4 February 2011
One of the guiding principles insisted upon when the NFFO was established in 1977 was that it should maintain its integrity and independence by being financially independent of government or other large bodies which have agendas of their own.
In practice this has meant reliance on what NFFO members have been willing, or able, to pay in subscriptions, or what the Federation has been able to earn for itself.
This principle has served the Federation well. Owing no favours, the Federation has been able to be bold in policy, uncompromised by financial entanglements that threaten and compromise its integrity.
This principle was informed by the fishing industry’s experience with the Fisheries Organisation Society (FOS). This was a government sponsored body set up with good intentions before the Second World War but which was hobbled by its annual grant and was considered a tame poodle in policy terms. Until it finally faded from view in the 1990s, the FOS was crippled because it was never clear how far its reliance on government funding influenced its policy decisions. There have been more recent examples where fishermen’s representative bodies have been funded overwhelmingly by government, all equally unsuccessful, all short lived and all tainted and taunted by the refrain that, He who pays the piper………..
Financial independence is more important than ever before for any organisation that wants to maintain its integrity and critical edge