Blog Posts - NFFO

Victory on medicals for under 10s, but the fight goes on

27 March 2024

After extensive campaigning by the NFFO, the government has today announced a partial reversal of its policy on medical certification for fishermen. Anyone fishing for 4 weeks or more on a UK under 10m boat between 30th November 2021 and 29th November 2023 is now exempt from the requirement to hold a medical fitness certificate.

TAC setting science must change if discards are to become manageable

27 February 2024

The Eastern England FPO CEO looks at the difficulties of managing discards in a mixed fishery, especially when MSY recommendations for a single stock grab the headlines

More Restrictions – More Spatial Squeeze

8 February 2024

The government's recent ban on sandeel fishing and restrictions on mobile gear seem to be more about grabbing headlines than than genuinely contributing to marine resource management.

Two Stage Response Required to Address Pollack Crisis

23 January 2024

The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) has called for a two-stage response to the crisis engulfing the inshore fleets, following the decision to cut the total allowable catch to an unmanageable 832 tonnes, with a risible UK quota of 203 tonnes for 2023.

Total Allowable Catches: Scientific Recommendations and Management Responsibilities

7 November 2023

Let’s get one thing straight from the outset. Decisions on how much fish should be taken out of the sea in any given year should be based on the very best available scientific advice.

Fisheries Management Plans – Time to have our say

27 July 2023

FMPs have great potential. They represent a genuinely new way of developing fisheries management measures. Instead of the top-down impositions of the CFP, we have at least the opportunity of something more flexible, more responsive and more democratic. By bringing together fishers, scientists and regulators, FMPs should be capable of producing far better outcomes than the politically motivated compromises that we became used to under the old regime.

Discards and REM at the Crossroads

7 June 2022

Dale Rodmell, chief executive of EEFPO gives his perspective on the reboot of discards policy in the UK.

New NFFO-Fathom Podcast Collaboration Explores New Funding for Industry-Science Partnerships

17 December 2021

The NFFO has partnered with the Fathom podcast to produce a series of informative and highly topical episodes, focusing on the challenges and opportunities facing UK fishermen in the post-Brexit landscape. In this first episode, NFFO CEO Barrie Deas and Cornish Fish Producers’ Organisation’s (CFPO) CEO Chris Ranford interview a Defra policy official about a big new funding opportunity for the industry.

Decarbonisation: Climate Emergency

7 October 2021

The UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow this coming October and November, will bring world attention to the link between greenhouse gasses and climate change. The UK Government will want to earn the prestige associated with hosting a successful summit. A successful summit will include commitments to new ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gasses - in particular carbon dioxide.

The Politics of Division

24 September 2021

It is not that difficult to exploit divisions in the fishing industry. We are a complex, multi-faceted, diverse industry, targeting a wide range of different species. We operate inshore and offshore with a bewildering range of gears, fishing from different ports, in vessel sizes that range from under 8 metres to over 100 metres. Quota shares are always divisive because they are a zero-sum game. More fundamentally, who receives a licence to fish and what kind of licence, involves political and administrative choices that can generate much heat and friction within the fishing industry.

Climate Smart Fisheries: Protected Areas or Sustainable Livelihoods?

9 September 2021

Adapting to climate change and reducing dependence on fossil fuels is something that the fishing industry, along with every other part of the economy is going to have to address. Some NGOs are making the argument that the solution lies with more marine protected areas. However, going all-out on MPAs as a “cure-all” for our seas risks perverse outcomes and real harm to coastal fishing communities. Dale Rodmell argues the case for a more cooperative approach that illuminates pathways to sustainable marine livelihoods that can deliver much more, and in the long run, be more adaptive to climate change.

Can Fisheries Co-exist with Offshore Wind in the Race to Carbon Net Zero?

2 June 2021

The Government’s Net Zero ambition signals a massive expansion in the scale and extent of offshore wind farms, but it also supercharges concerns over the spatial squeeze now being experienced by fishers who face losing access to their fishing grounds. NFFO Assistant Chief Executive, Dale Rodmell, who recently presented the issues to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries(1), makes the case for the need for a planning system that can deliver on co-existence.

Prepare for Displacement

18 May 2021

Lords appointment triggers NFFO change to MPA Policy. The appointment of Richard Benyon as Defra minister in the House of Lords has prompted a rethink within the NFFO on its approach to the management of marine protected areas.

Seaspiracy: Seafish Response

26 March 2021

Seafish have responded robustly to the claims made in the Netflix Seaspiracy film

The Seafood Response Fund (SRF) closes on Friday 26 March.

25 March 2021

This a reminder for eligible businesses to submit their details for payment to the Seafood Response Fund by tomorrow.

Dogger Bank: Back to Remote Control

16 March 2021

“Closed” rather than co-management characterises the government’s first post-Brexit steps to defining its approach to fisheries management after the Common Fisheries Policy. Dale Rodmell examines the current proposals for this iconic site and what it signals for stakeholder participation in fisheries.

Lawyers, Boulders and Money: A future in which fisheries policy is driven by vigilantes and litigation?

5 March 2021

In an important and disturbing change, environmental NGOs have now apparently abandoned any pretence of working collaboratively with the fishing industry. With one or two honourable exceptions, most have embarked down the road of confrontation and litigation.

Labour disowns Greenpeace

2 March 2021

Full credit to Shadow Fisheries Minister, Luke Pollard MP, for publicly disowning Greenpeace for dumping boulders to endanger fishing vessels in the vicinity of where a fishing vessel was recently lost in tragic circumstances. Mr Pollard denounced the Greenpeace action as “tone deaf.”

Co-existing in marine space

4 February 2020

Dale Rodmell provides an insight into planning for co-existence between commercial fisheries and offshore wind farms.

Fishing News interviews Barrie Deas

20 February 2018

With a lot of social media traffic on the Fishing News Facebook page and elsewhere, Fishing News sat down with CEO of the NFFO, Barrie Deas, to ask those tricky questions that keep cropping up.

Post-Brexit Fisheries Management

5 December 2017

Responsive decision-making with industry centrally involved in management is key to an effective post-Brexit fisheries regime, argues Dale Rodmell.

Marking Static Gear

6 October 2017

Prime Minister puts a spanner in the works. Well, that's what it felt like to us in the Cruising Association (CA) when the general election was announced. At that point our petition, about Lobster Pot markers, on the Parliamentary website had about 6500 signatures. And they were all lost: because that's what happens to a Parliamentary Petition, when a General Election is called.

A Precautionary MPA Tale

23 June 2017

Dale Rodmell argues that dismissing an evidence-based approach to Marine Protected Area planning in favour of precaution is misguided.

EMFF in England – the story so far

4 April 2017

Graeme High (MMO, England Intermediate Body Manager) tells us about the progress of the European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF) in England.