Fishing communities struggling to survive could benefit from a new cooperative scheme to keep England’s inshore fishing fleet afloat.
Fishermen are being asked to join forces and take control over how they manage their fishing quotas and market their catches.
For the first time pilot groups mainly made up of small boats under 10m long will be able to manage a separate quota of fish. This will be based on the fish they’ve landed collectively over recent years.
Some extra quota will also be available if organisations representing England’s larger boats volunteer part of their allocation. Where this is not the case, the pilot groups will get extra quota for specific species where quotas increase next year because stocks are healthier.
Fishermen who don’t wish to take part in the pilots will continue to access quota through a central pool. This pool will be topped up by quota that has been consistently under exploited by other parts of the fleet.
Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon said, “There are still some difficult decisions ahead for the industry, both in terms of the overall fleet size and structure, and how quota is allocated across the entire fishing fleet.
“It will take compromise and I call on all sides to work together to make this happen and make this a success.”
The pilots are part of the Government’s response to a consultation on reforming the inshore fleet’s management.
