ANNONCER
Figures released this week show the UK fishing fleet’s turnover has reached £1billion for the first time. The figures have been published by Seafish in its Economics of the UK Fishing Fleet 2017 report, which analyses the performance of the catching sector and is based on the most recent annual accounts available for fishing vessels.
From this month, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) will require UK fishing vessels to comply with the International Organisation’s C-188 Work In Fishing Convention.
The first steps on an initiative to improve trade opportunities for Scottish seafood in the United States are being made today as representatives of catching and processing sectors join their counterparts from the salmon industry at a special roundtable meeting convened by US ambassador to the UK.
UK fishermen’s federations have welcomed the presentation of the Fisheries Bill to Parliament. Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Gove has stated that this will, for the first time since 1973, enable the UK to regenerate coastal communities.
The owner and skipper of Wilhelmina LT-60 have been fined a total of £28,610 at Norwich Magistrates Court in in a prosecution brought by the MMO.
Representatives of the NFFO and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federations recently joined forces for a lobby day in Parliament, ahead of key decisions on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and therefore the CFP, lobbying to underscore the importance of the decisions due to be taken for the UK fishing industry at national and local levels.
Frictionless trade and access to EU markets is essential to the survival of the Welsh fishing industry, while non-tariff barriers could deliver a killer blow according to the National Assembly’s Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee.
Parkol Marine Engineering responded to the upswing in orders for its fishing vessels by establishing a new facility to handle the additional activity, and the Middlesbrough yard has now delivered its first newbuild.
A commercially viable development plan pilot for mussel farming on the Clyde has taken a step forward as a consortium of Maritek and Ironside Farrar has been selected following a rigorous tendering process. The team will carry out the second stage of the Shellfish Critical Mass Project.
Vessel Monitoring has been in place for UK fishing vessels over 12 metres since 2013, but now DEFRA is launching a consultation on introducing VMS for all fishing vessels, potentially making monitoring also mandatory for the under-12 fleet with an Inshore (I-VMS) system.