What's all the fuss about the MMO's new CatchApp? All revealed on this morning's Farming Today on Radio4.

The innocuously named Catch App is a new smart phone app being introduced by the Marine Management Organisation - the Government body which regulates the seas around England. 

All skippers of England's 2100 fishing boats under ten metres long, are being asked to record the species and weight of fish they catch.

*According to the latest government figures for January 2020, there are 4,140 fishing vessels registered Under10m - of those, 2,237 are under7m.

The Government says the information will be used to monitor fish stocks and help make fishing sustainable for the future. But fishermen and women say the new recording is complicated and one small mistake could turn them into criminals.

With the MMO declining to put on a spokesperson to talk on behalf of them with regard to the CatchApp it is down to Jerry Percy, fisherman and chairman of NUTFA (New Under Ten Fishermans Association), an organisation created to support the Under10m fleet to explain why the app has sparked such a strong reaction.

Fishermen with experience of CatchApp can record their feelings here:

You can catch the entire Farming Today programme here:

Row over ‘greedy’ fishermen claim

FISHERMEN demanded an apology from Fisheries Minister George Eustice yesterday over an official document which described some small-scale operators as “greedy” and “rule beaters”.

The document was published last year in support of an unpopular new app which under 10-metre boat fishermen are being forced to use.

The fishing industry’s “Brexit bonus” could come too late for some smallscale fishermen, who fear they will be driven out of business by new rules imposed by the British government. Skippers of under 10-metre boats, which account for 80% of all UK vessels, are being forced to use a new app to estimate the weight of their catch.

A Marine Management Organisation document published last year said the new app was aimed at controlling some 500 fishermen described as “rule beaters who consistently seek to evade regulation” and “fishing for greed, not need”.

Fishing industry leaders are furious at the language used in the document, which was abruptly changed yesterday after questions from the

Western Morning News.

David Pessell, of Plymouth Trawler Agents, called on Fisheries Minister George Eustice to apologise for the language of his officials.

Jerry Percy, director of the New Under-10 Fishing Boats Association, said the MMO’s language was “utterly disgusting. For the MMO to set one fisher against another is appalling. It’s a very poor show.”

Speaking yesterday in a Westminster Hall debate Mr Eustice, the MP for Camborne and Redruth, defended the app, which he said would provide more reliable catch data.

Luke Pollard, the shadow Environment Secretary, has written to Theresa Villiers, the Environment Secretary, calling for an investigation and an apology.

THOUSANDS of small-scale fishermen fear they could be driven out of business before the UK fleet can enjoy its much-heralded “Brexit bonus”.

Skippers of more than 2,200 under 10 metre boats, which account for 80% of all UK vessels, are being forced to use a new app to estimate the weight of their catch. If they are out by more than 10% they risk a fine of up to £100,000.

And fishing industry leaders are furious at allegations that some those fishermen are “fishing for greed, not need”.

Around 500 under 10 metre boats, described by the Marine Management Organisation as “rule beaters who consistently seek to evade regulation”, are thought to be the main target of the new app.

In a document published last year, the MMO said some of the 500 vessels “choose to be under 10m vessel owners in order to avoid recording catch and will often chop off the front of their vessel to fit that vessel length. They are often unpopular with the rest of the fishing community (the term ‘fish for greed not for need’ is used nationwide).”

Others were part-timers with less sophisticated vessels, less active or sometimes inactive. Such vessels “can be used by fraudulent fishers to shelter ‘black fish,’ fish caught beyond a vessel’s quota”, the MMO said.

However, the MMO abruptly modified the document yesterday after questions from the WMN.

David Pessell of Plymouth Trawler Agents demanded an apology from George Eustice, the Fisheries Minister and Camborne and Redruth Conservative MP.

“It shows the contempt in which they hold the industry, even though publicly they say they are keen to work with us.”

He added: “They are demanding all this because they are after one or two fishermen who might by-pass the regular landing ports. I think that’s extremely rare.

Mr Pessell said older fishermen were considering tying up their vessels for good. “We know the MMO was told before they started this whole exercise that, for at least some, the new app could be the final straw.”

