Tag Archives: Marine Management Organisation
‘Struggling’ UK fishermen going out of business over red tape
Fishermen on smaller boat fishing fleets catching pollack have said they are going out of business after their allowance for the species was cut to zero over concerns for stocks. The Government has launched a £6million scheme to help, with the money to be available as match-funding via grants run by the Marine Management Organisation. Fishers using hand and pole line will be fast tracked under the scheme, but pollack fishermen who are part of the smaller 10m fleet, most of whom are based in south west England have been selling their boats. They say their livelihoods have been cut off, thus ending generations of fishing in south coast communities. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:55
Cornish fishermen lead on national policy change
Two years ago, the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation went above national regulation and pioneered a voluntary measure to protect crawfish stocks. Since then, Cornish fishermen have been calling for the government to bring in a higher minimum size for catching crawfish as national policy. Earlier this week, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) revealed their decision to introduce the measure. Aiden Mcclary, 23-year-old fisherman from St Ives, doesn’t mind taking the economic hit if it sustains the stock of Crawfish He said: “We don’t want history repeating itself. Years ago, back when my dad was fishing, there was a massive crawfish stock but it was wiped out because of a lack of management in place. >>click to read<< 09:55
Fishing communities ‘suffering from impact of growing seal colonies’, says MP
Sally-Ann Hart said “sound systems to deter seals are not appropriate” and that fishermen off the coast of her constituency Hastings and Rye were “suffering”. Environment minister Mark Spencer said the Government was working alongside the Marine Management Organisation to assess “non-lethal deterrent options” to keep seals away from fishing catches. Ms Hart said: “Off the coast of beautiful Hastings and Rye, fishermen are suffering from the impact of a growing seal colony affecting their fishing. “Due to the nature of the fishing, small boats leave their nets in the water, sound systems to deter seals are not appropriate. What steps is the minister taking to ensure that seals do not result in our fishing communities being decimated, let alone the fish?”>>click to read<< 13:14
UK opens more opportunities for sustainable Atlantic bluefin tuna fisheries outside EU
39 tonnes will be used for a new trial commercial fishery which takes advantage of an increased quota share of 65 tonnes for 2023. The new trial commercial fishery for Atlantic bluefin tuna, delivered by Defra and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on behalf of the UK Fisheries Authorities, is the first of its type in the UK for decades. Licence authorisations have been issued to 10 fishermen following an expression of interest process. Vessels will be permitted only to use low-impact rod and reel fishing gears which use lures, no live bait or chumming will be permitted. >click to read< 10:27
Greenpeace UK blocked in Poole Harbour ahead of protest
Greenpeace UK has been thwarted in their attempts to extend its boulder barrier in the South West Deeps to block industrial fishing, which it says damages marine habitats by dragging heavy nets across the seafloor. On Thursday, September 8, activists and crew members attempting to load eight more boulders onto the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise while docked at Poole Quay were blocked after threats of legal action were allegedly made by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). It is understood, after the MMO liaised with Poole Harbour Commissioners, the gates to Bulwark Quay where the ship is berthed were locked. >click to read< 09:00
Project Fisheye Successfully Accelerates Development of New Underwater Camera
Before looking at Project Fisheye let’s go back to the latest in fishing gear technology from the 1990s in Cornwall. Plymouth based fishing gear and net designer Winston Phillips who commissioned Phil Lockley, fisherman, diver and Fishing News journalist to record his work designing flip-over ropes, not to be confused with the John Day designed flip-up rope designed for beam trawls, and stone traps for trawls as well as Net-Tec doors. Remote, underwater cameras were prohibitively expensive in those days so there was only one thing for Phil and Winston to do, don the diving gear 
go over the side and hang on to the headline of the trawl while it was being towed, then slowly pull yourself out to the starboard wing and film the new doors with wheels on (designed in Hull) as they were being towed. How times have changed! Wind the clock forward to 2022 and technology, and ideas about health and safety have moved on somewhat! Photos, Video’s, >click to read< 20:55
Catch-App: “Government are going to make us criminals,” fear English fishermen
English fishermen are deeply concerned that new regulations regarding the enforcement of Catch-App will turn them into criminals. Fishermen across England are deeply concerned as the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) the Government’s fishing regulator in England, sets the date of 28 February 2022 for the enforcement stage of the Catch-App which could leave them facing prosecutions they cannot avoid. Leading fisheries solicitor Andrew Oliver, partner of Hull based firm Andrew Jackson questioned the legal implications of the regulations. “This is a clear breach of human rights. It is against public law principles to create a criminal offence for which it is impossible to comply with. >click to read< 07:06
Boasts about boosting fishing quotas after Brexit have been branded “codswallop”- The fish don’t exist!
