The press communiqué states that new MMO will absorb the Marine and Fisheries Agency and will be the administrative instrument through which marine spatial planning will be given effect. It will therefore have a much broader focus and responsibilities than the MFA, although at port level the same, or similar, presence will be maintained.
NFFO has recommended certain changes after consulting the new MMO Chief Executive, Steven Gant, to establish lines of communication, hear about the new organisations priorities, and to outline the fishing industry’s principle areas of concern. Given that fishing will now be only one of many marine “sectors”, dealt with through an integrated approach there are obvious concerns that fishing’s influence will be further relegated.
According to NFFO the role of the MMO could be transformed from a policeman of often perverse rules, to a broad auditing role by transferring management responsibilities to fishing industry organizations. NFFO said that its energies are most usefully employed to work closely with the MMO to ensure that the delivery arm of fisheries policy is made fully aware of the threats but also the opportunities that lie ahead as they chart the choppy waters of CFP reform, devolution, financial restraint, marine conservation zones, gigantic wind-farms and all the unpredictable fluctuations that habitually confront fishing.
