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THE National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations has accused Defra of failing to address any of the substantive criticisms it has made in the fishing vessel nationality transfer row.
English and Northern Irish boat owners are angry that part of their fleets may be placed under the control of Marine Scotland if they are deemed to be in a Scottish fishing pattern.
Defra has said in reply that the arrangement was "not a secret concordat" but has specified that vessels must be administered from the district where they fish. The other issue being discussed was vessel nationality.
The NFFO said in reply last night: "Defra’s public response to the NFFO’s broadside on the imminent transfer of administration over English and Northern Irish vessels which exhibit “a Scottish fishing pattern” to Marine Scotland fails to address any of the substantive points made by the Federation.
"Perhaps it doesn’t come within the scope of the Official Secrets Act but we have had to rely entirely on hearsay over the content of the Concordat which, if it goes ahead, will amount to the biggest change to fisheries management since the introduction of fishing vessel licensing in the 1980s.
"This is an appalling lapse in good governance. Weak assurances that our concerns will be looked at have been accompanied by confirmation that the new Concordat has all but been agreed. Part of our fleet fishes in the Norwegian Sector and other northern fishing grounds and, especially under the impact of days-at sea constraints and high fuel costs, have found it expedient in recent years to land their catch into Scottish ports.
"Equally, Northern Irish vessels have from time to time operated from English or Scottish ports, for shorter or longer periods. Forced assignment of “nationality” for vessels operation in this pattern would potentially carry implications for PO membership, quota management, and effort control and transfer of these to Marine Scotland. "
Defra has also argued that the new arrangements were designed to prevent admin hopping. The NFFO replied: "Leaving aside the politically charged issue of how far within a single member state it is desirable to allow devolved fisheries management to cut across and undermine existing freedoms and flexibilities, we have made the point that the Concordat is the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a nut."
Defra's other argument is that vessels registered and administered from England will still be able to operate out of ports in other territories provided they maintain a genuine link with England, such as having their place of business there
The NFFO responded: "Yes but - English and Northern Irish vessels forcibly reassigned to the “nationality” that matches their fishing pattern - in this case Scotland - will also, logically, have their quota management and certainly effort allocations transferred to Scottish control too. We have been advised that this means that the Scottish effort pots will be enhanced and the English and Northern Irish pots will be correspondingly depleted as a result. More significantly, management decisions over those allocations will reside with Scotland.
"The Scottish Government has no responsibility or democratic mandate to take English or Northern Irish stakeholders’ views into account on an equal basis with the indigenous Scottish fleet, and nor would we expect it too. We would take a lot of convincing that our vessels, whether from England or Northern Ireland would receive parity of treatment in Scottish consultative forums, even if we were given formal membership – which of course we have not."
The Federation pointed out that the issue also affected the under-10-metre fleet, adding there were many Scottish boats which fished out of English ports.
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