UK: Mollusc surveys in SW England

Mollusc surveys in SW England. During 2022 Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority officers conducted the full suite of intertidal mollusc surveys across the District. Alongside the annual mussel surveys on the Taw-Torridge estuary, mussel and cockle surveys were also undertaken on the Teign and Exe estuaries, and for the first time a cockle survey was completed on the Taw-Torridge estuary, to establish the population structure, biomass, and distribution of cockles within the estuary. Data collected from the surveys are used to build up a long-term picture of the stock status of each bed, which is used to inform future management of the resource, and for the Taw-Torridge, data is fed into a shellfish ecological requirement model provided by Natural England, which allows an estimate to be made of the ecological requirements of wading birds. THE FULL SURVEY REPORTS CAN BE READ HERE: The Exe mussels have shown an improvement in percentage cover and density since the ...