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Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Participatory Research and Co-management in Fisheries Symposium - a must-go-to for elected representatives of UK fishing organisations by region.

Dutch trawler Cornelis Vrolijk hoovers up 23% of UK’s fishing quota according to Greenpeace

The Cornelis Vrolijk holds almost 25% of the UK white fish quota according to Greenpeace.

The scale of foreign dominance in fishing quota is revealed today by a Greenpeace investigation which shows that 43% of England’s fishing quota is held by foreign controlled fishing businesses. It exposes the high concentration of quota in the hands of a few industrial fishing companies, many of them foreign controlled:

- Five largest foreign controlled vessels hold 32 per cent of the English quota
- One Dutch-controlled vessel holds 23 per cent of the English quota - Five vessels hold 20 per cent of the UK quota
- The small scale fleet make up four fifths of the entire UK fishing fleet [ii] and has just 4 per cent of the UK’s quota [iii]
The analysis shows the government gives just five industrial fishing vessels five times more quota than the small scale fishing fleet, which make up nearly 80 per cent of the UK's fleet.

Greenpeace carried out the investigation into the UK’s quota as part of its new campaign, ‘Our Net Gain’, launched today urging the government to reclaim fishing quota for local, low impact fishermen in the UK, which would benefit coastal economies and marine life.

Local, small-scale fishermen make up four fifths (79 per cent) of the UK’s fishing fleet, but only have access to four per cent of the quota. Many blamed their lack of quota and struggle for survival on the European legislation, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). However, the CFP was reformed last year, and now requires national governments to prioritise giving quota to fishing businesses which contribute most to coastal economies and fish using low impact methods, which better protect marine life.

Greenpeace and low impact fishermen are today calling on the UK government to urgently implement the reformed legislation. This would lead to a re-prioritisation of quota in favour of the smaller scale fishermen who fish off the coastline of the UK.

Kirk Stribling, a small scale fisherman and business owner from Aldeburgh in Suffolk,
“The government is not giving a fair share of quota to local fishermen who look after the sea and our communities. We fish sustainably and seasonally and we benefit our communities by selling our catch to local fish mongers and restaurants; we bring business to local net makers, boat builders and engineering companies and we keep tourism going. But instead of giving us the quota we, and our communities, need to survive, the government is choosing to give huge quantities of quota to industrial fishing businesses. That costs us jobs here but the government can put it right by implementing the Common Fisheries Policy.”

Greenpeace say that by properly implementing the legislation, the government could reclaim some quota from industrial fishing vessels because they do not fish as selectively or contribute as directly to local coastal economies, as the local, low impact fleet.

The campaigners cite the example of the Cornelis Vrolijk, a single vessel that the new analysis reveals holds nearly a quarter (23%) of the English quota and fishes in UK waters. The vessel is owned by a UK subsidiary of a Dutch company[iv] and lands all of the fish it catches in Holland. Although at least half of its 63 crew are said to be British residents[v]; the campaigners argue that given the huge amount of quota it holds, the economic benefits to the UK and marine protection would be greater if more quota were instead allocated to the 5000 strong small scale fleet which fish in the UK inshore waters.

Sarah North, Head of Oceans campaign at Greenpeace said: “The government must reclaim our quota from the vice like grip of big business and give more of it to local low impact fishers to rebuild fish stocks and revitalise our crumbling coastal communities. Because of government inaction, the benefits of the UK’s fishing quota are not coming to coastal regions and home grown businesses. Instead profits are going to industrial fishing companies, including foreign controlled businesses, which are killing jobs, the local fishing industry and tourism in coastal regions. By implementing the European law, there would be a net gain to the UK’s economy: jobs would be created; the marine environment would be better protected and the UK’s sustainable fishing sector would have a future.”

Small scale fishing provides 65 per cent of the jobs at sea in England and Wales, and there is significant evidence from the New Economics Foundation that suggests that if fish stocks were restored, the UK would gain Euro 469.8 million in revenue, and increase the number of jobs in fishing by 3000.

