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Thursday 13 December 2018

Steaming for home when the weather is not so good.

At this time of year when the weather has that wintry feel, boats like the Ajax often steam for 12 hours or more in weather like this to bring the catch home to market. Hake from the Ajax will be ready for auction on Friday morning's market in Newlyn.

When is the next Newlyn Harbour Commissioner's meeting?

Just a quick head's up - tomorrow, Newlyn Harbour Commissioners and the Advisory Board get together for an end-of-year soirée which starts at 5pm just before the Newlyn Harbour Lights celebrations start at 6pm.

The next proper Harbour Commissioners meeting is now scheduled for January the 17th to which the public WILL be able to attend.

Wednesday 12 December 2018

Live from Parliament - Scrutiny of the 2018 Fisheries Bill and the Landing Obligation committee meetings.

Implementation and enforcement of the EU landing obligation

This morning live from the Environment Committee meeting: Implementation and enforcement of the EU landing obligation

10:05

Witness(es): Mr John Tuckett, CEO, Marine Management Organisation Mr Michael Coyle, Head of Compliance and Control, Marine Management Organisation Mr Julian Roberts, Head of Future Fisheries , Marine Management Organisation Mr Allan Gibb, Head of Sea Fisheries Division, Marine Scotland

And running at the same time in another committee room:

The Fisheries Bill receives another reading:

The morning session:

Witnesses: Chris Williams, Senior Programme Manager, New Economics Foundation, Dr Thomas Appleby, representative, Blue Marine Foundation, and Martin Salter, Head of Campaigns, The Angling Trust
Witnesses: Helen McLachlan, representative, Greener UK, Dr Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, Lecturer in Marine Conservation, University of Plymouth

Starting 9:30am there were two panels discussing the #fisheriesbill

Panel 1:
- Chris Williams @NEF
- Dr Thomas Appleby @Bluemarinef
- Martin Salter @AnglingTrust

Panel 2:
- Dr Abigail McQuatters-Gollop @anaturalstate
- Helen McLachlan @wwf_uk

The afternoon session:

Background

The Committee have heard from a range of witnesses, including fishermen, conservation organisations and fisheries researchers, about the EU landing obligation. The obligation, which comes fully into force from January 2019, require fishermen to land all fish they catch rather than discard some back into the sea. The Committee have heard concerns about the impact this will have on fishermen’s livelihoods and about the difficulties there will be in monitoring compliance with the new rules.

Likely areas of questioning

Is the UK ready and able to fully implement the landing obligation from January?
What additional resources will be needed to monitor compliance?
What steps are being taken to protect the fishing industry, and how will this be balanced with the need to protect fish stocks and prevent overfishing?
What impact will leaving the EU have on implementing the landing obligation?

Witnesses:

George Eustice MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Anne Freeman, Deputy Director for Domestic Fisheries and Reform, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Location
Room 5, Palace of Westminster

It's time to switch on Newlyn Lights this Friday!

Fire up the reindeers and come on down to the harbour for this year's awesome Newlyn Harbour Lights switch-on which starts at 6pm!

After Penlee Lifeboat delivers Santa safely to the quay all children will be given a free a raffle ticket then Father Christmas will pick the winning ticket and that winning ticket will get to turn all the lights on!

Before and after the Carols there will be plenty of drinks and mince pies galore!

Tuesday 11 December 2018

MMO to introduce VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) for the Under 10m sector.

Silvery Sea is a typical Cornish Under10m vessel

The MMO says that with the help of fishermen at ports across the UK, it has developed an app that can be used on a smartphone, tablet or computer to record catches.

Michael Coyle, MMO head of compliance and control, said: “We have been testing the prototype with users, and we will continue to do so as we develop the service. The app is designed to be quick and easy to use, as we want to minimise additional work for fishermen to comply with licence conditions.

“The indications are that it takes just 90 seconds to record a single-species catch via the new app.

“Our aim is to support the viability of the fishing businesses by making fishing sustainable long-term. To do that, we need to better understand the full impact of fishing on stocks.

“Introducing a requirement for under-10m vessels – the majority of the fleet – to record their catch, both quota and non-quota, would give us a much clearer picture of how much fish we are taking from our seas. It would also enable us to act more fairly and efficiently to conserve stocks at levels that support sustainable fisheries in the future.”

A consultation is about to start so the MMO can better understand how catch-recording will affect the under-10s, with a view to launching the change in 2019.

Answering criticism that small fishing businesses already have enough to do without introducing even more reporting, Michael Coyle said, “We understand how hard fishermen and people in the industry work. Our aim is not to introduce more reporting for its own sake, but to support our plan to develop a sustainable fishing industry for the future.

“The new recording arrangements will reduce the paper burden on fishermen. The existing process will be replaced and there will be just one recording requirement, which can be done very quickly via a smartphone.”

DEFRA is already consulting on the introduction of vessel monitoring (iVMS) for the English inshore (under-12m) fleet, and plans a phased roll-out between April 2019 and June 2021. Scotland will introduce iVMS for the under-12s in 2020 (Fishing News, 18 October, ‘VMS for under-12m fleet’).

