News - NFFO

Voice from the Quayside

4 April 2025

The NFFO have conducted port visits in Norfolk and East Anglia and ports in the Devon and Cornwall to hear directly from the fishermen what their highest priorities are and what challenges they are facing.

NFFO Plea to Minister on MCA Safety Code

13 May 2022

An NFFO delegation recently met with Transport Minister, Robert Courts MP, to make the case for a review of the way that the Under-15m Safety Code is currently being applied. The Federation has received multiple approaches from fishermen “at the end of their tether” as the MCA applies the new regime introduced in September last year.

Accelerated Offshore Wind increases the Spatial Squeeze of Fishing

7 April 2022

The Government’s response to the energy security provoked by the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has now been published. One of the key elements (along with increased reliance on nuclear energy and a new round of offshore oil and gas licensing) is an acceleration of the expansion of offshore wind. The new target is to generate 50gw of power by 2030, increasing the massive expansion already planned by 10gw.

Catch-App Review

14 March 2022

NFFO declines an invitation to support Judicial Review but says that it is time to review the App.

6-12 mile Limit Licence Dispute

14 December 2021

The dispute over licences for EU vessels to fish within the UK 6-12-mile limit appears to be resolved, although whether this constrains the wilder rhetoric surrounding the issue remains to be seen.

Future of Inshore Fisheries: Did FOIF die?

12 March 2021

The NFFO takes stock of what happened to the Future of Inshore Fisheries Initiative. Amid Covid and the general post-TCA gloom, many are wondering what happened to the Future of Inshore Fisheries initiative. The vivid flash of inspiration and optimism when fishers and managers got together, in October 2019, for the wildly successful FOIF conference seems like an eternity ago. Since then, we have been through the mill and there has been a disturbing silence about the follow up to the conference. The UK’s failure to secure an exclusive 12-mile limit seems like a nail in the coffin lid for the project.

Inshore Conference Points the Way

14 October 2019

An industry-led initiative to focus attention on the future management of our inshore fisheries has been judged a major success. Fishermen from various parts of the coast, industry representatives, senior government officials and the IFCAs, used the two-day conference in London to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced in managing the inshore sector. Experts were brought in from Canada, US, Norway and New Zealand to offer insights from the experience from inshore fisheries there. Work will now begin on converting the conference conclusions into a blueprint for the sector, although it is highly unlikely that there will be a one-size -fits-all approach.

The Future of Our Inshore Fisheries

5 August 2019

The Future of Our Inshore Fisheries Conference will be held in London on 8th/9th October. Your views are important.

The Future of Inshore Fishing

12 June 2019

The political profile of the fishing industry stands at its highest point since the Cod Wars in the 1970s. This heightened political and public profile provides an opportunity to put our inshore fisheries on the pathway to a sustainable and profitable future. Too often the issues confronting our inshore fisheries have been mired in disinformation and placed in the “too difficult” box.

Fishing Industry Access to IFCAs Called into Question

4 May 2016

IFCAs, the bodies responsible for managing inshore fisheries in England, are at risk of becoming hamstrung by a lack of fishing industry representatives on their committees. That was the conclusion reached at the recent meeting of the NFFO West Coast Committee meeting held in Carnforth on 28th April. According to the committee, the appointments process needs an overhaul in order to be more conducive to fostering positive industry engagement in the management of local fisheries.