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With ever increasing enforcement measures the port of Newlyn is in danger
of becoming the equivalent of a police state, according to local fisheries
leader Paul Trebilcock.
Mr Trebilcock, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation,
in his response to the news of a New Year crackdown resulting in tighter
fishing catch controls, says the latest initiatives will be "unworkable."
Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw, who will unveil a new package of measures
in January aimed at tightening up the enforcement of fishing laws, is
under pressure to act following a warning from the European Commission
that the UK and Spanish governments would be prosecuted unless they clamp
down on fishing offences.
The Commission said it had evidence of "grave failings" in
the enforcement system over many years and has said the failure to enforce
the rules posed a serious threat to fish stocks.
News of the crackdown has brought an angry response from local fishermen
and fishing leaders who say they are already subject to the strictest
enforcement regime in Europe.
Mr Trebilcock says enforcement is so tight at ports like Newlyn and Brixham
that some foreign boats are now boycotting the region.
He said the region was being punished because of lax enforcement elsewhere,
particularly in Scotland.
He added: "For Ben Bradshaw to be talking about tighter enforcement
is a joke.
"The level of enforcement is already unnecessarily high in the South
West. Any increase will turn Newlyn into a police state. Boats will start
leaving the port if it gets any worse.
"A number of foreign boats have already said they are not returning
because of the harassment.
"A lot of problems are down to the Scots, who have said out loud
that they have not stuck to the rules, and that is why the cod recovery
programme in the North Sea is not working. To penalise us for that is
unacceptable."
The most controversial new measure will slash the leeway given to skippers
in estimating the weight of fish caught. At the moment skippers are given
20 per cent leeway on the weight of a box of fish. That will be slashed
to just eight per cent, a level which Mr Trebilcock said was impractical
for skippers operating in difficult conditions on the open sea.
"We will have skippers in courts every week if they do this,"
he said. "It is just not practical - we need some common sense."
The crackdown is also likely to put the spotlight back on the controversial
European Common Fisheries Policy, particularly a requirement on fishermen
to throw back dead fish inadvertently caught over quota.
Other new rules being considered include a new register of sellers and
buyers operating at fish markets; a tightening-up of arrangements at designated
fish landing ports and the mandatory use of satellite tracking equipment
on all large trawlers.
article copyright © THE CORNISHMAN
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