The referendum to leave the EU represents a seismic change for the UK fishing industry, according to the NFFO chairman’s report.
Chairman Tony Delahunty comments in his report that over the years the CFP has taken UK fishermen down many blind alleys.
‘Now a new era beckons,’ he states in his report. ‘This will not be without its own challenges; but the very fact that the fickle and cumbersome European co-decision process will no longer be the arbiter of our fate, is tremendously liberating.’
‘We are taking the view that there may be risks and pitfalls associated with this monumental change of direction but overall, this is a huge opportunity to reshape the management of our fisheries to the great benefit of our fishing industry and coastal communities.’
His report, which can be read in full here, details the NFFO’s progress to date in meetings with fisheries minister George Eustice, DEFRA secretary of state Andrea Leadsom and secretary of state for exiting the EU David Davis.
‘We live in interesting times. There will be challenges ahead.This is fishing: there are always challenges,’ Tony Delahunty concludes.
‘But there are opportunities too and what we make of those opportunities will be largely up to us. We are an extraordinarily diverse industry, with small-boats fishing from the beach up to very large vessels fishing in distant waters. The NFFO exists to give all of those fishermen and vessel owners a voice where it counts: where the decisions affecting our futures are decided.’
‘The locus where those decisions are made may now change but our responsibility in delivering the industry’s view has not,’ he said.
‘The clarity of that message that we deliver will help to secure our aims and it is natural and understandable that our political masters will look to the only body that even attempts to speak on behalf of the whole industry – the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations – our name speaks of our purpose, our aim and who we are.’
