NIFCA exists to lead, champion and manage a sustainable marine environment and inshore fisheries, by successfully securing the right balance between social, environmental and economic benefits to ensure healthy seas, sustainable fisheries and a viable industry in the NIFCA district.

The NIFCA district comprises (in brief summary) the sea within the national waters of the United Kingdom adjacent to the County of Northumberland and the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside out to 6 nautical miles from baselines. It also covers all of the land in the County and the Metropolitan Borough and all rivers and estuaries within the district up to the tidal limits. The district runs from the English/Scottish border in the north to the border between North and South Tyneside in the River Tyne in the south (see “Limits of the District” below for a full description).

NIFCA came into being on 1 April 2011 and supersedes ‘The Northumberland Sea Fisheries Committee’ which had been in operation since 1890.

Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority
Unit 60B, South Nelson Road, Cramlington, Northumberland. NE23 1WF
T: (01670 731 399 F: (01670 731639) E: nifca@nifca.gov.uk