Mid-week fish market in Newlyn, nice morning too!

Light overnight rain gave way to a cloud-laden sky before the sun had a chance to shine in the early hours of the morning...

as gulls followed their routine flight paths in and around the harbour...

where they are able to enjoy a few new square metres of new roof on the fish market...

not so lucky is this inshore trawler with discarded gear wrapped tightly around the prop...

stacked at least six high, the fish auction is well underway with both auctioneers competing for the attention of the buyers...

as a huge trip of hake from the netter Ocean Pride is sold...

inshore trawl fish from the Spirited Lady III included some cracking brill...

even bigger 'butt as turbot is called in these parts...

dozens of Dovers...

some magnificent monk tails...

and a handful of pristine pollack...

also up for grabs were a box of small Dory...

good sized cod...

superb red mullet...

and pristine plaice from the beam trawler Trevessa IV...

each box getting the once-over from some of the buyers...

bigger fish included this stonking tub gurnard...

coley or blackjacks...

a box of mixed...

and some huge ray...

just a few of the bigger fish from the first netter to land this tide...

while most of the beamer's fish were stacked seven high to save floor space...

it seems the prices were high enough for one of the buyers to wipe away a tear...

and make the others concentrate hard during the hectic bidding...

before the draggers move quickly in to take the stacks away...

sporting a fresh new summer plumage the last of the remaining turnstones is all set for the off...

the Stella Maris, a tidy little ship...

one half of a pair trawl set...

footrope with heavy rubber discs that replaced the old steel bobbins, combination fishing line and the bound wire of the trawl belly seized to a half a dozen rows of heavy mesh called guard meshes...

work underway on another recruit to the port...

first time visitor for the port, the Unity a newly registered twin-rig prawn trawler from Kilkeel in Ireland...

if her profile and bow look unusual that is because she was built...

in Norway as the Kirstine Vendelbo... 

based in Hanstholm...

she takes her fish aboard on the starboard side through a hopper under the shelterdeck...

from two sets of twin-rig trawls on her stern...

at 850 tons it's no surprise that she draws nearly 4m up for'ard...

many of the big pots boats work two fisheries - whelks and crab...

rush-hour in the lorry park this morning.

Select Committee: European Scrutiny - Adoption of detailed EU fishing rules

Documents considered by the Committee on 18 April 2018 

Adoption of detailed EU fishing rules

Committee’s assessment

Commission Report in respect of the delegation of powers referred to in Article 11(2), Article 15(2), (3), (6), (7) and Article 45(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy


Department - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Document Number

(39516), 6579/18, COM(18) 79

Summary and Committee’s conclusions

3.1  Most fisheries policy falls within the exclusive competence of the European Union — the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The European Parliament and Council of Ministers set the framework for the policy, but detailed decisions — such as the practical implementation of the discard ban (landing obligation) in the North Sea — are formally taken by the European Commission, but with the close involvement of national experts and stakeholders. Known as Delegated Acts, these decisions can be opposed, and ultimately blocked, by either the European Parliament or Council. The Commission’s document reports on how the Commission has exercised its delegation of powers in this area. During the post-Brexit implementation period, such Acts will apply to the UK, including those Acts adopted after the UK has left the EU in March 2019.

3.2  Since the entry into force of the CFP Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013), 15 UK-relevant Delegated Acts have been adopted under it (see Annex), most of which related to implementation of the discard ban.

3.3  As an EU Member State, the UK is involved in the development of these Acts at different stages. The first stage involves those Member States with a direct management interest agreeing to submit a Joint Recommendation to the Commission on how the objectives can be achieved. When shaping Joint Recommendations, Member States should consult the relevant stakeholder Advisory Councils, which include UK representatives from both industry and non-governmental organisations. The draft Acts are then submitted to scientific experts on the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) — four of the 32 members are currently from the UK — and, finally, to the Expert Group for Fisheries and Aquaculture, comprising representatives of the Member States. The European Parliament and Council (including the UK and UK Members of the European Parliament) can object within two months following adoption by the Commission.

