4 October 2010
The Dolphin Cafe adjacent to Peterhead fish-market recently provided the venue for informal but important discussions between the UK Fisheries Minister and the two UK national fishing federations, NFFO and SFF, over fish and chips.
Discussions centred on the catch quota system under trial this year in England, Scotland and Denmark, after which the Minister pronounced the exchange, “the most useful 45 minutes I’ve had since coming into office.”
NFFO Chief Executive Barrie Deas said, “Breaking out of the cycle of low TACs, poor catch information, high levels of discards and perverse incentives, that currently characterise the cod fisheries, is the prize on offer – if we can find a way to make the catch quota system work for a wide range of vessels. The interim results for this year appear to be very encouraging and the immediate challenge is to create the conditions through which it can be developed next year and beyond.”
“The Minister was eager to hear our ideas on how the scheme could be expanded and the informal setting allowed us to spell out what needs to be in place to extend the scheme,” he added.
Fish and chips at the Dolphin were followed by more formal meetings at Arbuthnot House, focusing on a range of issues currently confronting the fishing industry, and the international crisis in the mackerel fishery.
A variety of industry representatives raised specific issues including:
- Cod recovery and effort control
- MSY and TACs and quotas for 2011
- The rush to introduce a network of marine protected areas
- Under 10 metre quotas
- Nephrops functional unit management
- CFP reform
It was stressed that numerous vessels faced an immediate financial crisis because important whitefish quotas were exhausted at the end of September. POs emphasised the difficulty of managing sectoral quotas so out of equilibrium with the availability of stocks in the sea.
It was agreed that the CFP had been characterised by crisis management since it was established and there was a desperate need to move to long term management plans that would bring a degree of stability to our fisheries. The Minister also emphasised that the NFFO’s ideas for a reformed CFP based on sustainable fishing plans applied through delegated responsibilities was the destination that his Government aspired to.
This autumn leading up to the December Council, promises to bring together many difficult issues and the Minister ruefully noted that they had all appeared on his watch and would all have to be dealt with.
Mackerel
A separate meeting, focused on the crisis caused by the Icelandic and Faeroes’ smash and grab tactics in the western mackerel fishery, followed.
The need to increase diplomatic and trade pressure on Faeroes and Iceland to return to abandon irresponsible tactics and the terms of an acceptable deal to bring the damaging issue to a close were discussed.
Conclusion
These meetings, informal and more formal provided an opportunity to discuss in depth, some of the main issues confronting the fishing industry. It provided a sound basis for the dialogue that will have to continue through the autumn to the December Council.