Aquaculture Today
March 31, 2005

UK fishing industry must change to meet global competition says new report

A modernised UK fishing industry can have a profitable and sustainable long-term future, says new report published last week by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. However, the report says, the UK's fishing industry must modernise to meet global competition.

The report "Net benefits: A Sustainable and Profitable Future for UK Fishing" which was published on Good Friday, proposed a possible long-term strategy for improving the fortunes of the industry and the communities which depend upon it. It emphasised that the plan's success would depend on bringing the industry and other stakeholders into a partnership with government over management decisions.The report also says that that the fishing industry will gain more from the UK staying in the Common Fisheries Policy, but at the same time calls for major reforms to the CFP, especially to allow regional management of fisheries. Prime Minister Tony Blair said:“There is widespread concern about the future of the UK's fishing industry. That is why I asked the Strategy Unit to assess the issues facing the UK marine fishing industry and recommend action to create a stable future both for the industry itself and for the communities that depend upon it.

"I welcome the results and echo its calls for all the key players to come together to manage the resources - whether their interest is in scientific and environmental matters, the catching and processing industry, or in tourism and development.

"Now I want the UK to give a lead in reforming the Common Fisheries Policy - by pushing the European Union further down the path of managing fish stocks on a regional level. This will give us more influence over the type of management regimes that best suit our fishing waters.

"The report has been presented to the UK Government as well as Fisheries Ministers for Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, for their consideration. Key recommendations of the SU report include: Long-term profitability and stock recovery will require the removal of at least 13% of the whitefish fleet beyond the 2003 decommissioning scheme. Introducing individual tradable quotas - initially for pelagics and nephrops - to promote competition and give the industry a greater stake in the state of the stock. The industry should seek sustainable fisheries certification (by the Marine Stewardship Council or equivalent) for all major UK stocks by 2015. To read the whole report go to: www.strategy.gov.uk

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish European Fish Trader, Fishing Monthly, Fish Farming Today, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Fishermens’ Federation Diary, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.