On top of ever-increasingly over-zealous regulations from the likes of the MMO, MCA and MSC et al come even more devastating proposals to change where fishermen can fish - where they have done in some cacses for centuries.
An industry post today and an incredibly important one for any and all of you who like me, value our wonderful British seafood. Fishermen all around the shores of the UK are under a grave threat. Draconian top-down and ill-advised legislation is set to determine the futures of one of our oldest, most dramatic, essential and until recently, revered occupations.
A toxic combination of poorly thought through government policy, loaded and supported with biased and dogmatic, unproven assertions from well-funded and single agenda organisations, is making life unbearable for many of our historic fishing communities. Indeed, their very existence hangs on a precipice and none more so than in the case of the Scottish West Coast, where HMPAs (Highly Protected Marine Areas) are destined to occupy a devastating 20,000 square miles of sea area, barred to any form of economic activity. Even a hand line for mackerel !!
It’s a clear and present danger to our coastal communities and livelihoods derived from the sea’s wild harvest.
The UK fishing industry is a relatively small but incredibly significant sector, which if left to wither, will lead to devastating consequences for fishing community socioeconomics and their own sustainability.
Hospitality need to be made aware of this. Those delicious langoustine, crab, scallop and lobster that so many chefs delight in using, will become increasingly expensive or even unavailable. We must support our fishermen in whatever locality, but here in the Western Isles the threat is immediate and seriously affecting the mental health of all involved, many of whom have been working their local waters for generations.
If you value local, seasonal British seafood, eaten either at home or abroad, then please consider this threat seriously and the realisation that the identity of Britain’s harbours and coastlines could change irreparably.
And this from The Female Fisherman: thefemalefisherman
"Every small scale fisherman in this country is under threat, if you stop and take a look around at the crippling legislations from our various governing organisations the future looks barren!. At the moment the fishermen on the west coast of Scotland are facing being an endangered species with highly protected marine areas threatening to stop their very existence… . But you can help… you can sign the petition (link in bio) or answer the consultation (which I must say is not the easiest option or very accessible to anyone) or download/stream @skipinnish_ protest song ‘the clearances again’ I fear that this will be another nail in the coffin for the British fishing industry if we don’t start standing together and fighting back against those that set to delete us.Thank you for taking the time to read, listen and support an industry at threat of dying out"
Of course it is not just the Uk that is being affected as can be seen from the response above. Globalisation and rampant consumerism is shaping the world we live in to the extent that the actions of these ever-growing multinationals is having the same devastating affect the world over - and not in a good way. You have to wonder just what sort of work today's grandchildren will inherit.
Angus MacPhail's song, The Clearances Again is one man's small protest at the way things are headed in just his part of the world where many in his position see the much of his homeland, Scotland being reduced to a giant theme park.
The Clearances Again - Angus MacPhail
Farewell to the cliffs of Mingulay
And the shores of the Sandray Sound
And the glow of a boat well laden
Steaming north when you’re homeward bound.
Donald Francis MacNeil is my name, I’m a fisherman through to the bone. I have lived by the creel and the wave To provide for a family and home. Generations before me have followed The toil and the call of the seas But the soul will be torn from our future And the heart from the Hebrides.
I have hauled through the stacks and the arches And learned from the old in my youth. Ten thousand seabirds my chorus The sea is my way and my truth. At one with the ocean, with nature, The world above and below, The harvest of harmony’s circle But my life and my living must go For the fashions of urban ideals Where passions of ignorance play To the lies of political deals - No care for the lives in their way.
My people, my language, my Island And the rights that our forefathers won To remain on the soil of our homeland By the sweep of a pen will be gone - A wrecking ball through our existence; Tradition and culture condemned At the hands of the arrogant stranger - The Clearances over again.
But we’ll join with the kin of our coastline From Ness to the Holy Isle. Faceless grey suits from the cities, They will not play games with our lives. My song marks a fight for survival A Mayday call we cry. We will stand for the rights of our children. We will not let our islands die.
Donald Francis MacNeil is my name, I’m a fisherman through to the bone. I have lived by the creel and the wave To provide for a family and home. Generations before me have followed The toil and the call of the seas But the soul will be torn from our future And the heart from the Hebrides.
I have hauled through the stacks and the arches And learned from the old in my youth. Ten thousand seabirds my chorus The sea is my way and my truth. At one with the ocean, with nature, The world above and below, The harvest of harmony’s circle But my life and my living must go For the fashions of urban ideals Where passions of ignorance play To the lies of political deals - No care for the lives in their way.
My people, my language, my Island And the rights that our forefathers won To remain on the soil of our homeland By the sweep of a pen will be gone - A wrecking ball through our existence; Tradition and culture condemned At the hands of the arrogant stranger - The Clearances over again.
But we’ll join with the kin of our coastline From Ness to the Holy Isle. Faceless grey suits from the cities, They will not play games with our lives. My song marks a fight for survival A Mayday call we cry. We will stand for the rights of our children. We will not let our islands die.
