News

At a swelteringly hot event in London last night, Secretary of State for the Environment Steve Reed gave a speech setting out his priorities for the department where he has recently taken the reins. He laid out his five key priorities (cleaning up rivers, lakes and the sea; working towards a zero waste economy; boosting food security through support for producers; speeding up nature recovery; accelerating flood defence construction) and set these within the context of the Prime Minister's core commitment to promoting economic growth. He was explicit in identifying support for fishers as an important part of that and emphasised partnership working and collaboration to deliver change.

Secretary of State for the Environment, Steve Reed OBE MP

1 August 2024

At a swelteringly hot event in London last night, Secretary of State for the Environment Steve Reed gave a speech setting out his priorities for the department where he has recently taken the reins. He laid out his five key priorities (cleaning up rivers, lakes and the sea; working towards a zero waste economy; boosting food security through support for producers; speeding up nature recovery; accelerating flood defence construction) and set these within the context of the Prime Minister's core commitment to promoting economic growth. He was explicit in identifying support for fishers as an important part of that and emphasised partnership working and collaboration to deliver change.

NFFO representatives meet new Minister

12 July 2024

Newly appointed Defra Minister Daniel Zeichner came to Brixham this week and the NFFO was there to greet him.

Expectation vs Reality: when the campaigning stops, the hard work needs to start.

24 June 2024

NFFO Chief Executive Mike Cohen makes some suggestions for the next government

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.

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.

Fishing, fuel and fake news

19 January 2024

There always seem to be some in academia and charity sector who find that they can make a good living pulling in grants and donations by attacking fishermen. Perhaps it is because a working class industry, largely composed of small businesses, doesn’t have the money or the connections to play them at their own game. Whatever the reason, a newspaper is again trotting out discredited claims about the carbon emissions of fishing fleets and a handful of academics and NGOs are pretending that fuel duty rates are subsidies.

Government Change of Heart on Medicals Follows NFFO Campaign

16 January 2024

After months of campaigning from the NFFO, the government is considering changing the rules on medical certificates for small boat fishers.

BBC reports on NFFO’s call for action on medical certificates

29 November 2023

One Show highlights looming crisis in inshore fleet

Cod: Precautionary Conundrum

16 October 2023

The new Northern Shelf Cod assessment may be a step forward for multi-stock assessment, but it's a step back for balanced fisheries management, argues Dale Rodmell, CEO of Eastern England FPO.

NFFO Regional Committees – a voice for the non-sector.

5 October 2023

The NFFO has begun to rejuvenate its Regional Committees, in an effort to give a bigger voice to the non-sector membership.

NFFO Annual General Meeting 2023

4 October 2023

The main political parties representing English and Welsh constituencies have been invited to address the NFFO’s annual general meeting later this month.

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.

New Partnership to Improve Fishing Safety

7 July 2023

The final day of Maritime Safety Week 2023 sees the launch of a new partnership to improve safety in commercial fishing. The partnership has been established between The Seafarers’ Charity and the National Federation of Fisherman’s Organisations (NFFO) and formalised by a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ensuring collaboration on a range of industry led initiatives to improve fishing safety.

Former NFFO Chief Executive Honoured

21 June 2023

King Charles III’s first Birthday Honours list has seen former NFFO Chief Executive Officer, Barrie Deas, appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the fishing industry.

NFFO participates in Downing Street food production summit

18 May 2023

NFFO Chief Executive Mike Cohen participated in the first Farm to Fork summit at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday.

The NFFO has written to the Transport Minister, asking for an urgent meeting on medical assessments for fishermen.

30 March 2023

By November, all fishermen will be required to have a medical fitness certificate in order to continue to work at sea. This ill-considered, unnecessary and harmful regulation could prove devastating to the inshore fleet, with long-standing and well-managed medical conditions potentially leading to the refusal of a certificate. The cost, stress and lost sea time involved are unjustifiable. Despite the NFFO meeting repeatedly with MCA officials and lobbying ministers to explain the seriousness of the situation, nothing has been done. This is now becoming desperate. Livelihoods will be lost and the looming mental health crisis in fishing communities will be worsened. The government must act to undo the harm that their regulations are causing. The NFFO is calling on the minister responsible to meet with us, to discuss how this state of affairs will be resolved.

NFFO Elects its next Chairman

17 February 2023

Chris Ranford will be the next Chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations. He was elected recently by the NFFO’s Executive Committee and will take up the Chair later in the year after the Federation’s AGM. His day job is as Chief Executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation, where he succeeded Paul Trebilcock as CEO in 2021.

New Fisheries Science Forum

11 January 2023

The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) have joined together to create a new industry/science forum.

Monetising Cod Recovery

6 January 2023

The NFFO won’t be taking any lessons in cod recovery from Blue Marine, whose superficial solutions of slashing quotas were recognised as worthless, and indeed counterproductive, decades ago.

A fix is urgently needed for implementation delays

4 January 2023

The gulf between what was promised and what was delivered in the December 2020 Trade and Cooperation Agreement left most in the fishing industry angry and frustrated. What was delivered in terms of additional fishing opportunities and control over access was very far from what any self-respecting coastal state might expect.

Blue Marine: Wealthy, Well-Connected and Wrong

23 December 2022

Over the course of this year’s negotiations there has been a persistent drumbeat from Blue Marine about the failures of fisheries mismanagement in general and cod in particular, It is a very selective and often plain wrong narrative that in many ways is self-serving. Without a catastrophe to report on, what is the point of Blue Marine?

2022 Roundup and Looking Forward to 2023

20 December 2022

The NFFO summarises the annual fisheries agreements and highlights the main issues confronting the the fishing industry

Loss of l’Ecume II

9 December 2022

The loss of the Jersey vessel, l’Ecume II, is a devastating blow for the island community and for the South-Western […]
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