Burry Inlet and Dee Estuary Cockles

Certified since 2001, the Burry Inlet cockle fishery in Carmarthen Bay, South Wales, was the first bivalve fishery and the fifth fishery globally to achieve MSC certification. The Dee Estuary cockle fishery in North Wales followed in 2012, praised by the assessment team as a "well-managed, small, and discrete fishery with low environmental impact." Both fisheries now share an MSC certificate and are Wales' only MSC-certified fisheries.

Cockles are burrowing bivalve shellfish, which are found along British and European coasts, thriving in intertidal areas and shallow waters. They live just below the surface, with a typical lifespan of 2–4 years, spawning at around 18 months. Long a staple in Welsh cuisine, cockles are pickled in vinegar and sold locally, with many reaching UK retailers and key export markets in Spain, Holland, France, and Portugal.

In the Burry Inlet, cockles have been harvested since Roman times using traditional methods. The fishing season runs from the start of April to the end of March, with 36 licensed gatherers hand-raking and sieving cockles to return undersized ones to the mud. In the Dee Estuary, 50 gatherers work from July 1 to December 31, using hand rakes or "jumbos" at low tide, following similar sustainability practices to those at Burry.

Natural Resources Wales manages both fisheries, conducting biannual surveys in May and November to set harvest quotas. These quotas ensure stable cockle populations, both supporting fishers' livelihoods and guaranteeing food supply for key populations of oystercatcher birds.