Alderney fishing restrictions to be debated by States

Charter anglers will be limited to landing two fish each if the proposals are approved

Fishing in the waters around Alderney could soon be subject to a series of new restrictions, if the island's government approves proposals.

The General Services Committee has recommended a nine-point plan "aimed at conserving our natural resources".

This would include a total ban on pair and beam trawling and all commercial vessels being limited to 250bhp and 10m in length.

Fishing vessels would also be required to record catches in log books.

The information gathered from these books may then be used to define further limits on the amount of fish that can be landed - so-called "bag limits".

Alderney owns the sea bed that lies within three miles of the island and the Casquets reef and this is the area which will be affected, if the island's politicians approve the plan.

'Valuable resource'

In addition, anglers taking part in charter trips would be restricted to landing two fish per person.

All of the newly introduced restrictions would be policed by a new advisory group which would include anglers, the island's fisheries officer and commercial fishermen from Alderney and Guernsey.

John Beaman, the co-author of the white paper, said: "The thinking behind it is that the marine environment is a valuable resource and it does need careful management.

"The idea is to ensure that all legitimate users have access to the resource," he said.

The States will debate the proposals at their meeting on Wednesday, 21 September.