News

Call to resurrect Marine Conservation Zones is a ‘Mishmash of Misinformation and ignorance’

17 November 2014

The NFFO has responded to a call to re-launch a government campaign to designate 127 marine conservation zones across the UK.

MSY Threat to Small-Scale Fisheries

7 November 2014

The drive to reach maximum sustainable yield by 2015, the centrepiece of the new CFP, poses a direct and immediate threat to the survival of those small-scale fisheries dependent on quota species. Although the media focus recently has tended to focus on the distribution quotas, these pale into insignificance against the scale of the TAC reductions for 2015 proposed by the European Commission. Some of these provide a direct threat to the very existence of some small-scale fisheries.

Quotas for 2015

31 October 2014

The publication of the Commission’s proposals for TACs and quotas in 2015 opens a period of intense activity for the Federation, which will run right up to the December Council; which this year is held on 15th and 16th December.

Spurdog By-catch Initiative

27 October 2014

Spurdog presents a particular challenge to fishermen, fisheries managers, scientists and conservationists. Caught as a by-catch in a number of different fishing gears, its conservation status is giving cause for concern; but as the species is extremely difficult for fishing vessels to avoid, some question the effectiveness of the zero TAC that has been applied for the last few years to rebuild the stock. At the same time it generates a large number of dead discards. Fishermen have repeatedly expressed their frustration at having to throw back dead spurdog on those sporadic and irregular occasions when spurdog appear in their nets.

NFFO Expresses Alarm at Scottish Concessions

21 October 2014

Fishermen in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have expressed their mounting alarm that concessions granted to Scotland in the wake of hasty promises made during the referendum campaign will be made at their expense.

The Collapse of The Bristol Channel Fisheries: An Early Victim of the Rush to MSY

20 October 2014

The commercial fisheries in the Bristol face imminent closure. This is not because of any crisis in the stocks, or irresponsible levels of fishing, but directly because an environmentalist political agenda has been incorporated into the CFP mainstream, which demands that quotas are cut to achieve maximum sustainable yield by 2015. As the legal and political commitment to the MSY timetable progressively bites, further casualties can be expected.

Safety Digests Are Lifesavers

20 October 2014

NFFO Supports Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s Latest Safety Digest

NFFO Summit: The Future of Shellfish Policy

16 October 2014

A summit of fishermen, regulators, scientists and other stakeholders was held recently in the impressive surroundings of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich

Choke Fears on Skates and Rays

1 October 2014

The early exhaustion of the skates and rays quota for the eastern channel (VIId) has raised the spectre of widespread fleet tie-ups under the landing obligation, unless the issue is addressed directly. Tony Delahunty, Chairman of the NFFO, and also Chairman of the Federation’s South East Committee, has voiced his concerns about the future.

Drift Net Ban: NFFO Directs Withering Fire on “Irrelevant Brussels Committee”

1 October 2014

The NFFO has said that an obscure Brussels Committee which has expressed support for a blanket EU drift net ban “should be put to sleep.”

NFFO Chairman, Tony Delahunty discusses the future of quota management in the under-10m Pool

29 September 2014

The NFFO has already expressed, as part of its response to a recent Defra consultation, its support for the provision of a voluntary facility that would allow under-10m vessels to manage their own allocations (as part of a group or as an individual vessel) on the basis of their FQA allocations. We think that this facility will be most relevant to the 14% of higher catching under-10s, which account for around 70% of the under-10m fleets catches of quota species.

Bass Management

26 September 2014

An important workshop was held recently in Dublin to make progress on the design and implementation of effective management measures for seabass. The impetus for the meeting came from the poor scientific outlook for the stock in recent ICES scientific advice and the evident need for additional management measures. A combination of poor recruitment and relatively high fishing mortality has given cause for concern.

Static Gears: A Risk to MPAs?

23 September 2014

There is growing concern among the inshore fishing sector that some of the English IFCAs are contemplating more draconian restrictions on the use of static fishing gear than can be scientifically justified. From the first day that the MPA Fishing Coalition (MPAC) was formed, it has emphasised that a practical understanding of how fishing gears operate, what their environmental footprint is and whether or not they pose a risk, are key to implementing a rational management regime within the growing UK network of marine protected areas (MPA).

Drift Net Ban pushed onto back burner

22 September 2014

An NFFO delegation took part in a recent meeting in Brussels, between European Commission officials and UK drift net interests, to discuss the Commission’s proposal for a total prohibition on drift nets.

NFFO Summit to Direct Future Shellfish Policy

27 August 2014

The NFFO is to hold a major summit focused on the future direction of shellfish policy. The meeting which will involve shell-fishermen from all sectors and all parts of the coast, along with DEFRA policy officials, assessment scientists, fisheries managers and a range of invited guests, will be held in Greenwich, London on 14th October.

NFFO to sponsor Skipper Expo Int. Bournemouth 2014

19 August 2014

The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) is to sponsor Skipper Expo Int. Bournemouth 2014 in a move that confirms the exhibition’s position as a hugely popular fisheries showcase for the English and Welsh fishing industries

The Damanaki Legacy: The Mask Slips

15 August 2014

As she approaches the end of her period of tenure as Fisheries Commissioner, Maria Damanaki is making extraordinary efforts to shore up her legacy. It is not unusual for politicians, as they approach the end of the most important job they will ever likely to hold, to worry how they will be judged by history. It is unusual however, for them to actively promote a one-sided and distorted view of their record as the soon-to-be-ex Commissioner. In the interests of objectivity, therefore it is important to examine her claims to have been the catalyst for change in the right direction.

NFFO in Norfolk

14 August 2014

The NFFO has members right around the Norfolk coast with the biggest concentrations in Cromer, Wells-next-the Sea and Kings Lynn. The focus is very much on shellfish within the inshore zone and the boats being predominantly under-10 metres. At recent meetings in Cromer, Wells and Lynn it was evident that a few issues were dominant.

Court Injunction

12 August 2014

The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations has expressed regret that offshore wind developer, Dong Energy, has issued an injunction against Norfolk fishermen who work in an area the company wants to survey.

ACRUNET 6th Partner Meeting in Lisbon

31 July 2014

A very successful meeting of the ACRUNET (Atlantic Crab Resource Users Network) was held at the end of June in Lisbon, Portugal. The meeting was hosted by the Portuguese ACRUNET partner, the Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere, (IPMA), at one of its local facilities.

Drift Net Report

29 July 2014

One of the many mysterious aspects of the Commission’s proposal for blanket ban on drift nets is why the Commission, having commissioned a study into the issue did not wait before leaping prematurely into legislative mode.

Maintaining the Diversity of our Fleets is the best Guarantee of a Resilient UK Fleet and Sustainable Fisheries for the Future – NFFO

23 July 2014

NFFO Response to Greenpeace/NUTFA Report "Championing coastal waters".

No More Dog’s Breakfast? A Bonfire of Technical Conservation Rules?

23 July 2014

There are many reasons to be concerned about the way that the EU landings obligation is implemented and the discard ban will be the intense focus of much of the Federation’s work over the next few years. Here however, we discuss what may be one of the positives that could be taken from the new regime. In a nutshell, and depending on how it’s implemented, the landings obligation could herald an escape from much of the morass of technical rules which can make fishermen’s lives a misery; into a new era in which fishermen have much more control over their day to day activities.

NFFO Warns of One-Dimensional Approach to Quotas

22 July 2014

The President and Chairman of the NFFO have written a joint letter to Fisheries Minister George Eustice, warning against a one-dimensional MSY approach to setting TACs for 2015.