The federation said the fishing industry’s reliance on the auction system makes it "uniquely vulnerable" to high fuel costs. Higher costs cannot simply be passed on to the consumer.

But rather than supporting fishing through this difficult phase, that threatens the survival of large parts of the fleet, the Government has:

· Dismissed out of hand a request to review the discriminatory light dues system that only applies in the UK.

· Put the industry in an invidious position by allowing only one supplier of VMS equipment, which now has the whip hand to require vessels to sign a "one sided" maintenance contract.

· Provided no guarantees that the cost of electronic logbooks will not be charged to the vessels, despite the fact that any benefits accrue to fisheries managers rather than fishermen.

· Allowed the regulatory system to increase in complexity despite paying lip service to “simplification”. Rules such as the 8% margin of tolerance are simply unworkable. Yet the MFA is systematically prosecuting infringements, knowing that they could not do any better.

· Ignored the fact that the fishing fleets of other member states who fish the same grounds as the UK fleet and sell into the same markets are in receipt of substantial amounts of direct financial support through the de minimus provisions. This allows member states to pay up to 30000 euros to each fishing enterprise over a three year period, without having to obtain specific approval from Brussels.

The NFFO went on: "The Government will only recognise that it has seriously underestimated the issue and think again if a very large part of the fishing industry supports the campaign.

"This is a campaign of non-cooperation. Each vessel operator will have to judge best for himself how to send a strong signal to the Government whilst staying on the right side of the law and out of the courts."

Options for fishermen laid out by the federation are:

· Withhold Light Dues. If the lighthouse authorities have to instigate legal proceedings to obtain payment it will not be long before the Minister who has refused to discuss the matter will have the issue back on his desk.

· Don’t sign the VMS warranty agreement (if you already have,says the federation, then don’t worry about it, just support some other aspect of the non-cooperation campaign). The NFFO has taken legal advice and has "strong grounds" for challenging this abuse of fair trade and will be taking legal action.

· Write to Defra, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR, confirming that you will not be using an electronic logbook unless its full cost is met by the Government.

In addition to the legal challenge to the VMS maintenance agreements, the NFFO is exploring a range of other options which will be announced in due course.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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