Tom Clarke

10 Jul 2013

Victory for the minnows over fishing’s whales

It’s been a big day in court for Britain’s little fish.

The organisation representing the majority of Britain’s big fishermen has lost a High Court battle with the government over its plans to take some of their fishing quota and give it to smaller inshore fishermen. It’s a ruling that could pave the way for further reform of Britain’s ailing fishing industry.

The UK Association of Fish Producer Organisations had challenged Defra’s moves to take unused quota — less than 1 per cent of Britain’s total allocation for species like cod, whiting and plaice.

The government intends to hand it over to “under ten metre” fishermen. Currently only around 4 per cent of the UK’s fishing quota is held by these smaller fishermen.

Campaigners for reform of the Common Fisheries Police (CFP) argue the reallocation would be a step towards making it more environmentally and economically sustainable.

Smaller fishermen, they argue, bring more local economic benefits and can use methods that are less harmful to the marine environment.

Jerry Percy who heads the “under ten” fishermen’s association NUTFA, said the ruling had “historic implications.”

It’s also being hailed as a victory against a powerful fishing lobby dominated by European multinational interests accused of bringing little benefit to the UK economy.

“The judge has demolished the arguments used by the fishing barons to justify their stranglehold on Britain’s fish giving back control of our seas to the public and our elected government,” said Arian Densham ocean campaigner for Greenpeace.

The amount of quota Defra plans to re-allocate is very small — around 800 tonnes valued at around £1 million pounds per year. But the ruling does now open the possibility of a wider reform of how fish quota is allocated in the UK.