The NFFO South East Committee represents fishermen from the ports of Folkestone, Rye, Hastings, Normans Bay, Eastbourne, Newhaven and Selsey, many of whom operate vessels under 10 metres in length. According to the Committee the consultation paper as an indication that after many years of neglect, the Government is now committed to dealing with the problems facing the under 10 metre fleet.
The Committee also said that they have serious concerns however that the approach chosen will not be effective in achieving a balance between the capacity in the under 10metre fleet and available quotas. The Committee considers that the sum of £5 million allocated to provide a targeted decommissioning scheme is inadequate to deal with the legacy of compounded problems in the under-10 metre fleet.
It is told that the decommissioning scheme, as proposed, will not remove higher catching vessels from the fleet on a scale that will release significant quota to the pool. The Committee said that the decommissioning should not be restricted to higher catching vessels because almost all active vessels catch up to their quota limits on the sensitive stocks. Removing a large under 10 metre vessel or a small under 10 metre vessel, will be broadly equivalent in terms of the additional quota released to the pool through uncaught quota.
It is informed that the scheme would be voluntary and would avoid the creation of further arbitrary bureaucratic lines through the fishing fleet. The Committee supports the arrangements that allow under-10 metre vessels the opportunity to lease quota and think that this should be continued indefinitely.
