The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations
Volunteer skippers fishing out of England and Wales are needed to contribute to fisheries data usually collected by scientific observers. Current Covid-19 restrictions mean that Cefas fisheries observers are not able to board commercial fishing vessels to go to sea. This partnership with industry will build on pilots commencing this month with the Northeast trawl fleet, Southeast netter fleet and Southwest beamer fleet.
The top team at the Marine Management Organisation use the Fathom broadcast to discuss preparations for the end of the transition period on 31st December 2020.
The NFFO responds to an article in the Irish Times that asserts the UK position in negotiations is based on "myth-making and bluster" as it seeks to reset its fisheries relationship with the EU.
The Fisheries Bill, after a long and at times tortuous journey, has successfully completed its final parliamentary scrutiny stage. The House of Lords accepted the amendments made in the House of Commons and didn’t pass any further amendments of their own. In truth the House of Lords had run out of constitutional ways to shape the legislation.
As negotiations between the UK and the EU on a future partnership agreement move into their final stages, the NFFO takes stock and reaffirms the fishing industry’s aims.
The legal and political realities confronting the EU on fishing have been finally acknowledged by President Macron, in the wake of last week’s EU summit. In a statement reported by a number of news outlets he: “conceded that the post-Brexit arrangements for British seas would not maintain the status quo for the EU fishing fleet.”
By creating an artificial linkage between fisheries and a trade agreement, the EU has ensured that the negotiations on a future UK/EU relationship are going down to the wire. Boris Johnson cannot renege on his commitments to the UK fishing industry without devastating political fallout; and there are absolutely no signs that anyone in the British cabinet, or the UK negotiating team, even thinks that this is an option.
Andrew Locker has moved into the NFFO hotseat as Chairman of the NFFO, and Andrew Pascoe has been elevated from the Chairman’s role to become President of the NFFO.
We live in momentous times. 2020 will be remembered as the year of the pandemic. It will also be recorded also as a turning point in the history of the UK fishing industry, as we prepare for our future as an independent coastal state outside the Common Fisheries Policy.
Barrie Deas Chief Executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations Why the UK won’t back down on fisheries
As the Fisheries Bill passes through the House of Lords, amendments have been laid down that would make CCTV cameras aboard all fishing vessels mandatory. The NFFO provides its view.
The delayed report from the Conference on the Future of Inshore Fisheries has been published along with an outline of how the conference conclusions will be taken forward.
The findings of acoustic seal deterrent trials undertaken in an inshore gill net fishery have been published by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).