|
Chairman, Bill Brock and Chief Executive, Jim Portus, have now returned to work after the Brussels Fisheries Council that ended in the early hours of Saturday morning, 17th December.
They have taken stock of the decisions that were made by the Fisheries Ministers and Jim Portus gives this assessment:
“The resulting fish quotas and effort limits, broadly speaking are likely to be welcomed by our members. There are some disappointments where quotas have been cut without evident reason, but a number of quotas have been raised somewhat unexpectedly.
“The cuts to Sole and Plaice quotas in the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel will probably mean that our members will abandon those fisheries for a while. This will allow Liverpool Bay and the Trevose Bank to rest and replenish.
“There are welcome increases throughout the English Channel, with Sole, Plaice, Cod, Whiting and Haddock, rising in line with and in the cases of Plaice and Haddock, beyond expectations. If the strong market conditions continue, our members should be able to land around £1/2 million more fish next year. We are, of course aware that the Minister has threatened to top-slice such rising quotas to benefit the proposed Community Quota Pilots for the Under10m fleet, a proposal to which we are opposed.
“The cuts to Anglerfish and Megrim are a blow, especially to those of our members who like to work the Western Deeps. Anglerfish particularly has been growing in abundance in recent years and its bodily shape does not lend itself to cod-end selectivity even for our beam trawler owners using P50% gear. Quota cuts tend only to result in greater discarding in mixed fisheries, like those in the Channel.
“An additional worry is that the cuts in effort (days at sea limits) in the N Sea waters may drive fishermen to visit the west Channel, where they would be free from such limits. Already this year we have had many Dutch visitors searching for non-quota opportunities. That’s OK if the catch is clean, but the proliferation of Cod, Haddock and Anglerfish in the area suggests to us a likelihood of over-quota discards.
“All-in-all, the quota deal in Brussels was much less harsh to SW UK fishermen that had been expected, but there are underlying concerns that must be addressed if the industry is to thrive. In particular, the Minister must ensure our fisheries scientists are given the necessary resources to fill the gap in their data-sets so that all future quota decisions are made on sound science. The “precautionary principle”, or “use it or lose it” as it is known to fishermen, must be consigned to history.
Should people be 'stimulated' to eat white fish alternatives to cod?
