11 July 2014
The NFFO's West Coast Committee agreed at its meeting in Barrow on the 4th July to explore the feasibility of establishing a community quota scheme in the wake of what is seen as a positive pilot in Ramsgate.
Having greater control over the
allocation of quota in the local fleet is believed to offer the
potential advantages over the current monthly pool catch limits which are
only going to become more challenging under any landings obligation.
Chairman Ron Graham said
“it is important that we explore our options before either
the landings obligation comes into effect or any further changes to
domestic management come forward to address latent fleet capacity.
We don’t know what is the right model for the region yet but we
need to be on the front foot looking at all possibilities and not waiting for
something to happen that we then have to react to”, he said.
The Federation intends
to work to facilitate dialogue with the authorities and POs to
examine what options could be possible to establish a community quota
scheme for the region.
The Committee also:
- Reviewed progress on community projects supported by
the West of Morecambe Fisheries Fund.
- Agreed to field a spokesperson to ensure the plight of
region’s inshore fleet is fully represented in the face of the
ill-conceived Commission proposal to ban drift nets.
- Reviewed a project to look at changes to
fishing practice in the vicinity of Eastern Irish Sea wind farm
sites.
- Agreed to investigate
proposed controlled sewage discharge proposals and the
risks to the seasonal mussel fishery in the Duddan estuary.
- Agreed to propose using the NFFO Trust Fund allocations
to the Committee to support currently unfunded fishermen’s training
courses.
- Reviewed NWIFCA
developing proposals for the Morecambe Bay Hybrid Order which included a Byelaw
in respect of vessel length for vessels working inside the jurisdiction of the
NWIFCA district.