Desperate fishermen have threatened to blockade ports around the South West in a last-ditch bid to save their livelihoods.

Hundreds of skippers of boats under ten metres long say they are being ruined by EU quotas which can mean they are allowed to land just two fish a week.

Feelings are running high, said Dave Cuthbert, a fisherman from Plymouth who chairs the recently formed New Under-Ten Fishermen's Association. A fighting fund was being gathered to pay for possible legal action against the Government.

And, said Mr Cuthbert, skippers of smaller boats - which make up most of England's fishing fleet - were prepared to take action, and even mount a blockade.

"It is a distinct possibility," said Mr Cuthbert. "People are saying 'What shall we do, because we need to do something.'

"It wouldn't be difficult. We have fishermen in the 44 ports and harbours around the country.

"We have the representation in all these ports. It wouldn't be difficult to stop places like Plymouth or Looe (from working)."

The anger felt by the fishermen had been simmering for two years and Government inaction had forced it to boil over, said Mr Cuthbert.

Boats measuring under ten metres, which are generally one-man owned and operated, make up 85 per cent of the English fishing fleet. There are an estimated 300 operating from South West ports such as Newlyn, Padstow, Dartmouth and Plymouth.

Until two years ago, their catch was not subject to quota regulations.

However, the EU forced the sector into line and the whole fleet of smaller boats was awarded just four per cent of the total quota - despite protests that it was a patently unfair division of the spoils.

Mr Cuthbery said the highly restrictive quotas had really bitten hard this year.

Most fishermen in Devon and Cornwall operate in the huge zone stretching from South Wales to Weymouth.

However, each boat of under ten metres is allowed to land only 50kg of cod a month - which could be just eight fish.

Equally, skippers can land only 50kg of Dover sole a month, around 100 fish.

In the Channel, the cod fishery was closed to boats under ten metres last month from Kent to Dorset, just six weeks into the new fishing year, because they had reached their annual quota.

In Newlyn, fisherman Mick Mahon said he had caught his full year's quota of haddock in just one net. He picked out the best and then threw back the dead ones so he still had some quota left for the rest of the year.

One fisherman, who works out of Falmouth and asked not to be named, condemned the situation as "insane" and a "threat to the industry".

The irony is that many fishermen feel scientific studies underpinning quota cuts meant to preserve stocks are in fact years out of date.

Paul Trebilcock, of the Newlyn Fish Producers Organisation, said that local fishermen said they had never seen stocks so healthy.

There is a hollow laugh among fishermen on the south coast who joke that cod stocks are so buoyant in the Channel, they could walk to France on a bridge of the fish.

But, said Mr Cuthbert, there was an immediate threat to an industry on the brink of being consigned to history.

"I have been a fishermen for 30 years. This year is a make or break year for a lot of us. There is a feeling that we have to stand up and do something now."

Fisheries minister Jonathan Shaw has recently toured the country - including Newlyn - talking to fishermen and producer organisations. He has issued a discussion paper seeking views on proposals to tackle the current difficulties in the English "Under-Ten" fleet.

He said the simple fact was there were more fishermen than quota available.

"I have listened to what fishermen have been telling me. I know the difficulties they face and I know there are no easy answers.

"There is not enough quota to go around, so we must manage what we have for the good of the majority of inshore fishermen.

"Fishermen will need to think carefully about their options and make their own choices.

"I want to help them do that. I want a sustainable, thriving inshore fleet for the future. We must act now to secure that future," he said.  

article copyright WESTERN MORNING NEWS 

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