Fisheries Council ends 2014 on something of a high compared to what might have been - commonsense prevails! #CFPreality

Although there will inevitably be cries of 'foul' from the NGOs and others involved in 'monitoring' and campaigning for the well-being of our waters, yesterday's fisheries council proceedings ended on a better note than many fishermen might have expected - hopefully because the delegates in Brussels can see how the results of years of fleet cuts and responsible fishing are seeing evidence of many stocks ate levels reminiscent of 20 or 30 years ago!

"THE UK government has delivered a fair deal for fishermen, according to Fisheries Minister George Eustice, striking the right balance between supporting businesses and conserving fish stocks.

The Minister's claim follows negotiations at the annual EU Fisheries and Agriculture Council where fishing quotas for 2015 were agreed.

The government entered negotiations facing challenging proposals from the Commission for precautionary reductions in the quotas of many stocks, but important increases were agreed for many parts of the UK's fishing fleet. This includes increases to cod and haddock in the North Sea, nephrops in the Celtic Sea, sole in the Western Channel and monkfish and haddock in the West of Scotland.

According to the Minister: "Where the latest scientific evidence supported it we were also able to lobby against unjustifiable cuts proposed by the Commission. Instead we ensured quotas were looked at on a case-by-case basis, achieving a rollover of current 2014 catch levels to provide stability for the fishermen who rely on these species, including skates and rays around the UK.

"The government also successfully resisted further reductions to days at sea under the cod recovery plan. This will give fishermen the time they need to fish more selectively and avoid discarding perfectly good fish.

"Finally, despite pressing hard for measures to address declining sea bass levels, we were disappointed not to leave negotiations with an agreement on specific measures to tackle this issue. The UK government has led on action to improve these stocks and has now secured a commitment from the Commission to work with Member States to reduce fishing pressure at the start of the season in 2015."

He added: "Although these were difficult negotiations, I am pleased that we were able to secure the best possible deal to ensure sustainable fisheries and a strong UK fishing industry."

Given the start of the pelagic discard ban in January 2015 the UK also ensured next year's total allowable catch took into account the ban on discarding fish, a crucial agreement following UK-led reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy last year. In addition a commitment was obtained from the Commission to undertake research to improve flexibility, allowing fishermen to use quota across regions in light of the discard ban and increased selectivity."

Full story courtesy of FishNewsEU

The UK also successfully negotiated a number of further concessions. These include:

•Days at sea kept at 2014 levels rather than reduced.

•Increased quota for fishermen in many areas, including the following:

•North Sea: 5% cod,15% Nephrops (prawns), 15% plaice

•North Sea and West Scotland : 6% haddock, 20% angler (monkfish)

•Irish Sea: Nephrops (prawns) 3%

•Around the UK: hake 11%


Reducing cuts to a number of important fish quotas by providing sound scientific evidence to the Council. Including: 

•Celtic Sea: 64% cut to cod reduced to 26% and 41% cut to haddock reduced to 12%

•Eastern Channel: 60% cut to sole reduced to 28%

•Bristol Channel: 35% cut to sole reduced to 15%


As well as maintaining 2014 quotas for a number of stocks, including:

•Irish Sea: haddock

•South West: angler (monkfish), megrim

•Bristol Channel: plaice

•North Sea: megrim, dab and flounder, sole and ling

And accepting proposals for cuts where necessary to protect stocks, including:

•Celtic Sea: 30% cut to herring, 26% cut to cod and 12% •North Sea: 5% herring, 15% saithe.

Live press conference from the EU Fisheries Council 2014 #eatmorefish

"The sea around us taking stock of our fish oceans and people" a PEW presentation today at 10pm (5pm ET)

Check out this presentation from PEW Trust.

Click here for the presentation.

Follow the event with #PewSea

“MINISTER SHOULD RETHINK DECISION ON AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE MMO”

The issue here is the long-term damage being done by the continuing ineffectiveness of the MMO in managing the UK fisheries it is ultimately responsible for - and, unlike the fishing communities that it is supposed to be serving who by its actions are fast disappearing, the MMO can simply be re-created.


The NFFO releases a statement saying an 'ad hoc' approach to a review is no longer satisfactory.

“Minister should rethink decision on an Independent Review of the MMO” In a recent statement, the NFFO has argued that the Minister’s decision to reject calls for an independent review of the Marine Management Organisation’s fisheries functions is a mistake. In a reply to a Federation open letter, Fisheries Minister, George Eustice, has argued that if there have been problems with the MMO in the past, they are now on the way to being resolved.

If you think the MMO needs to be the subject of an independent review then sign the online petition to the Government here:

The NFFO has responded as follows:

“The problem is that we have been trying this ad hoc approach for some time now, with no sign that it is making any difference. MMO Chief Executives have come and gone and still the organisation shows no sign of getting a grip on its central functions.”

“The Minister seems to show little awareness of the breadth and depth of the malaise affecting the body that holds fishermen’s livelihoods in its hands. Fooling himself that all is well in the essentials is to gamble with those livelihoods. The catalogue of problems is too wide and appears to be too deep seated, to be dismissed with soothing words. They include data-collection and data-management, quota and effort management, vessel (satellite) monitoring systems and electronic logbooks, as well as the administration of EFF grants.”

