UNITED KINGDOM ASSOCIATION OF FISH PRODUCER ORGANISATIONS
Press release:
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:
“This Judicial Review action is about the decision of Defra Minister, Richard Benyon, to step outside the UK fish quotas distribution methodology that has been established, used and understood by the 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.
Coincident with the on-going management, control and shrinkage of the over 10 metre commercial fleets, there has been growth of the under 10 metre fishing sector’s catching capacity, belatedly followed by monitoring of their catches. This too has been under government procedures and scrutiny.
To a large extent the over-fishing and over-capacity problems of the over 10 metre fleet have been solved by large-scale publicly funded scrapping and industry led re-structuring, such that our quotas are not being exceeded and as a result the fish stocks are returning to healthy populations. The under 10 metre sector however continues to have excess capacity. The contested decisions do very little to assist the required transition of the under 10 metre sector, yet they destabilise the wider industry.
The Producer Organisations have been assisting government and the under 10 metre sector to help them find solutions to match capacity with opportunity. Quotas they need and can use have been transferred regularly within year to support seasonal economic activity. There is a continuing willingness for such mechanisms to be used as before and within the framework of the established rules.
However, our members have objected to permanent removal of FQA units and associated quotas from their licences. Our members have built, restructured and rationalised their businesses and paid tax in the understanding that such FQAs are stable entitlements treated as business assets. Investment decisions have been taken on this basis. The Minister now proposes to change the rules of the game after these decisions have been taken by taking these assets without paying compensation.
UKAFPO believes the problems of the under 10 metre fishermen cannot be solved in such a way. Having endeavoured time and again to persuade the Minister to back-track and think again we have decided there is no choice but to seek a resolution in the Courts.”
Jim Portus. Chairman UKAFPO. Monday, 29 April 2013