Michael Coyle said that combined with data from iVMS, the catch-recording information can be used to trial new ways of managing fishing opportunities. This should:

Lead to fairer, more efficient fisheries management
Protect the rights of fishermen
Allow skippers to demonstrate their track record more easily
Prove that the UK is taking appropriate steps to fish more sustainably, which is key to positive marketing for commercial fishing.
The MMO says that fishermen and the industry are gearing up for a period of major change during the coming year, including Brexit, the discards ban, and new digital services from the MMO.

The consultation is expected to start early in January 2019.

NUTFA: ‘More questions than answers’

Commenting on the MMO proposals, New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association (NUTFA) leader Jerry Percy said there was no doubt that electronic vessel monitoring and catch reporting were coming for thousands of the UK’s under-10s.

“The MMO has not suggested any length cut-off point, to date, for smaller vessels, so all we can hope for is that it has a genuine consultation, listens to working fishermen, and recognises and reacts to the practical difficulties involved,” he told Fishing News.

“As ever, the devil will be in the detail, and the proposals already throw up many more questions than answers – not least, just why do small-scale guys need to record and report their catch before it leaves the boat? And just how are they supposed to gauge the weight of catch without scales, when the current system of supplying sales notes within 24 hours provides more accurate information?”

He said the MMO app promotion video makes reporting via smartphone look easy, using only three species – whereas the reality for many under-10s can be very different.

“Many will catch a variety of around 30 species, using a variety of gears and differing soak times, so the reporting process will take a great deal longer than the suggested few minutes.”

Referring to the linked plan to introduce VMS monitoring for the under-12m fleet (Fishing News, 18 October), Jerry Percy said one of the big issues for smaller boats is powering the iVMS kit.

“The MMO’s requirement for ‘type approval’ precludes the use of solar-powered equipment, despite its clear benefits for many under-10s. Past experience also illustrates the problems in getting kit fixed – and without a working iVMS, you will not be allowed to put to sea.

“Try explaining that to a small-scale fisherman who has to wait a week for a service engineer, when no type-approved supplier currently has a network of qualified engineers that can cover the entire country and guarantee a same-day service.”

He said that NUTFA and the Coastal PO – which have particular expertise in this field – will be ensuring that the voice of the under-10s, and common sense, prevail in the consultation process, and subsequently.

“UK officials are apparently confident that they are not envisaging any problems in the roll-out of iVMS to 2,380 vessels. What could possibly go wrong with a large-scale governmental computerised system… ?”

Brexit sweetener? - financial boost for fishing from Gove.

The UK government will table an amendment to its Brexit fisheries bill which will aim to "enshrine its commitment to secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities" for UK fishermen, it has said.

The amendment would place a legal obligation on the secretary of state, when negotiating a fisheries agreement with the EU, to pursue a fairer share of fishing opportunities than the UK currently receives under the common fisheries policy (CFP).

This, the government said, would overhaul the current system where UK fishermen have received a "poor deal that is based on fishing patterns from the 1970s".

"On average between 2012 and 2016 other EU member states’ vessels landed in the region of 760,000 [metric tons] of fish (£540 million revenue) annually caught in UK waters; whereas UK vessels landed approximately 90,000t of fish (£110m revenue) caught in other member states’ waters per year in the same time period."

As well as strengthening the law, the UK environment secretary, Michael Gove, announced £37.2m of extra funding to boost the UK fishing industry during the Brexit "implementation period".

This is in addition to the existing European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) funding, which at €243m over seven years is broadly equivalent to £32m a year, it said.

The government and devolved administrations (Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales) have already committed to match the EMFF funding with around £60m, so the extra funding will support more projects and the sector will benefit by a total of £320m, the government said.

Gove has also committed that the government will put in place new, domestic, long-term arrangements to support the UK’s fishing industry from 2021, through the creation of four new schemes comparable to EMFF to deliver funding for each nation. The devolved administrations will lead on their own schemes.

"We are taking back control of our waters and will secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities for the whole of the UK fishing industry as we leave the EU. The amendment to the Fisheries Bill will give legal weight to this commitment," said Gove.

"New funding will boost the industry as we become an independent coastal state, preparing it to receive a greater share of future fishing opportunities. The new schemes will be introduced after EMFF has closed in 2020. Details of these will be set at the 2019 spending review."

In England, the scheme is designed to:

support innovation -- in technologies to enhance economic growth, reduce environmental impact and improve fishing safety

improve port infrastructure -- so more fish can be landed in UK ports, and help the sector take advantage of new export opportunities after exit

boost coastal communities -- by providing benefits to areas that depend on a vibrant and profitable industry, and

help the sector adjust -- to new arrangements on access and fishing opportunities by improving capacity and capability to exploit new export opportunities and markets.

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation welcomed the amendment to the bill, and the commitment of extra resources for the sector to aid the UK's transition to an independent coastal state and beyond.

"Particularly pleasing is the rejection of French president Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that existing shares of fish be maintained post-Brexit, and the establishment instead of a platform for annual negotiations to move towards much fairer shares."

The industry remains adamant that there must be no link between access to UK waters and trade with the EU, it said. Fears had been growing among the UK fishing sector, as it became clear the text of the fisheries bill left room for such a trade-off.