Huge freezer trawler Margiris in Scottish waters

AIS courtesy of @VesselTracker

One of the world's largest trawlers with a reputation just a huge - the giant freezer trawler is back in uk waters off the top of Scotland.

To the rescue

Photo courtesy of Julyan Drew

Busy day again in Newlyn as the lifeboat Ivan Ellen returns to port passing the Girl Pamela with an overheating main engine under tow by the St Piran. 

An open letter to Fisheries Minsiter, George Eustice

The President and Chairman of the NFFO have written a joint  letter to Fisheries Minister George Eustice, warning against a one-dimensional MSY approach to setting TACs for 2015.

George Eustice MP
Minister for Fisheries
DEFRA
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London      
SW1P 3JR

Dear Minister,

TACs for 2015

                       
It would be difficult to exaggerate the sense of frustration within the fishing industry over this year’s ICES advice, especially when read in conjunction with the Commission’s Communication on how it intends to approach the December negotiations this year.

With a few exceptions, stock after stock displays low or declining fishing mortality and steadily rebuilding biomass. The advice also suggests that major cuts quota will be proposed for 2015.

Fishing mortality has been steadily falling across all the main species groups since 2000. Biomasses of commercial species in general are responding to this reduction in fishing pressure, albeit at different rates in different stocks. Despite this progress, stock after stock faces very significant reductions in quota for 2015.

There are always questions over whether the assessments portray an accurate picture of the stock abundance but the main problem here is not with the science or the scientists. ICES has been asked to present its catch forecasts and TAC options in terms of maximum sustainable yield. The quota recommendations in the main are the result of the rigid application of MSY doctrine, now enshrined in law, which requires TACs to be set to achieve MSY by 2015, “where possible.”

You will not find many in the fishing industry who are against steady movement towards high yield fisheries. The issue is not whether MSY, MEY, or some other proxy for high yields fisheries should be our objective; the difficulty arises because an MSY policy approach is linked by law to a rigid timetable and which ignores biological realities and economic and social consequences.

Fishermen have done all that has been asked of them in terms of reducing fishing mortality. Some stocks have responded dramatically to this change; some more modestly and some hardly at all. Incoming year classes are the key to stock abundance when fishing pressure has been lowered but recruitment success is not yet responsive to political dictat. Patience is not a very exciting call to arms but in many cases it is what is now required.

This letter is therefore a plea. Given that fishing mortalities on most of our stocks are now low; given that cutting quotas in mixed fisheries, set on the basis of single stock assessments, invariably results in discards; given that another round of TAC cuts at a time when the abundance of fish experienced on the grounds is increasing generates incomprehension and anger within the industry; our plea is for you to take the lead in arguing for a pragmatic, outcome from the autumn negotiations focused on actual outcomes rather than dogma.

A degree of flexibility must be used to soften the harsh edges of a rigid MSY policy. If fish stock abundance was going in a different direction; if fishing mortality trends were increasing; if TAC cuts didn't generate more discards, there would still be a case for a less brutal approach. As it stands we have logic, fairness, rationality and biological realities on one side and an incoherent, scientifically challenged, political obligation to apply MSY on the other. We urge you to use all your resources to persuade the Commission and fellow ministers to temper this brutal approach with common sense. Stocks are rebuilding but perhaps we need a little patience.

Yours sincerely

Paul Trebilcock                                                    Tony Delahunty
President                                                              Chairman

Hardly news to fishermen - Government report says the EU CFP has failed to achieve its main objectives!

The EU's Common Fisheries Policy failed to achieve its central objectives, the government's review of the balance of power between the UK and the EU has concluded.

Those submitting evidence to the review "overwhelmingly" felt it had not successfully maintained fish stocks, the government said. This had prompted "significant debate on how well the UK's national interest is served" by the policy, it added. But recent reforms had helped, it said.

The government began an audit of all the policy areas over which the EU institutions exercise power in July 2012, consulting widely with organisations and individuals with an interest in each policy area, and has published its findings in phases since July 2013. The latest batch of reports focused on fisheries, agriculture, human rights, social cohesion, energy, the free movement of services, competition and consumer policy, financial services, the EU budget, and employment. In its review of fisheries policy, the government noted that the UK had been calling for fundamental reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) for many years.

'Totemic'

The European Commission has also highlighted failures associated with policing the policy, including overfishing and burdensome subsidies. "To the general public, the spectacle of fish being thrown overboard dead or dying was a totemic sign of the CFP's failure to manage fisheries sustainably, and the failure of the EU political process to agree credible rules," the government said. In May 2013, EU member state governments and the European Parliament reached a deal aiming to allow nations to reallocate fish quotas from large operators to small in a drive to reduce the damage caused by overfishing. They had agreed earlier in the year to end the policy of discarding unwanted fish.

However, the report did not find a consensus on how to reform the system further.

Some organisations had argued in favour of returning fisheries policy back to the national level, it said. But it concluded: "The majority of respondents, though not all, supported some form of supranational management of fisheries due to the transboundary nature of fish stocks." Both the Institute for European Environment Policy and the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations had suggested that good decision-making on fisheries was possible at the EU level - despite the failings of the past.

There was also a broad welcome for recent reforms that will involve more decisions on fisheries being taken at a regional level, the report said. "Many respondents thought devolving more decisions to the regional level would enable more responsive fisheries management," it explained.

Scraping the barrel? Fishermen in clover as cod stocks are highest for 20 years - #eatmorefish

The first haul of cod aboard the Replenish this morning - 107 boxes of cod fill the fish pound almost all the way up to the shelterdeck. Fishing like that will mean the boat will only be at sea for 4 or 5 days before they are full to the hatches with cod. 

Breakdown by Member State of the global resources of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 11 June 2014 setting out the annual breakdown by Member State of the global resources of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund available in the framework of shared management for the period 2014-2020 (notified under document C(2014) 3781) (2014/372/EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to the Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 ), and in particular Article 16(2) thereof, 

 Whereas: 

(1) Pursuant to Article 13(1) of the Regulation (EU) No 508/2014, the resources available for commitments from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (‘EMFF’) for the period 2014 to 2020 under shared management amount to EUR 5 749 331 600 in current prices, in accordance with the annual breakdown set out in Annex II to that Regulation. 

(2) Pursuant to Article 16(2) of the Regulation (EU) No 508/2014, it is necessary to set out the annual breakdown by Member State of the global resources allocated under the EMFF under shared management, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 The annual breakdown by Member State of the global resources available from the EMFF for the period 2014 to 2020 under shared management shall be as set out in the Annex. Article 2 This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

French yacht runs aground on Battery Rocks off Penzance - Ivan Ellen to the rescue!

Both Penlee lifeboats were called out this morning to rescue a French yacht that had run aground off Battery Roks. At high water there are no visible rocks between the Jubilee Pool and the Gear Pole that marks the southern extent of the reef.  The yacht was towed to safety back to Newlyn to be assessed for damage to the hull.