News - Page 2 of 3

Joint statement from SFF and NFFO on Brexit negotiations

4 September 2020

Elspeth Macdonald and Barrie Deas, chief executives of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) and National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) respectively, said: “For the fishing industry in the UK, leaving the Common Fisheries Policy has always been about redressing a fundamental issue: the woefully unfair allocation of quota shares in our waters, where the EU fleet has an unfettered right of access to the UK’s rich fishing grounds and fish five times more in UK waters than we fish in theirs.

NFFO Reiterates Key Positions as Negotiations Intensify

5 August 2020

It is difficult to glean much from the official statements made by the EU and the UK after each round in the intensified UK/EU negotiations on their future relationship. Every statement has to be understood in terms of each side positioning for advantage in the talks. The overall impression, however, is quite substantial progress on many fronts but very wide gaps on a few – including a huge gulf on fisheries. The political ambition on both sides is to reach a deal but the Prime Minister and Chief Negotiator, David Frost, have made it clear that on fisheries the EU will have to travel a very long way from its current position – which is very close to the status quo – if a deal is to be made. The Commission is operating under a mandate from the member states which makes compromise impossible. These two opposing factors make the likelihood on no deal, at present, the most likely outcome. In the event of no-deal on a fisheries framework agreement, the EU would have to make a judgement whether the self-harm it would inflict on itself as well as the UK, by withholding a trade deal, would be the right course of action, notwithstanding the rhetoric generated throughout the negotiations. If it made good on its threats, the UK would trade with the EU on WTO terms from 1st January.

Fisheries Bill Lords Amendments Virtue Signalling vs Sustainable Fisheries Management

24 July 2020

Of the eight objectives included in the Fisheries Bill, five of them relate to fishing sustainably. And that’s fine. Without a functioning ecosystem and policies which limit fishing to safe levels, there will be no fishing industry. It makes sense too, from an economic perspective, for our management decisions to aim to achieve maximum yields, where that is a reasonable option. What fisherman would be against high sustainable yields?

Post Brexit Landing Obligation

11 June 2020

One of the benefits of leaving the Common Fisheries Policy will be the potential to rethink and redesign the landing obligation. Initially the industry will continue to work under EU retained law, but after 1st January there will be scope to redesign and implement new arrangements tailored to the conditions in UK fisheries. Both Defra and the NFFO have begun work to identify deficiencies in the EU landing obligation and how these could be addressed to inform a more effective and workable UK discard policy. The contents of this paper were discussed at a recent Defra/MMO/NFFO landing obligation forum.

UK-EU Negotiations: Fisheries

28 April 2020

After last week’s round of negotiations, Michel Barnier singled out fisheries as one of the areas where insufficient progress is being made towards the point at the end of June when a decision is to be made (according to the Withdrawal Agreement) on whether to proceed with negotiations. Having ceased to be an EU member State at the end of January, the UK has repeatedly indicated its intention to leave the transitional period and not to ask for an extension.

Pelagics Prepare for UK Adjustment

9 March 2020

The UK’s new status as an independent coastal state was widely recognised at a recent seminar held at the North Atlantic Seafood Conference in Bergen. An audience of invited guests heard from a panel which included representatives from the Norwegian, Faeroese and Danish pelagic organisations along with the NFFO. The seminar was organised by Norge Sildesalgslag.

A New Equilibrium

2 March 2020

The tectonic plates of European and internal UK politics are shifting. One consequence of this is that fishing has been thrust into a political prominence not seen since the cod wars with Iceland in the 1970s. Fishing rights have become one of the most emblematic issues associated with the UK’s departure from the EU. The NFFO examines where this shift will take the UK fishing industry.

What would a good deal on fishing look like?

3 February 2020

The Independent has published an article on what the NFFO would consider a good outcome from the forthcoming negotiations on a future fisheries agreement outside the Common Fisheries Policy.

Fishing: A Red Line Issue

31 January 2020

It may be a coincidence of timing but the day after the NFFO/SFF piled on the pressure with a major event in the Westminster Parliament, the Government has announced that getting a better deal for UK fishermen will be one of its five key negotiating principles with the EU.

Incredible Level of Support Across Parliament

30 January 2020

An “incredible level of support” for the fishing industry, was expressed at an event in Westminster organised jointly by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation. The event, which was held within the Palace of Westminster attracted support from over 100 parliamentarians, MPs and lords, across the political spectrum. It took place two days before the UK leaves the EU, on the day which the Fisheries Bill received its first reading, and ahead of critical negotiations on future fisheries arrangements between the UK and EU. These are expected to begin in February or March.

Last Council

20 December 2019

The NFFO Team attend the the UK's Last December Council

North Sea Cod

16 December 2019

After three rounds of talks with Norway, probably two more than necessary, during which the Commission stuck doggedly to its view that there should be a 61% reduction in the TAC for cod, a settlement was reached in Brussels, on the Friday before the December Council, at a 50% reduction. The TAC will be 17,669 tonnes and further talks will be held in January and February over a range of additional supporting measures designed to aid recovery of the stock.