3.4  According to the draft Withdrawal Agreement (“the Agreement”), the UK will no longer be a member of any EU institutions or bodies during the post-Brexit implementation period. The UK may, however, be invited to meetings of Commission expert groups as long as: either the discussion concerns individual acts to be addressed during the transition period to the UK or to natural or legal persons residing or established in the UK; or the presence of the UK is necessary and in the interest of the EU, in particular for the effective implementation of EU law during the transition period. Furthermore, the UK shall be consulted by the EU on draft EU acts which identify or refer directly to specific Member State authorities, procedures, or documents. Both sides are required under the Agreement to operate under the concept of “good faith”, without prejudice to the application of Union law pursuant to the Agreement, in particular the principle of sincere cooperation. Finally, a Joint Committee will be charged with overseeing implementation of the Agreement and will be able to seek appropriate ways and methods of preventing problems that might arise or of resolving disputes.

3.5  The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (George Eustice) considers that no policy implications arise. The UK has actively contributed to Joint Recommendations for existing Delegated Acts applicable to the UK fleet and the UK is currently working within the North Sea and North Western Waters regional groups of Member States on Joint Recommendations for 2019 discard plans that will outline rules for full implementation of the landing obligation from 1 January 2019.

3.6  We note the Minister’s view that no policy implications arise from this document, but we do not agree. By contrast, we consider that the document provides a stark illustration of the challenge that the UK will need to meet in engaging with relevant EU fisheries rules affecting its fleet during the post-Brexit implementation period.

3.7  The UK can currently influence Delegated Acts adopted under the CFP Regulation in a number of ways as set out above. As we interpret the draft Agreement, there are no arrangements at all for UK engagement in Joint Recommendations or the Advisory Councils. The UK may be invited to the Expert Group for Fisheries and Aquaculture, and potentially to the STECF. It clearly would not be able to participate in either the Council or the European Parliament. The Commission might be obliged to consult the UK on draft Delegated Acts should they be deemed to identify or refer directly to specific Member State authorities, procedures, or documents, although it is unclear what such consultation would constitute and at what stage it would be.

3.8  Noting the UK’s active contributions to date in discussions on Joint Recommendations relevant to the UK, and noting the likelihood that UK-relevant fisheries Delegated Acts will be proposed, adopted and implemented during the implementation period, we ask the Minister to explain:

• how, if at all, the UK might be able to engage in discussions on relevant Joint Recommendations and how its stakeholders might be involved in Advisory Council discussions;
• whether the UK would be invited to relevant meetings of the STECF and the Fisheries and Aquaculture Expert Group and, if so, how the UK would assess whether it was being invited to all of the appropriate meetings and for all of the appropriate agenda points;

and

• whether draft Delegated Acts proposed under the CFP Regulation would be likely to constitute “draft Union acts” on which the EU will be required to consult the UK according to Article 123(7) of the draft Agreement and, if so, what arrangements for such consultation will apply.

3.9  We note that the draft Agreement includes both the obligation on both parties to operate under the principle of good faith and the possibility for any disputes to be considered by the Joint Committee. How either of these mechanisms will work in practice is yet to be considered in any detail, and we note that significant caveats apply to the good faith provision. That said, these are potentially helpful back-stop provisions, aiming to ensure that the EU does not take action that would harm the UK (and vice versa). We would nevertheless hope that the UK Government would aspire not simply to avoid harm but to ensure that law applicable to UK fisheries is well-suited to UK circumstances. We therefore ask the Minister how confident — irrespective of the good faith clause and the Joint Committee mechanism — the Government is that it will be able to represent UK fisheries and marine environment interests during the implementation period as effectively as it currently does, taking into account the considerations that we have set out above.

3.10  We note that the delegation power will be tacitly extended for another five years unless opposed by either the European Parliament or the Council by 29 September 2018. Given that the acts adopted under the delegation power will apply during the implementation period, but without full UK involvement, we ask whether the UK would consider opposing the extension.

3.11  We hold the Report under scrutiny and draw it to the attention of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

Full details of the documents

Commission Report in respect of the delegation of powers referred to in Article 11(2), Article 15(2), (3), (6), (7) and Article 45(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy: (39516), 6579/18, COM(18) 79.

