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| Cornwall Fish Producers Organisation stalwart, Paul Trebilcock. |
The NFFO has elected Paul Trebilcock, Chief Executive
of the Cornish Fish Producers’ Organisation as its new Chairman. Paul
will take over the Chair next summer and in the meantime will hold the
position of NFFO Chairman-Elect.
“Paul is the well-known
and highly active Chief Executive of the Cornish PO and although he is
probably the youngest Chairman that we have had, he comes with a wealth
of experience”, said current Chairman Arnold Locker.
“We try to ensure that if
we have a North Sea President, we have an Area VII Chairman and this
appointment continues that useful balance”.
“Paul will be taking over
at a truly critical time for our industry, with CFP reform, marine
conservation zones and other vital decisions taken on his watch”.
Last week the NFFO met with the MMO for the first time to discuss a wide range of operational policing and monitoring issues.
THE National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) met recently at the MMO’s headquarters in Newcastle.
The NFFO said that a wide range of issues were covered including
- The design application and enforcement of management measures within marine conservation zones and special areas of conservation
- Electronic logbooks, including the development and availability of an integrated VMS/e-logbook system
- The performance of the English EFF programme
- Progress in implementing the new EU Control Regulation, including the weighing of catch provisions, 10% margin of tolerance, engine power measurement and the marking of pots
- The application of Fisheries Administrative penalties
- New MMO arrangements to ensure that all infringements are dealt with in a timely and consistent way
- Delivery and practicality issues associated with the Defra consultation on the future of under-10m quota management
- The MMO’s compliance and enforcement strategy
- Voluntary net tagging that could potentially reduce the impact of boardings at sea
- The impact of boardings on fishing operations
The NFFO said: “The NFFO and the MMO are agreed that there is a continued need for pragmatic and proportionate enforcement that, so far as possible, separates minor infringements from determined and recurrent rule-breaking. Fisheries Administrative Penalties have helped to streamline the process and a new system of monthly reviews of all fisheries offences is being implemented to bring consistency and to ensure that prosecutions if they are to happen are brought forward in a timely fashion.
“The NFFO gave examples of boardings at sea which could have been handled with greater regard for fishing operations and the MMO welcomed this feedback. . It was agreed to reinstate liaison days with the Royal Navy’s Fisheries Protection Squadron, with port visits by fisheries protection vessels in the Irish Sea, Shoreham and Hartlepool. The potential for repeated prosecutions for infringement of the 10% margin of tolerance –particularly for small quantities - was raised and the need for a reasonable, pragmatic and risk based approach was underlined by the Federation.
“It was agreed to discuss further the details of a voluntary net tagging scheme which potentially could reduce the time and anxiety of net measurements at sea.
“The navigational chaos that could result from implementation of the new Control Regulation requirements on flags, radar reflectors and lights on dhans marking pots was emphasised. The huge cost and navigational consequences of vessels confronting a ‘city of light’ and a ‘snowstorm of radar signals’ underlined the need for a practical solution.
“The Federation said that this was a constructive meeting which aimed to make the best out of a management system that is over-complex, in places fundamentally irrational, and certainly far removed from the practicalities of fishing; but is the law - until that law can be changed. The MMO has faced a difficult baptism of fire but the meeting showed that there is at least a strong will to temper the rough edges of the CFP without abandoning the core purpose of enforcing fisheries regulations.
The Federation will be meeting the MMO to continue this dialogue at regular intervals.”