The same issues are being hotly contested in France:
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| Fishermen demonstrate brest death of fishing FRED TANNEAU AFP |
LIKE THE THERMAL CAR, BOTTOM TRAWLING IS DOOMED TO DISAPPEAR
The ban on bottom trawling proposed by the European Commission has set fire to the powder leading to "dead days" for the first time in the ports. However, this technique, much criticised for its environmental impact and very fuel-intensive, is doomed to disappear if France wants to achieve its climate objectives.
"Dead days in ports". A first for the sector. At the end of March, hundreds of angry fishermen left their boats at the dock to protest. "We are here to tell Europe: stop your bullshit" , testifies Yann, a Breton fisherman interviewed by Le Télégramme. In the line of sight, the proposal made at the end of February by the European Commission to ban bottom trawling gear in marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030 because they "are among the most widespread and devastating activities for the seabed and the habitats associated with it," she explains.
One more injustice, denounce the fishermen, already cornered by Brexit, fishing quotas, rising fuel prices or even the restriction of fishing in certain areas of the Bay of Biscay in order to preserve dolphins . “The accumulation of standards, threats, litigation calls into question the very foundation of our profession by making us feel guilty for exercising our professions”, notes the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farming (CNPMEM), which represents the sector. . " The cup is full."
"In 30 years, the trawl will have disappeared, a bit like the thermal car" For France, the ban on bottom trawling would eliminate a third of the fleet and leave 4,350 sea fishermen unemployed, according to calculations by the CNPMEM. “Today, bottom gear produces half of French fishing, i.e. nearly 204,000 tonnes for a value of around 500 million euros”, details the Committee in a press release . "More broadly, the door is wide open to even more imports from third countries such as China, Russia or Norway! (…) We are not playing Russian roulette with the future of a sector “, concludes Olivier Le Nézet, its president.
The Pleine Mer association, which has been working for a sustainable transition in fishing for four years, also recognises that " as things stand, such a measure would have catastrophic socio-economic impacts". And it is the artisanal fishermen who would be the first affected. “75% of the boats in the MPAs are artisanal, explains to Novethic Thibault Josse, the coordinator of Pleine Mer. We tend to think that artisanal fishing is necessarily good for the environment, but this is not always the case. In the bay of Saint-Brieuc for example, covered by an MPA on 20% of its surface, we are talking about family businesses that would go out of business if the use of the dredge was banned overnight.
However, the association also insists on the fact that banning trawling is inevitable in MPAs. "In 30 years, the trawl will have disappeared, a bit like the thermal car. And nothing will change, it's public opinion that wants that: we can't say that areas are protected if we use fishing techniques that have an impact on the environment. So you might as well prepare for this ban". It thus proposes to review the MPA zones in consultation with the fishermen and to financially encourage them to gradually turn to new alternative fishing techniques.
Trawling is 'the most fuel-intensive fishing method in Europe'
At the heart of the sector's transition, there is also its decarbonization in order to reduce the use of fossil fuels as much as possible, what is more in a context of soaring prices. However, as the NGO Oceana reminds us in a report on the subject published on February 1, trawling is " the most fuel-consuming fishing method in Europe" because trawlers need a significant tractive force. to pull the trawl. In addition to environmental protection, the end of the trawl therefore also has an economic advantage.
Thus, the NGO proposes to tackle the fuel subsidies paid to fishermen. Diesel is indeed tax-exempt for professional fishermen. However, according to a report published by Our Fish on April 12 on EU subsidies, " with a tax of 33 cents per liter in 2019 (the minimum level of taxation applicable to fuels), the EU could have paid the salaries 20,000 fishermen for one year or 6,500 energy reduction and decarbonisation projects" . These discussions could be initiated within the framework of the revision of the European directive on energy taxation.
Need for a democratic debate
And if this crisis, this historic movement initiated by fishermen, was finally an opportunity to transform itself sustainably in the face of the climate emergency, the decline of biodiversity, the energy crisis but also the lack of attractiveness of the profession among young people . Yes, but "the French artisanal fishing sector is facing a political class totally disconnected from the realities of fishermen and 'representative' institutions that are increasingly plagued by industrial fishing lobbies", regrets Pleine Mer . also a very solitary profession, where it is difficult to organize collectively ", adds Thibault Josse.
Among one of the demands of the "Angry Fishermen" movement who demonstrated at the end of March, there was precisely the dissolution of the National Fisheries Committee*. He is also accused of having set fire to the powder. The Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, is also highly criticised. He has in fact affirmed on several occasions that the Plan published by the European Commission on bottom trawling would " condemn French artisanal fishing and lead it to disappear, not in 10 years, tomorrow ", suggesting that it was binding, which has never been the case. It was just a proposal.