Background

3.12  The Commission Report sets out how the Commission has exercised delegated powers within the CFP Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013) and provides a list of the Delegated Acts adopted.

3.13  Delegated Acts can be adopted in respect of:

the implementation of the discard ban;
conservation measures relating to Member States’ environmental obligations; and
the functioning of Advisory Councils (industry and environmental stakeholders). 

3.14  This power to adopt Delegated Acts is conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 29 December 2013. The delegation of power will be tacitly extended for further five-year periods unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes this extension. If they do choose to oppose, this should be done no later than three months ahead of the end of the current five-year period.

Explanatory Memorandum of 13 March 20

3.15  The Minister considers that no policy implications arise from this Report. He adds:

“The UK has actively contributed to Joint Recommendations for existing delegated acts that are applicable to the UK fleet. The UK is currently working within the North Sea and North Western Waters regional groups on Joint Recommendations for 2019 discard plans that will outline rules for full implementation of the landing obligation from 1 January 2019.”


UK-relevant Delegated Acts adopted under Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013

Delegated Acts in Force:

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 of 5 September 2016 establishing fisheries conservation measures for the protection of the marine environment in the North Sea;
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1180 of 24 February 2017 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 establishing fisheries conservation measures for the protection of the marine environment in the North Sea;
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1393/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in north-western waters (expiration date: 31 December 2017);
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1395/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain small pelagic fisheries and fisheries for industrial purposes in the North Sea (expiration date: 31 December 2017);
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/2250 of 4 October 2016 establishing a discard plan for certain demersal fisheries in the North Sea and in Union waters of ICES Division IIa (expiration date: 31 December 2018);
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/2375 of 12 October 2016 establishing a discard plan for certain demersal fisheries in North-Western waters (expiration date: 31 December 2018);
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1393 of 24 May 2017 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1395/2014 establishing a discard plan for certain small pelagic fisheries and fisheries for industrial purposes in the North Sea (expiration date: 31 December 2017);
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/242 of 9 October 2014 laying down detailed rules on the functioning of the Advisory Councils under the Common Fisheries Policy;
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1575 of 23 June 2017 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/242 laying down detailed rules on the functioning of the Advisory Councils under the common fisheries policy.
Delegated Acts adopted by the Commission but not yet in force
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No …/... establishing a discard plan for certain demersal fisheries in the North Sea and in Union waters of ICES division IIa for the year 2018, adopted on 20/10/2017;
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No …/... establishing a discard plan for certain demersal and deep sea fisheries in North-Western waters for the year 2018, adopted on 20/10/2017;
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No …/... amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1395/2014 establishing a discard plan for certain small pelagic fisheries and fisheries for industrial purposes in the North Sea, adopted on 23/11/2017;
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No …/.. amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1393/2014 establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in North-Western waters, adopted on 24/11/2017.
Delegated Acts that have expired or been repealed
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2438 of 12 October 2015 establishing a discard plan for certain demersal fisheries in north-western waters, repealed by Commission Delegated Regulation 2016/2375 as of 1 January 2017;
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2440 of 22 October 2015 establishing a discard plan for certain demersal fisheries in the North Sea and in Union waters of ICES Division IIa, expired on the 31 December 2016.

More opinions on Brexit and where the inshore fishing industry might stand.

Inshore fishing provides the greatest employment in the sector.

Standing on the shingle of Hastings beach beside his fishing boat, Paul Joy says his family have fished these waters since before the time of William the Conqueror. He’s done the research, and the Joys have had boats here since records began. His boat had been out at dawn that morning, hugging the coastline with a skipper, two crew and the “boy” ashore, aged 80, who winches the Kaya up the pebbles with a rusty bulldozer. “My father, Will, born in 1906, made an adequate living with a smaller boat than mine. Now everyone subsidises fishing with other work. I earned the same as a carpenter, now you’re lucky to get a Tesco shelf-stacker’s pay.” Fishing quotas are killing the small fishermen, he says.