Jerry Percy, director of the New Under-10 Fishing Boats Association, said the MMO’s language was “utterly disgusting. For the MMO to set one fisher against another is appall

This is not an EU decision, this is a UK decision. You couldn’t make it up LUKE POLLARD

ing. We are all here to ensure that we have a sustainable fleet. They are dredging up any contentious issue they can to try to divide the fleet.”

The MMO did not address our questions about the anger of fishermen who saw the original document, and instead referred us to their official policy document on the catch app.

The app replaces a system where under 10m fishers landed their catch for sale, and it was the duty of the buying organisation to weigh, record and report the landing.

“It seems to gold plate existing legislation. They should have spoken to the likes of me. Instead they have spent £1.8 million developing this catch app,” Mr Percy said.

He said the MMO already got accurate catch data from the buyers. “It’s already the most dangerous job in the world. And they won’t be able to use the data because it’s an estimate.”

Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard – who has previously called for the Catch App to be scrapped – accused ministers of introducing more stringent red tape than the EU ever had.

“At the very moment when we have left the EU and its real or imagined burdens, the government is implementing the biggest piece of red tape seen by the industry,” he said. “This is not an EU decision, this is a UK decision. You couldn’t make it up.”

Tom McCormack, chief executive of the MMO, said: “Fishermen who are recording catches to the best of their ability have no need to worry.

“If and when there is ever a need to consider enforcement or prosecution actions – for example, someone persistently misreporting or not recording at all – that decision would be taken on a wide range of evidence.”

Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO), said he supported the push towards securing better information about catches so that quota could be handed out more fairly to smaller vessels post2020. He said he was willing to accept the MMO’s reassurances.

Speaking yesterday in a Westminster Hall debate, Fisheries minister George Eustice defended the app’s implementation.

“If we want to move to a more sophisticated way of managing the inshore fleet – maybe to give them quotas that run for several months, rather than just one month at a time, or to experiment with effort-based regimes – it is important that we have reliable data on catch.”

Studies by Cefas, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, have shown that there is a significant mismatch between what is recorded through sales notes and what is being caught and observed on vessels, Mr Eustice said. “We need to improve the quality of the data that we have.”

He added: “Our approach was designed at the request of the industry to make the process simpler.” However, Mr Percy said that he was not consulted.

Sheryll Murray, the Conservative MP for South East Cornwall, who led the debate, said: “It is essential that smaller UK vessels receive their fair share of the quota.

“They should be allowed to fish regardless of quota for a number of days a year, provided that they have enough days to ensure that their annual fishing pattern can continue throughout the whole year.

“I fully understand the intention of the new app.”

St Ives Conservative Derek Thomas told the debate, that fisheries had to be kept separate in trade negotiations with the EU.

“We hear from a few individual member states that they will exercise a veto, and so on; but not many of the 27 are that concerned about our waters. We should hold our position and not give in to any sort of nonsense from people in, say, France.”

Totnes Conservative Anthony Mangnall said: “In Salcombe and Dartmouth, we have a shellfish industry that is booming, which is looking at exports both within the European Union and further afield, and I hope to be able to support that.”

Western Morning News13 Feb 2020KEITH ROSSITER keith.rossiter@reachplc.com

Boris Johnson’s hard line on trade could sink the UK’s fishing fleet.

Brexiteers and big fishing interests say that Britain “betrayed” its fishing fleets when we joined the EEC in 1973. For the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, for instance, Brexit offers a “sea of opportunity” for struggling coastal communities. The first claim is largely a myth. The second is an exaggeration and, for a thriving section of Britain’s fishing industry, a lie.

If Boris Johnson pursues his hard line in trade talks with the EU27, he will betray many industries, from car-making to pharmaceuticals to farming. He will also betray – and genuinely betray this time – a large part of the British fishing fleet.

"two-thirds of the shellfish, lobsters, crabs and langoustines caught by British fishers are sold to the continent"

Much of UK fishing – broadly the small-scale, ecologically sound part – is dependent on frictionless, overnight trade in fish, especially live shellfish and crustaceans, with the EU. About two-thirds of the shellfish, lobsters, crabs and langoustines caught by British fishers are sold to the continent.

