A number of Members of the UK Parliament recently formed the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Shellfish Aquaculture, which seeks to help improve the shellfish aquaculture industry in Great Britain.
Featuring 26 MPs and members of the House of Lords from Devon, Cornwall, East Anglia, the south coast, Wales, Cumbria, the North East, and the Scottish Coast, the APPG for Shellfish Aquaculture seeks to assist the shellfish industry.
The Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) claims the industry has "struggled in recent years from increased bureaucracy and a lack of government support."
Although the UK has some of the most productive waters in the world for shellfish aquaculture, the industry has struggled to grow at the same rate as those of other European countries.
The SAGB cited Brexit is one reason for this, with the UK currently being classified as a third country, meaning EU countries will not accept molluscan shellfish from UK waters.
The association added that beyond Brexit, there are other factors hampering growth, including poor water quality brought about by the UK’s growing population, inadequate water treatment infrastructure and governmental failure to hold water companies to account. This means that storm overflow events are more frequent, with severe negative consequences for shellfish production.
The SAGB said that legislatively, there are also challenges for the APPG to address. Aquaculture is still tied to UK fisheries policy, despite differing substantially from wild capture fisheries.
The new APPG for Shellfish Aquaculture seeks to address the lack of government support by providing political assistance to help the industry to thrive.
The SAGB will also serve as the APPG’s secretariat.