Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what enforcement measures her Department has undertaken in relation to illegal cockling on the River Dee; how many prosecutions for illegal cockling on the River Dee her Department has brought in each year since 2010; and how many such prosecutions were successful.

All cockle fisheries within the Dee Estuary are controlled via the Dee Estuary Cockle Fishery Order 2008. Enforcement of the Order is a matter for Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as grantee of the Order.

Defra does not have information pertaining to the specific enforcement measures taken by NRW on illegal fishing occurring within this fishery.