First Rountable with New Fisheries Minister

Fisheries representatives, including NFFO Executive Committee members and staff, met with Fisheries Minister Stephen Morgan MP in London on Tuesday.

The meeting had a wide-ranging agenda, covering fishing opportunities for 2027; spatial squeeze; workforce and recruitment issues; funding, and fuel prices. The minister was, in his own words, “in listening mode” at the meeting. For someone only a few weeks into such a complex portfolio, this certainly seems preferable to a minister who wants to rush into decisions uninformed. Nevertheless, he told the group about meetings he had already arranged with independent scientists on stock and environmental issues, and with new Immigration Minister Jo White MP on crewing and visas, and committed to taking up industry concerns with about the MCA with colleagues in the Department for Transport.  He also spoke enthusiastically about a visit to Norway and the work done there to encourage young people into the fishing industry and to train them, and seemed keen to explore how that success might be replicated in the UK.

The minister told the group that he intended this to be the first in a regular series of meetings with the national fishing federations. The NFFO applauds this degree of openness and accessibility in a minister who has spoken warmly about his desire to work collaboratively with industry. As always, the proof will be in the actions taken, though, and we look forward to the next roundtable, where we hope to find a minister in talking mode and with some positive news to relate.