“When a former DEFRA Director of Fisheries takes the view that papering over the cracks in the MMO won't work and that an independent review is required, it is time to listen. When numerous members of Parliament expressed the same view, as they did in the recent annual fisheries debate in Westminster, it is clear that a review is overdue.”

“You can't help but have some sympathy for the MMO in all this. It is a body which had to start almost from scratch when in the transition from the Marine Fisheries Agency to Marine Management Organisation, and in the shift from London to Newcastle, it lost most of its staff and therefore, experience. It was also unfortunate in losing, in short order, both its first chairman and its first chief executive, after some kind of personality clash got out of control. For a long period there was a standard denial of any kind of deep seated problem although the evidence pointed elsewhere.”

“Since then, it has not been possible to fault the MMO, either for acknowledging that there are indeed a range of fundamental problems and for their willingness to address them. The difficulty lies in the lack of actual visible progress. Assurance has followed assurance but the problems on the ground remain legion and now forward progress can be seen. Political decisions lie at the heart of the MMO’s problems and we consider that it is going to take a political decision to fix them.”

“This is why a short, authoritative, independent review is necessary. If the MMO cannot heal itself, it is vital that the Government intervenes to put things on track. We cannot continue stumbling on with a dysfunctional delivery and enforcement agency, and with soothing words that add up to nothing.”

“Given the multiple challenges facing both the industry and the fisheries management systems posed by the impending implementation of the EU landings obligation, there is no time to lose in getting the MMO into a state that it can meet those challenges.”

“An independent review would be the quickest way to identify the underlying issues and get the MMO on to the road to recovery.”

Fishing industry 'on the precipice’ as key quota talks take place in Brussels

Proposed cuts to the amount of fish the Westcountry fleet can land must be scaled back by 90% or risk pushing the industry “over the precipice”, a leading spokesman has said.

Crunch Brussels talks started today to determine the size of catch permissible for the region across a range of species.

 Fishing leaders have described the proposals to remove as much as 12% of the total annual catch – worth an estimated £10 million to ports in Devon and Cornwall – as potentially devastating.

Fisheries Minister George Eustice dismissed the “apocalyptic” vision of the industry when new quotas kick in next year and has pledged to “deliver a fair deal for our fishermen across the UK”.

The Cornwall MP has insisted he will be pushing at the meeting of EU ministers for quota to be the same level as this year in many cases.

Jim Portus, chief executive of South Western Fish Producer Organisation, is currently at the talks lobbying for a reduction in cuts to key stocks of around 10% of the current recommendations.


Speaking from the Belgian city, Mr Portus told the Western Morning News that cuts in quotas for Dover sole, plaice and angler fish amounting to £3 million would be unsustainable.

“The industry can cope with some cuts but I want them to be minimised so that rather than losing 12% we see something closer to 2%,” he added. “I don’t believe for one minute that we are going to achieve the status quo of opportunities in every stock. “All ministers are going to have to explain to the world the motives behind their decisions in terms of how they match the science and whether it is appropriate to take a graduated approach rather than slipping the industry over the precipice in one year.”

The EU Fisheries Council is set to continue today with a resolution expected sometime in the early hours of tomorrow(Weds). Monkfish, megrim and sole – the most important fish to Devon and Cornwall – face an annual cut of up to 35%. Haddock, which represents 5% of the value of fisheries landed in the region, faces a reduction of up to 40%. The meeting comes as commercial fisheries in North Devon are already reeling from the early closure of skate and ray landings this year, which has resulted in jobs being lost and boats tied up.

Mr Eustice said: “We have a strong track record of leading the pack when it comes to fisheries including securing reforms to the broken Common Fisheries Policy so regional differences are now taken into account in decision making.

“Having heard from different parts of our fleet I will be representing the entirety of UK fisheries to achieve our shared goals of a thriving fishing industry, sustainable fish stocks and a healthy marine environment.”

Paul Trebilcock, of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation, said the minister had recognised the “potential implications” of the tabled cuts going ahead. He said: “We have given him the scientific evidence and ammunition – it is now a case of deploying this in a way which improves the proposal.”

Read more from the Western Morning News or on Twitter @WMNNews 

Bring a smile to Shaun's face - make it £20,000 for Christmas!

Sales of the book of the fishing community men and women of Newlyn who are the 'Salt of the Earth' have now reached over £19000 - Mission skipper Jjulian Waring is dreaming of making it £20,000 by Christmas Eve - help spread the word!

Order your Newlyn fishermen photographic album "Salt of the Earth" through the Mission Ebay site

 

Radio 4 talks to Paul Trebilcock from the CFPO.

Fisheries ministers from all over the EU are meeting in Brussels today to negotiate an agreement on quotas. Quotas are set to achieve what it calls Maximum Sustainable Yield, the number of fish scientists say can be aught in order to preserve future stocks. Farming Today speaks to Paul Trebilcock from the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation as they prepare for cuts to their quotas next year.