22 March 2009
The Lighthouse Authorities are consulting on an increase in the light dues charge.
However, following a case to Ministers made by the NFFO, for the first time in over two decades the fishing industry in England is exempt from the charges.
Light dues were extended to fishing vessels to fund the Decca radio-navigation system when the Government took over financial responsibility for it in the late 1980s, when the arrival of GPS undermined Decca’s viability. Despite the final demise of the Decca system a few years later, the Government rejected pleas for the removal of light dues charges from over 10 metre fishing vessels, despite the clear evidence that fishing vessels are only light and sporadic users of the lights system and the UK was the only Government in Europe to levy the charge on its fishing fleets.
The oil price spike of 2008 and reinvigorated representations to Defra eventually persuaded the Ministers to meet this charge from internal budgets. A similar case has been put to the Northern Ireland Minister and we are continuing to press the argument.
Progress on the light dues front is part of a wider NFFO campaign to reduce regulatory costs on the industry.