Quotas are something of a red herring. The real threat to the survival of a large, thriving, ecologically responsible swathe of the industry comes from Johnson himself. That trade only exists because of the paper-free EU single market. It is the larger-scale, rich, noisy part of British fishing that drives the strident demands for a much bigger share of catches in UK waters.

In their opening salvoes in the post-Brexit trade negotiations, the British government and the EU27 have drawn competing lines in the sea. Johnson says Britain will “take back control” of fishing in its “exclusive economic zone” of up to 200 miles from the end of this year. He is prepared to talk about access for EU boats but insists quotas must be “first and foremost” for Britain.

The EU says that unless agreement is reached on continued widespread access by the end of July, there will be no favourable trade deal for Britain – not on fish and not on anything else. In the annexe to its negotiating guidelines, Brussels said that a UK-EU deal must “build on” the existing deal which gives EU boats 60% by weight of landings from British waters. The EU wants a permanent deal; Britain wants annual negotiations.

These are the opening positions. Common sense, economic self-interest and international law may eventually enforce compromise on both sides. That could be awkward for the government, given how absurdly overblown Brexiteers’ expectations have become. Last month Peter Aldous, the Tory MP for Waveney in Suffolk, told BBC Radio 4 that Brexit would bring a “sevenfold growth of our quota stocks in the southern North Sea”.

Talk of the “southern North Sea” is misleading: it is not an especially rich or important fishing area. Taking all “British” waters within the 200 mile limit, we now catch 40% of the fish by weight (60% by value). A sevenfold increase would mean taking 280% of the sustainable catch. To reach the “Aldous quota” our boats would have to throw the fish back and catch them again – twice.

Here are some more reliable fishing facts. Under international law, Britain became an independent coastal state in “control” of its waters up to 200 miles last Friday. But that control is not absolute. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UK is legally obliged to manage shared North Sea and Atlantic stocks with Norway – and the EU.

‘EU boats were allocated quotas in UK waters broadly in line with their historic catches.’ French trawlers off Cornwall. 

The convention also requires – but does not oblige – Britain to consider the historical fishing rights of its neighbours. Despite the Brexit lie that European boats were “given” access to British waters when we joined the EEC in 1973, they have actually fished “our” waters for centuries – just as our trawlers fished off Iceland and Norway.

 

Horse mackerel or scad

EU boats were allocated quotas in UK waters broadly in line with their historical catches. While it’s true that these were high in tonnage terms, the catching rights include large quantities of fish for which there is little demand in the UK, such as horse mackerel and saithe.

When Britain and the EU do sit down to talk about the political price of fish, an equable deal on access and quotas is possible. Brexit or not, there is a strong case to reboot the catch shares first set in 1983. As a result of the climate crisis and other factors, fish no longer swim in the same places they did 37 years ago.

Cornish MSC Certified hake

Cod and hake have migrated farther north in the North Sea and Atlantic; tuna and anchovies are found in numbers off Cornwall. Some increase in British quotas for mackerel, herring, cod and hake is justified. Removing overnight the livelihoods of hundreds of French, Irish, Dutch and Danish fishermen is not.

Such a deal would fall short of the strident demands for a post-Brexit “bonanza”, which is driven mostly by a few, often foreign-owned, fishing companies in England and a dozen or so wealthy families that control fishing in Scotland. Too bad.

"thousands of British inshore vessels under 10 metres long"

If this government is genuinely concerned about “left behind coastal communities”, it should give priority to increasing the tiny quotas for the thousands of British inshore vessels under 10 metres long.

All of this is possible, but it would require a long, sensible, technical negotiation that sets clear and achievable aims. Nothing in the government’s recent, vacuous fisheries bill suggests that such questions have even been considered.

In any case, quotas are something of a red herring. The real threat to the survival of a large, thriving, ecologically responsible swathe of the British fishing industry comes from Johnson himself. The kind of minimal trade deal envisaged by the government will cripple not only British farmers and factories, but sink a large part of Britain’s fishing fleet. No “sea of opportunity” for them.

See the full article here: John Lichfield writing for the Guardian is a journalist based in France.

Profitable and sustainable future for UK fishing industry

Flagship Fisheries Bill moves forward as the Lords Minister leads Second Reading in Parliament.

Dawn of a new era: For the first time since 1973, UK to control who may fish in our waters, and on what terms.

