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Commercial fishermen are those who catch and sell fish and shellfish commercially under a licence. The South West fleet operates from 78 ports, and many more beaches and small coves, from Minehead in the Bristol Channel to Mudeford on the south coast. The largest and most important in economic terms are Newlyn, Plymouth, Brixham, Weymouth and Poole. In 2005, 991 vessels were registered in the region, of which 83% were under 10m.
A diverse range of fishing gear is used in the South West, including otter trawls, beam trawls, gill nets and pots/creels. The larger vessels are predominantly trawlers operating otter and beam gear to target species including whiting, plaice, sole, lemon sole and squid. The smaller vessels generally vary their fishing method depending on season and the species available.
There are approximately 1,500 fishermen in the South West. The value of upstream businesses (harbour staff, repairers and vessel insurers) is £40 million and downstream (processors, merchants and distribution services) £147 million employing 1,200 people.
The region lands a particularly diverse range of fish with over 50 different species sold, although the majority are made up of the 20 most common species of whitefish and shellfish. The volume for 2005 landings totalled 78,745 tonnes with a first-hand sales value of £94.7 million. While the overall trend in recent years for volume has been downwards, the trend for value has been upwards. This is in part due to a shift from beam-trawling to scallop fishing in the region.
The less tangible benefits that commercial fisheries provide to the South West region and the communities they operate from, while difficult to give a value to, are nevertheless very important.
There are a number of pressures on the fishing industry at the moment, ranging from the cost of fuel to the reorganisation of quota for the under 10m fleet and a fall in many fish catches. From our meetings and interviews with fishermen it is clear that there is a wide range of views on how MPAs could affect the fishing industry. There are a number of general concerns including issues of displacement, enforcement and management of sites that are outside of the six nautical mile limit. Fishermen are also keen to ensure that any sites set up have a clear conservation rationale and have been through a rigorous socio-economic evaluation and are monitored.
We aim to ensure that all fishermen know about the Finding Sanctuary project. Over the past year our liaison officers, who have all been fishermen in former careers, have been working across the region to ensure that fishermen know about the project, understand what it is doing and are able to engage and input their activity information, knowledge and opinions. We have representatives of the fishing industry and its regulators on the Steering Group and are also working closely with the main representative bodies such as the National Under 10s Fishermen's Association (NUTFA), North Devon Fishermen's Association, South West Fish Producers Organisation, South Devon and Channel Fishermen's Association and the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO).
In 1888 twelve sea fisheries committees were established to regulate local sea fisheries around England and Wales out to 6 nautical miles. Fisheries officers board vessels and inspect catches and equipment to enforce local byelaws and national and EU regulations and also make port inspections around the county. Sea Fisheries Committees are likely to be replaced with Inshore Fishery and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) under the forthcoming Marine and Coastal Access Act. These Authorities will have a clear duty to ensure that the exploitation of sea fisheries resources is undertaken in a balanced and sustainable way. They will have to take consideration of wider environmental impacts of fishing activity and to consider the social and economic benefits of managing the exploitation of sea fisheries resources in certain ways.
The Marine and Fisheries Agency has a wide range of responsibilities and undertakes delivery functions for Defra in a number of areas. In England and Wales, the Agency has overall responsibility for the enforcement of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and its associated regulations. The Agency also licenses a number of activities in the marine environment, for example it grants Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA) licenses for depositing material on the seabed. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) which will be created under the forthcoming Marine and Coastal Access Act will be built on the MFA, taking on functions from the MFA, central government and new functions introduced by the Act.
Fishermen and fishery regulators are represented on the Steering Group.