See the full article here with source references and report criteria.

Monday, 3 November 2014

Monday's missing one thing - much fish!

Wit a few days of decidedly inclement weather there was no trawl fish on the market in Newlyn this morning - with some boats overlanding their fish elsewhere...

a few boxes of netted monk from an inshore netter...

a solitary flat fish - but which one?...

plenty of mackerel coming in form the Bay...

though as ever things move at lightening speed of the market floor...

a fearsome sight the hake...

but no match for the boys of the netter Gary M...

or the Harvest Reaper...

on a very quiet harbour...

undergoing some underground pipework...

most of the mackerel me are out this morning - just a handful of punts now fish for winter mackerel in the Bay, a shadow of the heyday of mackerel fishing when boats from many ports as far away as Milford Haven and Weymouth would spend the winter months fishing from Newlyn during the late 1970s...

not the sunniest of starts but the promise of more on the way...

contemporary works in the form of Newlyn Society of Artists critics choice ny Laura Gacoygne at the Penzance Gallery...

always worth a look.

Sunday, 2 November 2014

Shades of the RNMDSF and Newlyn - The end of a French tradition?

Seems the RNMDSF isn't the only seamen's mission to be finding it hard going in the current economic climate - across the water in France a similar story is unfolding. Maybe photographer David Penpraze could do a French version of his Mission book - Le Sel du Monde?

At the end of the Second World War French ports had to rebuild the accommodation made available to seamen. The aim was to provide meals and a room at a reasonable cost for merchant seamen and fishermen stopping over in the ports. "Les Gens de mer" were established in all the major ports including Dunkirk, Boulogne, Le Havre, Brest, Lorient and Marseille, but are now under threat, initially because of changing work patterns and the increasing use of container ships. In 2000, the decision was taken to open these hotel/restaurants to the general public, while offering a reduced tariff for seamen. However, last year, the Association, which runs these centres was taken into administration and on 6^th November the bankruptcy court in Paris will decide whether they can continue, as losses have reached several million euros.

After the closure of the centre in Concarneau, it now looks like Le Havre and Boulogne will have to close too. The situation has worsened with the end of state subsidies from the French authorities. A further consequence of these changes is that local Seamen’s Clubs are also under threat. Given these circumstances, the French CGT trade union representatives are now fighting to ensure the survival of these centres claiming that they can be run much more efficiently by reducing what they see as the exorbitant pay given to the executives. Meanwhile, the Association has lodged a recovery plan with the Paris bankruptcy court. If the Court decides to bring their activity to an end, it will mark the disappearance of a long tradition in French ports.

Harvest Reaper towed to Newlyn by the netter Stelissa

Unsurprisingly, the AIS tracks are almost identical when one boat tows in another...

Photo courtesy of Brian Richardson

the Harvest Reaper helped into Newlyn by the harbour launch after being towed in from the fishing grounds by the Stelissa.

#SAR ONGOING FOR MISSING SKIPPER AND CREW OF TRAWLER

An approximate position of the search area 100 miles east of the Farne Islands

Humber Coastguard is coordinating the search for the missing skipper and four crew of the trawler, ‘Ocean Way’. The trawler, was last heard from about 100 miles east of the Farne Islands.

The AIS track went out of range at 23:41 last night.

The emergency beacon from the vessel began transmitting earlier today and since then the Coastguard have been trying to contact the skipper and have also been broadcasting mayday relay messages which have been requesting all shipping to look out for the missing crew.

An RAF rescue helicopter is now on scene and so far two people have been found alive in the water and winched to safety. The Norwegian helicopter Rescue 1 will arrive on scene shortly to relieve the RAF rescue helicopter.

Mike Puplett, Humber Coastguard Watch Manager said:

“We will continue searching as long as necessary. We still have the benefit of daylight and fairly favourable weather conditions for searching.”