Regaining control of British waters was a major part of the Leave campaign before Brexit but six months on and questions have been raised about the supposed benefits An investigation using the Government’s own data and backed up by former officials has revealed that £31.8million worth of extra fish promised in Parliament “don’t exist”. That money should have come from a big rise in the quota for sole and plaice. But James White, 38, a fisherman from Felixstowe, said: “They can increase the quota a hundred fold and we won’t be able to catch more. These fish don’t exist.” >click to read< 08:03
EU accused of ‘land grab’ by fishermen as they increase use of ‘destructive’ fly-shooting boats in UK waters
The EU has been accused of a “land grab” by fishing groups as it has drastically increased the amount of “fly-shooting” boats in UK waters. Fly-shooting is a controversial fishing method in which multiple nets are used to encircle and capture entire shoals of fish, and heavy ropes drag across the ocean floor, displacing whatever is underneath. There were originally just a handful of fly-shooters in our waters, but now there are 75 high-powered boats using the method all across UK waters to scoop up bass and mullet. >click to read< 20:51
MPA Fishing Ban: Another Industry Sell-Out,,, For what? Big Wind, or Conservation?!!
The NFFO has hit back at the Marine Management Organisation’s announced intention to outlaw towed gears in the Dogger Bank SAC and the majority of three other offshore MPAs, describing the move as a ‘further sell-out of fishing’. Describing the announcement as a shocking development, ‘Not even lightweight seine nets are to be permitted,,, The proposals amount to a further sell-out of fishing. It augers ominously for other areas and for fishing communities in our increasingly crowded seas.’ Many will now be asking what has changed. They will also be asking how the government can permit the development of four of the largest wind farms in the world on the same site but take such a sledgehammer to fishing. >click to read< 14:47
Bottom trawling ban for key UK fishing sites
The Marine Management Organisation says it plans to safeguard fishing areas in Dogger Bank and South Dorset by completely banning bottom trawling. The sites are already designated as protected areas,,, Greenpeace recently dropped concrete blocks on to Dogger Bank. The MMO is consulting on proposed by-laws prohibiting bottom-towed gear on the sites. The consultation runs to 28 March 2021.,,, The NFFO described the proposals as having delivered “a sledgehammer to fishing”. “This punishing reversal comes on the back of the government’s failure to deliver on fishing in the Brexit negotiations, and damaging delays in the export of fish and shellfish. >click to read< 13:55
Investigation underway: French vessel boarded, inspected, and brought to Plymouth Harbour
Britain’s fishing watchdog has confirmed its staff boarded a French fishing vessel a few miles off the Devon and Cornwall coast before bringing it into Plymouth’s harbour for an investigation. As tension rises over the forthcoming Fisheries Bill, the first major fisheries legislation in nearly 40 years which aims to “end current automatic rights for EU vessels to fish in British waters”, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has confirmed it confronted a French fishing vessel a few miles south of the Eddystone lighthouse. >click to read< 11:16
Fishermen urged to remove gear from non-UK waters ahead of Brexit
With two weeks until Brexit, fishermen who have deployed static gear in non-UK waters are being urged to get ready by removing it ahead of 23:00 hours on 31 October. The UK will become an independent coastal state after Brexit and there will be no automatic right to fish in the waters of EU or other states. An agreement on fishing has been agreed with Norway until the end of 2019. However, access to fish in EU waters will be a matter for future negotiation. >click to read< 11:50
Cornwall fishermen frustrated by Brexit surveillance changes
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is extending surveillance to “deter and detect illegal fishing by any vessels in English waters”. The extra checks are being done in port and at sea using boats and aircraft. Fishermen based in Newlyn, Cornwall said “we feel under so much scrutiny that people have given up”. The MMO said the changes would bring vessels under 10m in line with other fishing boats around the coastline. >click to read< 12:15
Yorkshire shellfishermen call for action as valuable gear destroyed by visiting scallopers
Jason Harrison, from Filey, said local boats had again had hundreds of lobster and crab pots towed away by visiting scallop dredgers from around the UK, as well as French fishing boats. In recent years fishermen have repeatedly complained about losing gear to visiting boats. Mr Harrison also said that as a result of “every man and his dog ploughing the seabed” for the past three months there was nothing left for the handful of local boats. >click to read<19:25
Scallop War – ‘Not the first time!’ Fisherman says French Navy ignored attacks on UK boats two years ago
Derek Meredith, the owner of two fishing boats caught in the shameless attack by French fishermen in the international waters between France and England, told BBC News this was the second time he had to defend himself at sea. Mr Meredith said he experienced the same attack by the hand of French fishermen two years ago, revealing the French Navy, present at the time of the attack, did not intervene to stop it from happening. He said: “Two years ago it happened to us but not as forceful as this time, I wouldn’t have said. >click to read<10:00
Buddhists fined almost £30,000 – for releasing foreign lobsters bought in Greenwich into the sea.
Ni Li and Zhixiong Li were among 100 Buddhists who released the crustaceans into the Channel as part of a religious ceremony – despite them being an invasive species. They spent more than £5,500 on 361 live American lobsters and 35 Dungeness crabs, which they released from three boats, chartered off Brighton Marina.,,, But the ceremony on June 15, 2015 wreaked havoc on local marine life, forcing the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to offer local fishermen £20 for each alien lobster they caught. click here to read the story 11:48
Foreign ownership of British fishing fleet investigated
Foreign ownership of the British fishing fleet is being investigated by a government agency, ITV News has learned. There has long been a loophole that allows predominately EU crews to fish in British waters. Operating under a “flag of convenience”, foreign owned and crewed trawlers can fish in British waters as long as they visit a UK port twice a year. Even then, they only need to sell a small part of their catch in Britain. Now, the Marine Management Organisation is investigating the practice. Video, click here 12:25