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, George Eustice MP, and Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Two weeks after its introduction, the legislation that will give us the powers to implement an independent fisheries policy has moved a step forward. Lords’ Minister, Lord Gardiner, has led the Second Reading of the Fisheries Bill in the House of Lords today.

The Bill will provide the legal framework to ensure that the UK becomes an independent coastal State outside of the EU, and the Common Fisheries Policy. It will also provide the powers needed to manage our fisheries more responsively and responsibly by including strong measures to protect our seas, as well as a new climate change objective recognising the impact of fishing on the health of the ocean.

Lord Gardiner opened the session with a speech setting out how the Bill will enable the UK to create a sustainable, profitable fishing industry, while securing the long term health of British fisheries.

Lords’ Minister Lord Gardiner said:

• The Fisheries Bill gives us the historic opportunity to design our own domestic fishing policy, one that is catered to support our coastal communities best.

• We are also fully committed to securing the good health of our marine environment. The Bill includes strong measures to allow the UK to lead the way on sustainable fishing.

Fisheries Minister George Eustice said:

• This Bill gives us the powers we need to become an independent coastal state and control who fishes in our waters and under what terms.

• Now that we have left the EU there are many opportunities to do things better, to fish sustainably and to get a fair settlement for our fishermen.

The Second Reading of the Fisheries Bill will conclude this evening. The Bill will then go to Committee Stage, with Report Stage and Third Reading following this, before transferring to the House of Commons for further scrutiny.

You can track the progress of the Fisheries Bill and read debates on all stages of the Bill on parliament.uk

Further detail on the Bill is here.

Share this page

And you wonder why all the Newlyn fleet were still in the harbour today!

This is the French stern trawler Joseph Roty II, one of the newest and largest in the French fleet...

she works well off shore, often on the west coast of Scotland and Ireland where she has just steamed from since Saturday as storm Ciara blew across Ireland and the UK...

the skipper took this photo looking back aft as he passed Lands End this morning on his way to St Malo to land...

in something similar to This Fishing life, the boat was the subject of a documentary last year, (Hommes des tempetes/Men of Storms) an all too familiar fishing story - two weeks of struggling to find fish, and then, bad weather arrives...

he's not the only French boat at sea, most of the boats on this AIS chart are around 23m long, much smaller than the Joseph Roty II - they began fishing again this morning.

Ciara, after the storm, Monday morning on Newlyn fish market.

Cape Cornwall at the height of Storm Ciara which saw the wind stay over 40 knots for the last 24 hours, the highest gust recorded in the west of Cornwall was 67 knots on the Lizard...

Sennen streets were drenched in spray throughout the day...

so the fish on Newlyn market this morning will be the only fish landed until the end of the week, buyers beware!..

after a nightmare of a trip, hake from the Ajax made good money this morning - no doubt the crew, including young relief skipper Ashley who was airlifted from the boat during the trip after suffering a severe leg injury, will all be tuned in to BBC2's This Fishing Life tomorrow evening when the series focuses on the trials and tribulations of with Brexit looming and the bigger boats in the Newlyn fleet...

plenty of bright red gurnards from the beam trawl landings of the Lisa Jacqueline...

and red mullet...

along with megrim...

and Dover soles...

monk tails...

and the odd bass, no doubt this fish will be on the Trelawney wet-fish counter later this morning...

the Nowell fleet at rest...

plaice...

and megrims also came from the AA as she is often referred to..

buyers busy buying...

their last chance of fish for days according to the forecast...

as the strong winds will keep all but the biggest in the fleet from sailing for a few days yet.

The CatchApp: what do fishermen really think?

Calling all Under10m fishermen.

CatchApp on your mobile device.

The Coastal PO has ONLY received complaints and been contacted by people having real trouble using the MMO's new CatchApp, either from their phones or when trying to report their catches in other ways. 

Despite this we hear that the MMO is telling people (and presumably Defra) that it's all going great, fishermen love it, "you only hear about the moaners", "I was in Rye the other day and all the fishermen there gave it a big thumbs up" and so on.

Are we really only getting one side of the story?

What's the real view of fishermen? Tell us please?

Please take a few minutes to complete this important survey on using the CatchApp.