Stand here to breathe in the heart of Brexit. Last week, in ports around the country, fishing boats protested – sending up flares to oppose the transition deal that leaves them in the common fisheries policy (CFP), but without a seat at the EU table sharing out the fish. Protest organisers said: “We are sickened by remainers gleefully peddling the deliberate narrative that fishing doesn’t matter.”

Does it matter? The fishing industry is worth less than 0.5% of GDP. They rightly fear this pinprick to the economy will be traded for bigger prizes – finance, cars, pharma, airline routes. Why else, they ask, is the government’s fisheries white paper delayed time and again? Thirteen Rees-Moggites and one DUP MP swear they’ll vote down any deal unless the UK breaks from the CFP. As these hard Brexiteers want no deal anyway, fishing is their perfect pretext, though no deal would be the fishermen’s apocalypse.

Here the referendum was lost, in the romance of the sea, the rugged cliffs and coasts of our island story among old salt spirits of a seafaring nation. This is the symbolism the remainers fatally forgot, tone deaf to the draw of John Masefield’s poem Sea Fever or Millais’s The Boyhood of Raleigh. Economics says fishing is of nugatory value, but politics says fishing is deep-dyed in national identity, down to the last fish and chip shop. That heart-versus-head error is why remain lost – and why its campaigners still fail to connect with unreasoning national sentiments. They forget those sentiments can be cashable too: Hastings’ 27 picturesque boats, huts and fish stalls bring the impoverished town £5m a year in tourism.

Joy heads the small-fishers’ organisation, Nutfa. He is a sharp campaigner, steeped in the fiendishly conflicting complexities of international fishing policy. If “take back control” meant anything, it was Britannia ruling her own waves. But that’s not going to happen, because it can’t.

Michael Gove, the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, casually promised instant freedom from the fisheries policy, but backed down embarrassingly when our know-nothing negotiators were taken by surprise (again) to find other EU fishing nations just as adamant: those with their own fierce fishing traditions feel just as passionately. Who knew?

There always were and always will be fishing treaties between countries, now more than ever to preserve precarious stocks. Unless navies are to go to war to defend their fishing fleets, there must always be agreements. Fishing treaties existed before Britain joined the EU. Quotas fixed long ago often don’t seem fair now, nor do they preserve stocks well enough. But the EU is only one element: ask Grimsby fishers about friction between English and Scottish rights, as global warming sends cod migrating north. Fish don’t obey treaties.

Here’s the Brexiteers’ dishonesty. Each country is free to share out its national quota as it chooses – but free-market Britain, unlike others, let fishers sell their quotas abroad. The Dutch ship Cornelis Vrolijk, registered in Caterham, owns 23% of the entire UK quota. “Slipper skippers” sold their quotas abroad – it was easier to put their feet up than to fish. Could Gove seize it back post-Brexit? No more than Jeremy Corbyn could seize back rail or energy companies from foreign owners without hefty compensation. It’s not prevented by the EU, but by basic property law.

As hard Brexiteers want no deal, fishing is their perfect pretext – though no deal would be the fishermen’s apocalypse. Gove could redistribute quotas between our own big ships and small boats. In Britain, 77% of the boats are less than 10 metres long, employing most of the UK’s 12,000 fishers, yet owning just 4% of local quota. A key article in the CFP says quotas should be allocated transparently and objectively, and include “social, economic and environmental criteria”. Small boats matter most for coastal life and do least environmental harm, so should take priority. Talk to Joy long enough about all the complexities of different fish quotas and treaties, and his most pressing need is for the British government to take from the big boats and give to the under-10m flotilla.


Gove has the power to do it, says Thomas Appleby, associate law professor at the University of the West of England, a fisheries law specialist. Britain could and should have banned the sale of its quotas, but Gove could repair some of the damage: so long as UK quota is taken back proportionally from all, shares could be redistributed to the small boats. Why doesn’t he do it? Joy points to the power of the big companies: two-thirds of UK quotas are taken by three multinationals. And he talks of business influence over the Conservatives. Here’s an irony: the EU fisheries fund has given Joy’s small boats lobby a grant to set up its own producer organisation as a political counterweight to fight the big boats.