New Government and Fisheries

13 December 2019

The election of a Conservative government, with a solid majority, means that the passage of the Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament seems guaranteed; meaning that the UK will leave the EU on 31st January 2020. The provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement spell out that, from that date, the UK will be an independent coastal state, with regulatory autonomy over fishing within its exclusive economic zone, albeit subject to a transition period to the end of 2020, during which the UK would still be subject to the Common Fisheries Policy.

Preparations Ramp Up for the December Council

12 December 2019

A final meeting with senior Defra officials, before government and industry delegations head for Brussels for the Council of Ministers, was held in London this week. The Council which will set total allowable catches and quotas for 2020, will be held on 16th and 17th December 2019. The NFFO has been working with fisheries scientists and administrators throughout the year but naturally, the engagement intensifies as the critical decisions approach.

North Sea Cod Q&A

9 December 2019

North Sea cod is regarded by many as an iconic stock. After the gadoid outburst* in the 1960s and 1970s, when a huge increase in abundance of cod-related species was observed, cod recruitment returned to more average levels by the 1980 and 1990s. By that time the stock also faced fleet overcapacity after a subsidised building boom leading to a high fishing mortality and a chaotic management system. Fleet decommissioning in the late 1990s right-sized the fleets and from 2005 or thereabouts (leaving aside the blind alley of effort control) more sensitive (and effective) management measures were adopted. From 2000 there was a dramatic reduction in fishing pressure and from then to 2015 the stock biomass increased steadily annually. This changed again around 2015, two years after the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Withdrawal Agreement and Beyond

21 October 2019

Leaving aside the possibility of a hiccup in these politically turbulent times, it is now possible that the UK will leave the EU on 31st October, or shortly after, within the context of the UK/EU withdrawal agreement settled in Brussels last week.

Brussels Takes Stock of Landing Obligation

18 June 2019

A seminar in Brussels, organised recently by the European Commission, was held to take stock of the EU landing obligation, which came fully into force for demersal species on 1st January 2019. Around 100 participants presented their views on how the landing obligation was being implemented, what problems remained and what lessons were being learned.

Fisheries Council December 2018

20 December 2018

The last Fisheries Council in which the UK will participate as an EU member state concluded in the early hours of 19th December. It was dominated by issues relating to chokes in mixed fisheries, particularly those for which zero catch advice had been given. As expected, whilst some progress was made at the Brussels meeting, many difficult issues remain to be resolved in the New Year and beyond.

The EU Landing Obligation: Contingency Planning for Chokes Must Begin Now

17 December 2018

December Council. Despite a four-year phase-in, it seems highly unlikely that the Council of Ministers, which begins today, 17th December, will resolve all the outstanding problems associated with the implementation of the landing obligation.

Fisheries Council

11 December 2018

The December Council of Ministers will not only be the last in which the UK participates but one of the most complex. A perfect storm of conflicting regulations means that ministers face a number of unpalatable choices and trade-offs. These conflicts include:

UK to be Ejected from Advisory Councils during Transition Period

22 June 2018

At a recent meeting of the North Sea Advisory Council, the European Commission made the surprising announcement that UK stakeholders will be ejected from membership of the advisory councils from March 2019. It had been assumed by most people in the ACs that as the whole acqui (the whole body of EU law) will continue to apply to the UK during the transition, and ACs are not decision making bodies, membership of the advisory council would remain unchanged until December 2020.

Landing Obligation: No Solution So Far to Choke Problem

19 March 2018

The full implementation of the landing obligation – the requirement to land all quota species – is less than nine months away but there is no sign yet that the problem of choke stocks has been resolved. This is the problem faced in mixed fisheries under the landing obligation when exhaustion of quota in one (possibly minor) species will lead to the closure of the fishery as a whole with fleets tied up for the rest of the year. The vessel, member state, or fleets concerned face a double bind: they are not allowed to retain on board the species concerned but neither are they allowed to return it to the sea, unless a specific exemption has been permitted. Chokes could, in theory, halt some fisheries as early as February each year

2017 Council Overview

15 December 2017

This was a different kind of December Council in a number of important ways. Many delegations were delayed by weather; UK fisheries Minister George Eustice returned early to London to participate in a crucial parliamentary vote; and we felt the sharp end of the EU’s inflexible approach to maximum sustainable yield. The Commission was in fact particularly intransigent throughout the negotiations. It also seemed to forget that the centrepiece of its policies is the landing obligation that fully comes into force on 1st January 2019 and that all TAC decisions ought to support, rather than undermine, that particular policy - which is going to be difficult enough to implement as it is.

European Impasse Generates Technical Conservation Fears

30 October 2017

There are deep concerns within the fishing industry that an impasse between the European member states and EU Parliament over technical conservation rules, will leave fishermen in the wheelhouse, or on the deck, in an impossible position of having to obey two conflicting rules. This is potentially important for our fleets in the UK, because constraints on Parliamentary time in Westminster could mean that EU technical conservation rules retained from the CFP could be with us for some time after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.