A Greenpeace report has revealed that the Dutch owners of the supertrawler ‘Margiris’ are a dominant force behind Yorkshire’s top fishing organisations.
The 142m Margiris, formerly known as the Abel Tasman, was given a two-year fishing ban by the Australian government due to concerns over its environmental impact, and left Port Melbourne in Australia last week.
Holland-based fishing company Parlevliet & Van der Plas has been named by Greenpeace as one of a handful of Dutch and Icelandic interests controlling the vast majority of two of North East England’s fishermen's organisations – the Fish Producers’ Organisation (FPO) and the North Sea Fishermen’s Organisation (North Sea FO).
Parlevliet & Van der Plas co-owns the Abel Tasman through a subsidiary called Seafish Tasmania Pelagic.
"Yorkshire people will be wondering why on earth we're allowing foreign multinationals, including the owners of a black-listed monster trawler, to make millions from using UK fishing quota, when many small-scale, more sustainable British fishermen are going bust often because of lack of quota," says Greenpeace campaigner Ariana Densham.
The details are part of a Greenpeace investigation showing the extent to which overseas operators are profiting from UK fishing quota, while bringing little benefit to the British economy.
The Government's own estimates indicate that Dutch-controlled boats land less than 1% of their fish in the UK. A 2009 Whitehall report concluded that the ‘true economic value [brought to the UK economy by foreign-controlled fishing vessels] could be close to zero’.
The investigation found that 88% of the fishing capacity within the FPO and nearly 82% of that represented by the North Sea FO are controlled by Dutch and Icelandic fishing interests. These boats have UK fishing licences and hold British fishing quota, and many are owned by UK subsidiaries of Dutch companies.
