Undersized ormers found in survey a “good sign”

Wednesday 03 March 2021

Promising findings from an ormer survey indicate that people are following conservation regulations when ormering.

There are a number of rules we all have to follow when ormering in Guernsey; this ranges from sizes of catch to time of year.

The fine for breaking regulations can be up to £5,000. In fact, the world’s only under water arrest took place in Guernsey waters, when a diver was found ormering. 

Pictured: There are certain times of year we’re allowed to go looking for ormers. Here is the table of dates for 2021. 

The rules are in place to protect the ormer population and leaving undersized ormers is a big part of this. An ormer has to be at least 80mm otherwise it’s considered undersized, in which case it must be left where it is.

During a survey conducted by the Guernsey Biological Records Centre, 77% of ormers they found were under harvest size. They also found that many of the people they spoke to said they’d seen lots of undersized ormers, suggesting that size regulations were being complied with. 

If you’d like to share information about your ormer haul with the GBRC they always welcome contributions. You can find out more online.

Pictured: The GBRC undertook the survey on 27 February.