At the close of the In advance of the start on 1st May of Judicial Review proceedings in the Royal Courts of Justice, Jim Portus, Chairman of the UK Association of Fish Producer Organisations (UKAFPO), made the following statement:
"I reiterate that this Judicial Review action is about the decision of Defra Minister, Richard Benyon, to step outside the UK fish quotas distribution rules methodology that haves been established, used and understood by and with the consent of the whole industry since 1999. Since that year, Fixed Quota Allocation units (FQAs) have been attached to fishing licences, traded and subjected to taxation as business assets."
"Indeed, since 1983 the UK fishing industry has not made one investment decision that was not guided by government and its obligations under the common fisheries policy. That is why we must have the same certainty and stability of opportunity within the UK management system as is required by the CFP and is enjoyed by fishermen in other Member States.“
The case was not about withholding fishing quotas from inshore fishermen, nor was it about who owns the quotas, although some observers made that erroneous assumption.
We look forward to engaging promptly with officials at MMO as we are keen to re-establish the meetings and consultations so necessary to achieve efficient and effective use of all opportunities of quota and non-quota resources.
"I am pleased to report that only a few days before the case, the English Producer Organisations met with under 10m fishermen thanks to the work of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO). We made good progress and we all agreed that co-operation can enable those under 10s who need quota to obtain it promptly and affordably."
"We have been advised by our lawyers that we can expect to wait up to 6 weeks before the judgement is handed down."
Jim Portus. Chairman UKAFPO. Monday, 6th May 29 April 2013.
