Dr Patrick O’Sullivan Energy and Environment Coordinator

SE Cornwall Labour Party Energy and Environment Group Constituency talk - A Fair Deal for Coastal Fisheries Dr Patrick O’Sullivan Energy and Environment Coordinator

Constituency talk Small boats (< 10 m long) contribute 78% of the total UK fishing workforce Allocation of the UK share of the EU Total Allowable Catch (TAC) only 2% Therefore widely felt to be grossly unfair

Constituency talk Created enormous distrust for the Common Fisheries Policy and the EU among UK fishing communities Views fostered by UKIP and at least one local Tory MP who during the referendum is said to have told one local fishing community … “After Brexit you will get your quotas back!”

Constituency talk However, once annual TACs are agreed at EU level each December, national quotas under the Fixed Quota Allocation system (FQA) are distributed by member states, and not the EU as a whole Therefore, it is not the EU’s operation of the CFP, which has led to allocation of only 2% of national TAC to inshore boats, but the UK’s own internal management of its own FQA

Constituency talk Once allocated, UK fishing quotas are leased by DEFRA to the highest bidder. Leasing has led to commercialisation of quotas, ‘quota-hopping’ (buying up quotas for other fisheries areas),and concentration of quotas in the hands of transnational corporations. .

Constituency talk A greater proportion of the UK quota is owned by foreign businesses than that of any other EU member state One Dutch factory ship (the Cornelius Vrolijk) owns 23% of the English quota (more than that of the entire Cornish fleet). Three companies (Andrew Marr Inc., Interfish, the Cornileus Vrolijk) own over 66%.

Constituency talk To access quotas, small boat operators must become members of official Producer Organisations recognised by DEFRA However, small boats were omitted from the original Common Fisheries Policy calculations (1986) on which quotas are still based This means that they often have to sub-lease quotas from larger, commercial organisations Often cannot afford to. .

Constituency talk Many small-boat operators also distrust the catch data on which quotas are based, and the methods by which these are collected. When asked whether stocks are low, they almost always reply that there are ‘plenty of fish’. Catch data are collected by the UK Marine Management Organisation (MMO) But all they do is collect data on species landed at onshore fish markets This is bad science! . .

Constituency talk They are also angered and demoralised by the practise of ‘discarding’, i.e. throwing species back into the sea for which they do not possess quotas And with watching ‘foreign’ boats taking fish while they are barred from putting to sea for lack of quota. But as we have seen, these are not just the EU’s fault, but also DEFRAs . .

Constituency talk All of these factors have led to deep distrust of the Common Fisheries Policy and the EU in UK fishing communities, And of ‘experts’, And a profound sense of being ‘left behind’; Hence the overwhelming Leave vote from UK fishing communities. .

Constituency talk Marketisation of quotas by DEFRA favours • Big boats against small ones • Large, multinational producers against small, local ones • ‘Foreign’ boats as opposed to UK ones • Established producers as opposed to new ones • Young people wishing to take up fishing are unable to afford, or to obtain quota .

Constituency talk Fishing by large vessels also creates greater ecological impact. More than 90% of large boats use towed beam gear which damages the sea-floor, compared to 22 % of small boats. .

Constituency talk But as we saw, UK fishing communities from Scotland to Cornwall voted Leave Have high hopes of Brexit In 2015, fisheries minister George Eustice stated that [the] “government will (allocate) the first 100 tonnes of any additional quota received—and 10% of anything more —to the UK’s inshore fleet”. But now they find that as part of the Transition Deal, they are required to remain in the Common Fisheries Policy until 2020 .

Constituency talk At least one organisation - Fishing for Leave – would go further and advocate A free-for-all policy based on ‘days at sea’ rather than numerical quotas. This would allow open access to all UK fisheries (with agreed time- and gear-size limits) for large and small boats, And also allow ecologically-damaging beam trawlers to fish (admittedly for limited periods) more-or-less as they please. Fishing for Leave are very close to UKIP. Sheryll Murray also likes this idea. .

Constituency talk However, there are other organisations such as NUTFA - the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association (http://www.nutfa.org/) Describes itself as ‘the only organisation specifically dedicated to the support, survival and development of the under ten fleet’ Believes that: The current allocation of quota is both unfair and unjust, … (and that) under ten (boats) … have been disenfranchised in the (allocation) process and that there should be a reallocation.

Constituency talk And that • Successive Governments have effectively ceded quota management to the PO's and • access to fish has now become almost entirely a property, rather than a user right, with quota being traded as just another commodity, • despite the fact that many small scale fishermen, and the coastal communities that they support, are dependent on it to maintain their livelihoods.

Constituency talk The current leasing arrangements are … forcing small scale fishermen to choose between having to lease quota at great expense from the Producer Organisations, (often only being able to utilise around half of it (owing) to weather and tides), or diversify into the already full shellfish sector or rely on the diminishing number of non quota finfish species available (or of course go bust)

Constituency talk DISCARDING The current allocation system … forces small scale fishers, recognised as generally fishing more sustainably than their larger colleagues, to … discard prime fish for no other reason than they do not have the same access to quota to allow them to land it Make no mistake, ,,, dumping is often not because the UK has no quota for the species, it is because … Producer Organisations have quota … they do not utilise … but will not share … with … smaller vessels.

Constituency talk It is also worth mentioning that • on an annual basis something in the region of 14000 tons of quota species are left unfished by the over tens year on year, that the fish quota that the PO's lease to the under tens… is obviously surplus to their requirements, • and that a very significant and increasing amount of fish is in the hands of quota traders, people who ... use a public resource as private property In other words it looks as though the Common Fisheries Policy has led to privatisation of what used once to be a commons

Constituency talk I see this as an important opportunity to produce a campaign which increases links between Labour and UK local coastal fishing communities, And to develop national policies which give them a better long-term economic deal than parties they have traditionally, or recently supported (Tories, Lib Dems, UKIP). Explore ways of supporting organisations such as the CPO, which aim to use Brexit as an opportunity to implement a set of fisheries policies which are economically more equitable, less-damaging socially, and ecologically more sustainable, rather than a marketised free-for-all.

Constituency talk Could produce substantial benefits to many coastal communities, in the form of • more sustainable management of key local resources, • increased employment opportunities especially for young people, and • strong economic multiplier effects (e.g. harbours full of working fishing boats are a great attraction to tourists).

Constituency talk Can also be used to demonstrate • that Labour not just an ‘urban, metropolitan’ party, • that we do care about rural communities and the countryside, and that • UK coastal fishing communities (and others) do not need to feel ‘left behind’.

Dr Patrick O’Sullivan Energy and Environment Coordinator