03 Jan 2017

Unsurprisingly given Brexit Government pitched their announcement in terms of the quota increases for some stocks, whilst MMO have released advice for bass   Bass fishing – catch limits,closures and minimum size. No doubt there will further commentary on what these decisions mean for stocks. Defra  December 14 Quota Outcomes ‘Today the UK government achieved agreements […]

13 Dec 2016

Defra have launched a stakeholder consultation: We’d like your views on our proposed changes to the 2012 Fisheries Concordat.  The Fisheries Concordat sets out arrangements for licensing fishing vessels and allocating fish quota received through the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. Our plans include changing when fishing vessel owners can move the management of vessels from […]

23 May 2016

Greenpeace ‘Small scale fishermen in England are struggling to retain their livelihood, while multi-million pound companies buy up the majority of fishing right, according to a new investigation by Greenpeace. The investigation revealed that just three companies own nearly two-thirds of England’s fishing quota while some fishermen hoard quota on vessels which never cast a […]

23 May 2016

Tom Appleby, van der Werf, and Chris Williams have analysed the current situation in a recent paper. Abstract/Description The UK’s fishery is a public asset worth in the region of £1,125 million. The free allocation of quota to commercial businesses on the basis of 2 years’ track record is a similar process to permitting that […]

02 Feb 2016

Government fishing policy judicial review verdict – Greenpeace response 18 January, 2016 Greenpeace:  Following a recent judicial review which saw Greenpeace challenge the UK Government over its distribution of fishing quota, Mrs Justice Andrews DBE has ruled in the Government’s favour. Responding to the verdict, Greenpeace UK’s Head of Oceans, Will McCallum, said: ‘Low-impact fishing […]

11 May 2015

The Ecologist   To protect our seas, first we must reclaim them from ‘Big Fishing’ ‘There’s strong public support for protecting marine wildlife, writes Horatio Morpurgo – so why aren’t politicians championing the cause? Labour and Tories alike fear to challenge the big fishing companies that have come to believe they own Britain’s offshore waters and […]