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AN all party group of MPs has criticised the UK government over the way it is handling the current fish quota system, as it affects the English fleet.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said recently that it was "unacceptable" that the government was not monitoring the trading of EU fish quotas.There are claims that quotas are being bought and sold by people, including some English football clubs, with little or no link to the industry "at the expense of working fishermen".
The committee said it was concerned that due to a historic miscalculation, smaller vessels under 10 metres (33ft) long had an unfairly small quota share compared with larger offshore enterprises. It has also urged Defra to do more to tackle the problem of discards, where fish are thrown back into the sea - often to die - because they are of an unwanted species or size, or because of quota restraints.
Anne McIntosh, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said in a BBC radio debate she was urging Defra to "justify" the current situation since quotas should only be traded if there was a "clear benefit" to fishing communities.
"The quota has been developed as an economic commodity and is being traded, I understand, sometimes even by football clubs," she said."We're saying that we need to know who these non-fishing interests are. The government does not know so we need to have a register. And we need to make sure that, as far as possible, these quotas should not be traded but actually should return to be used by the fishing communities."
Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermens Organisations (NFF0) said in the same debate that the real problem was a general shortage of quota along with denied access for the inshore fleet. He said he was not convinced that so called "slipper skippers" (people sitting at home holding quota rights) was a serious issue, and he had not heard of a football club owning a quota.
Quotas for the over 10 metre fleet were allocated through producer organisations, but that flexibility was not available for the smaller boats, he added.
The government said it had already proposed "radical reforms".Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon acknowledged the management of the quota system "needs an overhaul"."I've proposed radical reforms to make the system simpler, giving fishermen more say and fishing communities the opportunity to support their local fleet," he said.
Mr Beynon added: "The industry needs more freedom to fish so that all fishermen have the opportunity to thrive. I'm determined to secure a sustainable, long-term future for our fishermen."
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