Then after traveling to Brussels, the government and the Fisheries Committee congratulated themselves on the in reality imaginary "victory" they had won. Therefore, the Bloom association filed a complaint against Hervé Berville before the Court of Justice of the Republic for his "misleading remarks" which "damaged the possibility of leading an informed and peaceful democratic debate concerning the transitions that we must begin". As a reminder, in this explosive context, the offices of the French Office for Biodiversity were set on fire in Brest.
"Dead days in ports". A first for the sector. At the end of March, hundreds of angry fishermen left their boats at the dock to protest. "We are here to tell Europe: stop your bullshit" , testifies Yann, a Breton fisherman interviewed by Le Télégramme. In the line of sight, the proposal made at the end of February by the European Commission to ban bottom trawling gear in marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030 because they "are among the most widespread and devastating activities for the seabed and the habitats associated with it," she explains.
One more injustice, denounce the fishermen, already cornered by Brexit, fishing quotas, rising fuel prices or even the restriction of fishing in certain areas of the Bay of Biscay in order to preserve dolphins . “The accumulation of standards, threats, litigation calls into question the very foundation of our profession by making us feel guilty for exercising our professions”, notes the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farming (CNPMEM), which represents the sector. . " The cup is full."
"In 30 years, the trawl will have disappeared, a bit like the thermal car" For France, the ban on bottom trawling would eliminate a third of the fleet and leave 4,350 sea fishermen unemployed, according to calculations by the CNPMEM. “Today, bottom gear produces half of French fishing, i.e. nearly 204,000 tonnes for a value of around 500 million euros”, details the Committee in a press release . "More broadly, the door is wide open to even more imports from third countries such as China, Russia or Norway! (…) We are not playing Russian roulette with the future of a sector “, concludes Olivier Le Nézet, its president.
The Pleine Mer association, which has been working for a sustainable transition in fishing for four years, also recognises that " as things stand, such a measure would have catastrophic socio-economic impacts". And it is the artisanal fishermen who would be the first affected. “75% of the boats in the MPAs are artisanal, explains to Novethic Thibault Josse, the coordinator of Pleine Mer. We tend to think that artisanal fishing is necessarily good for the environment, but this is not always the case. In the bay of Saint-Brieuc for example, covered by an MPA on 20% of its surface, we are talking about family businesses that would go out of business if the use of the dredge was banned overnight.
However, the association also insists on the fact that banning trawling is inevitable in MPAs. "In 30 years, the trawl will have disappeared, a bit like the thermal car. And nothing will change, it's public opinion that wants that: we can't say that areas are protected if we use fishing techniques that have an impact on the environment. So you might as well prepare for this ban". It thus proposes to review the MPA zones in consultation with the fishermen and to financially encourage them to gradually turn to new alternative fishing techniques.
Trawling is 'the most fuel-intensive fishing method in Europe'
At the heart of the sector's transition, there is also its decarbonization in order to reduce the use of fossil fuels as much as possible, what is more in a context of soaring prices. However, as the NGO Oceana reminds us in a report on the subject published on February 1, trawling is " the most fuel-consuming fishing method in Europe" because trawlers need a significant tractive force. to pull the trawl. In addition to environmental protection, the end of the trawl therefore also has an economic advantage.
Thus, the NGO proposes to tackle the fuel subsidies paid to fishermen. Diesel is indeed tax-exempt for professional fishermen. However, according to a report published by Our Fish on April 12 on EU subsidies, " with a tax of 33 cents per liter in 2019 (the minimum level of taxation applicable to fuels), the EU could have paid the salaries 20,000 fishermen for one year or 6,500 energy reduction and decarbonisation projects" . These discussions could be initiated within the framework of the revision of the European directive on energy taxation.
Need for a democratic debate
And if this crisis, this historic movement initiated by fishermen, was finally an opportunity to transform itself sustainably in the face of the climate emergency, the decline of biodiversity, the energy crisis but also the lack of attractiveness of the profession among young people . Yes, but "the French artisanal fishing sector is facing a political class totally disconnected from the realities of fishermen and 'representative' institutions that are increasingly plagued by industrial fishing lobbies", regrets Pleine Mer . also a very solitary profession, where it is difficult to organize collectively ", adds Thibault Josse.
Among one of the demands of the "Angry Fishermen" movement who demonstrated at the end of March, there was precisely the dissolution of the National Fisheries Committee*. He is also accused of having set fire to the powder. The Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, is also highly criticised. He has in fact affirmed on several occasions that the Plan published by the European Commission on bottom trawling would " condemn French artisanal fishing and lead it to disappear, not in 10 years, tomorrow ", suggesting that it was binding, which has never been the case. It was just a proposal.
Then after traveling to Brussels, the government and the Fisheries Committee congratulated themselves on the in reality imaginary "victory" they had won. Therefore, the Bloom association filed a complaint against Hervé Berville before the Court of Justice of the Republic for his "misleading remarks" which "damaged the possibility of leading an informed and peaceful democratic debate concerning the transitions that we must begin". As a reminder, in this explosive context, the offices of the French Office for Biodiversity were set on fire in Brest.
