UK: NFFO Releases 2012 Report

Chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, Arnold Locker has released a report for 2012.

For the fishing industry, this is a period of enormous upheaval and change. The stability, in regulatory requirements, that has been the industry’s constant demand for well over a decade, seems even further out of reach than ever.

The outcome of the CFP reform process, the replacement for the discredited EU Cod Management Plan, threatened access to customary fishing grounds from marine protected areas and offshore wind-farms, and public pressure for an elimination of discards and other changes, all push stability further away.

 But we are a forward looking organisation, which recognises that beyond the immediate turbulence, change is needed and can be positive. The CFP requires reform; we cannot continue with a Cod Plan that has been evaluated and found not to be fit for purpose; fishermen as well as the general public are sick of a system that obliges them to discard.

 And in fact, in terms of stock trends, the tide has turned. Whilst there certainly remain problem areas and stocks, the general trends are upwards and reflected scientific advice for the main commercial species and in many of this year’s quotas. It will take a while for the media – always wedded to doom and disaster -to catch up with this reality but our investment in conservation – through more selective gears, capacity reductions, dialogue with fisheries science – is delivering, stronger, healthier and more stable stocks.

Offshore Renewables

The scale of the Round 3 Crown Estate wind-farm concessions are such that they have the potential to displace large numbers of fishing vessels from their customary grounds. However, with good information and good faith it is possible to design and locate wind-farms where this kind of impact is reduced to a minimum. The problem has been the availability of hard and detailed data on where fishing vessels operate. The need for very precise spatial data provided the impetus for a collaborative initiative between the NFFO, the Crown Estate and the Department for Climate Change, which under important safeguards and assurances, has made available skipper’s very precise plotter data, to the Crown Estate Marine Assets Planning System. Everyone who has seen examples of what this system, armed with this data, can do have been more than impressed. This moves the dialogue with individual offshore developers onto a new plane.

Conclusion

The sheer weight of issues bearing down on the fishing industry makes it imperative that we have a strong, active organisation ensuring that our voice is heard. Working to overcome divisions in the industry and to ensure that our voice is heard where it counts remains the Federation’s core purpose. This differentiates it from the factional, from the inward-looking and from those who would steer us into various blind alleys. Building alliances with those who share our concerns lies at the heart of making the Federation a stronger body in the future.

[mappress]

Offshore WIND staff, May 15, 2012; Image: nffo