishermen care for their catches and have been involved in Fishing for Litter.
  • The fishermen in this area are very forward thinking. They proposed increasing the minimum size landing for hen and cock crabs which the Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities (D&S IFCA) have consulted on and introduced. They have implemented voluntary escape gaps in pots, to ensure juveniles can swim free and reproduce.
  • The fishermen have been very engaged with researchers such as Rob Blythe Skerne, Emma Pearson and Paul Hart.
  • The SD&CS provides an important space for member fishermen to share information and have facilitated the co-management approach through communication and inclusion of all stakeholders such as the MMO and D&S IFCA – building trust between fishermen and management.

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Making waves

“Supporting the coastal towns are fishing communities bound together by an industry-driven management system that has proved successful in so many ways. Where once there was conflict, there is now well-established collaboration within the industry and with scientists, government bodies and other stakeholders”

Holly Kaiser, Fishing News

The South Devon "Inshore Potting Agreement (IPA) was originally a Gentlemen's Agreement and represents one of the most innovate forms of fisheries management in the UK; a management regime with fishermen at it's heart."

South Devon & Channel Shellfishermen

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