What of the “taking back control” dream, our navy chasing foreign boats from our waters? Impossible, when 80% of UK fish is sold in the EU, which would retaliate with prohibitive tariffs and delaying checks at Calais to let fish rot on the quay. Bremerhaven is just one port eager to seize our fish-processing business, which employs 18,000 people. Consider what a trade war would do to the Scottish smoked salmon industry, worth more than all of the UK fishing industry.

At sea, the Brexiteers are coming face to face with hard truths: we are not alone. No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent. We trade, we exchange, we buy and sell. Fish was a bad emblem for the hard Brexiteers to choose because it’s an archetypal example of the need for cooperation – in fishing, conservation and sales. Trade-offs, haggling, deals and environmental necessity demand treaties between us and our neighbours, in or out of the EU. Except that outside it, our negotiators have a weak hand. The romance of the sea was good referendum propaganda; now it stands as the best example of why standing alone is impossible.

Full story courtesy of the Guardian.

Fishing in Transition - Meeting at Fishmonger's Hall today.

Fishmongers Hall is playing host to a meeting where the interests of the UK fishing industry are being discussed in great detail with regard to Brexit and the Transition Period.

Last week when interviewed on the R4 Today programme Michael Gove said;"One of the reasons why I want us, wanted us to leave the European Union, one of the reasons whey when we leave the when we leave the European Union we will be in a stronger position to help coastal communities is that we'll be outside the Common Fisheries Policy and there fore will have more quota allocated..."

The meeting today explored the likely consequences of an extended Transition and the role the other EU member states might play in the negotiations.


#FishingInTransition Tweets

Monday morning fish market in Newlyn.

Despite much of the country enjoying clear blue skies a mix of warm air and cold seas means we have low cloud drifting across the peninsula this morning...

with a mirror-like sea reflecting the pallid pink sky...

after a long weight (back in the day that's something young apprentices were sent to the stores at Holman's Dry Dock to get) the new Isles of Scilly supply boat Mali Rose is now in full time action...

latest addition to the Newlyn fleet, the Portagovie based Belfast registered...

 Asteria is about to be transformed into a crabber with a pumped vivier...

over in Newlyn there are only a few boats in port, an unplanned visit for the beam trawler Sapphire II as her main winch has a gearbox problem of some magnitude...

it's all go on the market this morning with both auctioneers in full cry...

as the buyers get used to bidding on stacks of boxes...

the quality of these pollack...

and ray are superb...

some of the cuttles being landed are huge and must be nearing the end of their short lifespan which may only be eighteen months or less...

the New Venture landed a good shot of undulate and cuckoo ray...

John Dory, probably the fish with the largest mouth-to-body size ratio...

cracking red mullet from the Imogen III...

and with the restriction off their are now a few bass being landed...

to go with the brill...

Dover sole...

and turbot...

cuttlefish certainly left their mark on this box of dogs...

a box of witches, a sure sign the Sapphire II was fishing 'up channel'...

some of the few hake on the market this morning - plenty more due in this week as the netters begin to make the first if the landings for this neap tide...

young Roger was filling up on red gurnard...

getting the once-over from Mousehole Fish buyer Colin...

name that fish sporting those big scales...

just after 6 am and there's now light in the sky of a morning...

as the draggers take away the early-auction purchases...

pen poised during the brisk bidding...

Mr Sort-it checks out the new auction space...

while a buyer mulls over the price of fish yet to be sold...

fine weather indeed!, of course if every morning was like this...

there wouldn't be any fish left in the sea!..

I think I prefer the white pork-pie hat...

just about the largest boat that the slipway will take...

it won't be long before the sign-writer has paid the new Rowse crabber a visit to name and number her...

it's not very often Newlyn has a visiting Swiss yacht...

pile 'em high, brand new pots wait to be roped up before they are taken to sea...

just a few of the pots being readied for the new crabber. Other boats in the fleet deploy the pots to make up a full fleet of over 1,000!