Nighttime ormering ban reminder issued

Wednesday 04 January 2023

The first ormering tide of the year is just days away and people are being reminded that the delicacy cannot now be harvested at night.

A ban first introduced in 1933, but unintentionally removed from the law in 1997, has been reinstated to help protect stocks.

The season begins on Friday 6 January with a low tide of 2.41m at 12:30.

“Without a ban on night-time ormering, more ormers are collected overall as the number of ormering tides in a season is effectively doubled,” an Economic Development spokesperson said.

“Also, night-time ormering makes it much more challenging to carry out ormer inspections which are there to ensure undersized ormers are not taken, supporting the long-term sustainability of ormers in local waters. These were also reasons for the original 1933 ban on night-time ormering.”

Rules govern the size of ormers that can be collected, as well as when and how.

They can only be harvested between 1 January and 30 April on the first day of each new moon and each full moon and the following two days.

It is illegal to dive for ormers.

They need to be 8cm or bigger.

For details on ormering guidelines and tides visit https://gov.gg/fishing.