Cockling in Britain
Cockles are sold freshly cooked as a snack in the United Kingdom, particularly around the parts of the British coastline which are inhabited by cockles. Boiled then seasoned with malt vinegar and white pepper, they can be bought from seafood stalls, alongside mussels, whelks, jellied eels, crabs and shrimps. Cockles are also available pickled in jars, and more recently, have been sold in sealed packets (with vinegar) containing a plastic two-pronged fork. A meal of cockles fried with bacon, served with laver bread, is known as a traditional Welsh breakfast.
The agency reckons that since licensing and the harvest dates and catch limits were introduced in 2008, the Dee’s cockles have earned £1,160,000 for their catchers. David Edwall of Environment Agency Wales, whose Flint bank shares the sands with the “long rakers” of the English Wirral, says: “The early signs are that next year will be even better than this one.”
“We want to manage this fishery properly so the cocklers get a good, regular income from the beds. What we learn from that will then help to guide the management of other cockle fisheries across the UK.”
Opinion split over cockle limits
Cockle fishing is under way on the Dee Estuary for the first time in three years, under a controversial new licensing system.
Whereas up to 400 fishermen took to the cockle beds in recent years, the Environment Agency (EA) has slashed the number of annual licences to just 50
Historical and current status of cockle and mussel stocks in The Wash
Is pollution behind the deaths of millions of cockles worth £7m?
Rather like sherry, white port really complements shellfish such as cockles. You could use clams for this if you can’t get live cockles, or even use a mixture of both. Cockles need to be left in a bowl of cold water for an hour or so and agitated with your hands quite regularly so that they shed any sand
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Fears about the impact of last December’s severe weather, the coldest in 100 years, were unfounded. The drop in small bird populations witnessed in the 
The oldest osprey of the UK – and probably the world – has returned to her eyrie in the Scottish highlands. When she left for West Africa at the end of last summer, no one expected her to return. At 26 she’s lived 3 times longer than most female ospreys. In her life she’s laid 58 eggs and hatched 48 chicks, a massive individual contribution to the survival of ospreys in Scotland, where there are still only about 200 breeding pairs. The questions now are if her mate will return and if she is still fertile. Events can be followed on the 
The construction company currently finishing off the Shard building in London, which will be the UK’s tallest skyscraper, recently had to call the council to remove a squatter from the 72nd floor: a young fox. He was surviving on scraps left by builders. After a check-up at the Riverside Animal Centre, the fox has been released on the streets of Bermondsey, having shown the type of curiosity we associate with cats. 
Otters, water voles and fish are all benefitting from the improved quality of the UK’s waterways, now described as the cleanest since the industrial revolution. Since almost disappearing from the wild in the 1970s, otters are thriving, particularly in the south west of England, Cumbria and Northumberland. The population of water voles, highly precarious in the 1990s, is also beginning to recover. The good results of stricter pollution controls and extensive conservation work are set to continue in the new year with the introduction of new European water quality directives. 
