Welcome

Welcome

Welcome to Cardigan Bay Fisherman’s Association Ltd. (CBFA Ltd.)  Among these pages you will find information about the fishing fleet of the Association, the activities undertaken by the Association, information about some of the species caught by our members, a list of outlets around Cardigan Bay that sell locally caught seafood, recipes to create some mouth-watering dishes, and links that will be of interest to anyone in the industry or for those who want to find out more about the seafood they are eating.

About Us

Cardigan Bay Fisherman’s Association Ltd was set up in January 1996 to create and manage sustainable fisheries on the West coast of Wales.  The Association’s members are commercial fishermen working from ports along the coast of Cardigan Bay, along with selected individuals connected to the local seafood industry.

The Association has two members of staff, the Fisheries Co-ordinator and the Office Administrator, that work with the members to improve the sustainability of the fisheries in Cardigan Bay, improve the infrastructure at port-side, and promote the seafood caught within Cardigan Bay.  The staff are answerable to a committee, which consists of volunteers with expertise and interests in the local fishing industry.  The Association and its members meet on a monthly basis to discuss current events, opportunities and challenges that the industry is facing.

Working closely with conservation groups and government, the Association is leading the way to implement changes in legislation that is both in the interests of the fishermen and the marine environment as a whole.  Cardigan Bay is host to two Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and working with these bodies has meant that the SACs remains a haven for protected and important marine species and habitats.

The CBFA Ltd. was the first group of fishermen to implement the V-notching of lobsters.  This means that any female lobster that is caught carrying eggs, or ‘berried’, is notched with a ‘V’ in the tail.  It is against local byelaws enforced by the Welsh Assembly Government to keep a V-notched lobster, and being caught doing so can lead to a severe penalty for the offender.  The ‘V’ will take approximately 6 years to grow out, thus ensuring that a healthy stock of sexually active, fertile females are retained in the fishery and that recruitment levels back into the population remain high.

Along with the V-notching scheme, the catch size restriction ensures that only lobster and crab that are above a certain carapace length (87mm for lobsters caught north of Cardigan, 90mm for lobsters caught south of Cardigan, and 130mm for brown crab caught north of Cardigan, 140mm to the south) may be landed.  This size is calculated on the size at maturity of the species and assumes that each animal has had the chance to reproduce at least once before being caught.  Thus increasing the sustainability of the fishery.