Logo-FiskerForum
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Newbuildings
    • News Categories
      • News
      • Accidents – Shipwreck
      • Administration
      • Aquaculture
      • Associations
      • Economy
      • Education
      • End User – Food
      • Environment
      • Exhibitions
      • Fish Species
      • Fishing
      • Manufacturers
      • Story
      • Politics
      • Ports
      • Products
      • Regions
      • Research
      • Sponsored
      • Videos
    • News Service
    • News Archive
      • 2023
      • 2022
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • 2013
      • 2012
      • 2011
      • 2010
  • Vessels
    • Vessels
    • Recent Photos
    • Newbuild
    • Newbuild delivered
  • Service
    • Contact
    • Oil Prices
    • Auction Prices
    • Weather
    • News Service
    • Media Information
  • Industry Directory
  • Recent photos
Menu
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Newbuildings
    • News Categories
      • News
      • Accidents – Shipwreck
      • Administration
      • Aquaculture
      • Associations
      • Economy
      • Education
      • End User – Food
      • Environment
      • Exhibitions
      • Fish Species
      • Fishing
      • Manufacturers
      • Story
      • Politics
      • Ports
      • Products
      • Regions
      • Research
      • Sponsored
      • Videos
    • News Service
    • News Archive
      • 2023
      • 2022
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • 2013
      • 2012
      • 2011
      • 2010
  • Vessels
    • Vessels
    • Recent Photos
    • Newbuild
    • Newbuild delivered
  • Service
    • Contact
    • Oil Prices
    • Auction Prices
    • Weather
    • News Service
    • Media Information
  • Industry Directory
  • Recent photos
Last Chance Saloon for the UK's

Last Chance Saloon for UK coastal fleet

  • May 18, 2018
  • FiskerForum
  • Dato: 18/05/2018
  • kl. 00:00
  • Kategori: Administration, News
  • Tags: Fisheries Management, Small-scale Fisheries
  • Land: UK
Foto / Video: H&N

ANNONCER

The decline of much of the UK under 10m fleet has escaped much attention in the furore of claim and counter-claim around Britain’s departure from the European Union, according to Jerry Percy of the Coastal PO and director of coastal fishing organisation LIFE Platform.

In a statement, he commented that this state of affairs has been widely overlooked, including by industry body Seafish.

‘Unless something concrete and dramatic is done to help in the immediate future then the ever more seemingly ephemeral promises of a post-Brexit windfall of quota and access will be meaningless to those small scale coastal fishermen who have gone out of business in the meantime,’ he warned, commenting that a recent report by Seafarers UK highlights the ongoing decline seen in coastal towns.

‘The fact that this decline mirrors that of the inshore fleet in many areas is no coincidence,’ he said. ‘There are plenty of examples of where the apparently unimportant loss of a few boats on the beach or harbour in fact has a dramatic and lasting effect on the economics of the area. This issue is not reserved purely for the UK.’

‘In other EU states, economists and administrators have failed to recognise the intrinsic value of the presence of albeit small scale fishing activity in often isolated coastal communities without access to many alternative job opportunities. You lose the boats and the tourists don’t come, no ‘tourist experience’, no local fresh fish supply, a loss of culture, tradition and heritage as well as real and meaningful employment for the local population, both at sea and in support services ashore.’

He added that following the joing statement by Michael Gove and Ruth Davidson that Britain would be taking back control from March 2019, only days later, David Davis capitulated to the demands of the EU to include fishing aspects in the transition period.

‘This left those who had swallowed the government rhetoric of a brave new world for the small scale fleet desolated,’ he said.

‘So where to now for the under ten metre fleet in the face of what many experts consider will be an ever increasing transition period and in light of the clear weakness of the UK’s negotiating position? The EU has made any post-Brexit trade deal entirely contingent on continued access to UK fishing grounds and few hold out the hope that Davis and Co will suddenly develop a backbone in this respect. ‘

He commented that the under 10m fleet is left in limbo, struggling, and often failing to survive with a small percentage of the overall UK quota allocation, while promises of a post-Brexit lifeline are snatched away.

‘No-one can dispute that there is a misbalance in terms of the allocation of quota in the UK. The small scale fleet represents 77% of the fleet by number yet receives only a couple of per cent of the UK allocation. A Judicial Review in the High Court in 2013 made clear that the claim by the larger scale fleet that they had a legitimate expectation to their historic allocation of quota was without grounds,’ he said.

‘Additionally, EU law makes clear that a legitimate expectation can be defeated by an overriding public interest. As fish in the sea is a public resource then surely it is in the public’s overriding interest to ensure a fair and equitable allocation, that reflects the social and environmental elements of the catching sector and especially with regard to the indigenous inshore fleet, rather than to often powerful corporate interests at home or abroad?’

He states that it is also abundantly clear that with one sector making record annual profits, and with a significant amount of those profits benefitting foreign interests, while at the same time the other three-quarters of the UK fleet are being starved of the means of production and survival, that something needs to change.

‘The government really has quite a simple choice,’ he suggested.
‘The allocation of access to a public resource should provide the wherewithal for the many to make a living, rather than for the few to make a fortune. This is especially the case when the many are those that provide clear social, economic and environmental benefits to the vulnerable coastal communities identified by the Seafarers UK report and the few are often comprised of faceless corporate interests removing the wealth from our seas with little real benefit to local communities around our coasts.’

‘Mr Gove can reallocate the entire unused element of the UK’s large scale quota to the under tens tomorrow without having to provide compensation to the current holders. He can also begin the process of reallocating other quota, having given notice and negotiating a fairer balance. Irrespective of the outcomes of Brexit, many of the under ten fleet will not be around to witness them unless swift action is taken by the government to underpin their survival in the meantime.’

Besøg os på
Seneste Nybygninger

New Cleopatra 36 for Lofoten fisherman

Christian í Grótinum delivered to Klaksvík owners

New factory trawler for Icelandic owners

Orion BF-432, latest Macduff newbuild

PrevForrige nyhedSteaming home with 2200 tonnes of blue whiting
Næste nyhedSeaWise trials to improve safety at seaNext

Snow delays end of capelin season

Furious fishermen blockade Boulogne

Ten years conservation haven’t brought fish back

Encouraging a new generation of shipbuilders

ANNONCER

Contact info

  • +45 60 22 09 46
  • info@fiskerforum.com
  • Otto Pedersvej 1
    6960 Hvide Sande
    Denmark

News

  • Latest News
  • Newbuildings
  • News Service
  • Know anything?
  • News in Danish

Service

  • Vessels
  • Classifieds (coming)
  • Jobs (coming)
  • Oil Prices
  • Auction Prices
  • Media Information

News Archive

  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015

News Service

Facebook-f Twitter Youtube
Logo-FiskerForum

All pictures, texts and data on FiskerForum are protected by Danish copyright law. All rights belong or are handled by FiskerForum.com on behalf of the associated photographers. It is not allowed to copy or use texts, data or pictures from FiskerForum without permission. © 2004 - 2019

Made with love by ApolloMedia

Terms and conditions Cookie & Privacy Policy

By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

Accept