Fishing coalition to fight marine Highland Clearance
A Marine Protection Area Fishing Coalition has been set up to represent the entire UK commercial fishing industry in the face of a proliferation of designations and demands related to habitat protection issues, reports Stuart Fisher.
It was launched at the House of Commons on 23 February. The intention is to give the industry a single powerful voice in the face of threats to eject fishermen from traditional fishing grounds. They say “the industry has never faced a threat like this before.”
“It is clear that just lodging a protest - even a very loud protest - is simply not going to be enough.” They are launching a fighting fund.
National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations chairman Davy Hall says “We are determined that this will not be some kind of marine highland clearance, with fishermen callously evicted from their traditional fishing grounds.”
Jim Porteus of SWFPO suggests “Lyme Bay shows how to introduce a new MPA with maximum pain, maximum disruption and maximum conflict.”
Nick Prust of Brixham claims that if conservation agencies are prepared to work with the industry as equal partners the skippers will help in the process of identifying sensitive areas and already avoid them without a need for statutory pressure.
An important aspect to the passage of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2003 was how recreational users, from boaters to mountaineers, all worked together to present a united front which, amongst other benefits, confirmed the right of navigation on all Scottish inland waters.
Meanwhile, there remains an urgent need for recreational interests to act together on our seas. The BMF represents the interests of the recreational boating industry but not the users themselves. The DEFRA conflict of interests needs to be faced. Time is fast running out to fight these draconian measures.
