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Newlyn fisherman, Shaun Edwards, who has put both his fishing boats up for sale because of the current crisis in the fishing industry, is accusing the Newlyn Regeneration Project of being in "cloud cuckoo land". In a letter to The Cornishman, Mr Edwards writes: "I read last week's front page article with much scepticism!
"Maybe it's me that is in cuckoo land and not project officer, Tony Woodhams, but all I know is I've been fishing for 25 years and over the last three years I have seen my earnings/amount of fish/and net profit drop constantly - and I am getting out of it.
"Am I the only boat skipper/owner that is seeing this? I don't think so.
"I would like to see the business case study, to see what has been assessed for the catching sector.
"If Mr Perkins, the owner of the land in Newlyn Coombe, would like to benefit the local community, then it's best you look at another industry and certainly not fishing!
"And I would like to let people know that there is definitely going to be a decommissioning scheme for the UK fishing fleet either at the end of this year or early next year. Do the RDA , Mr Woodhams and Mr Perkins know that?
"There should be research into how many or what percentage of the boats in Newlyn that would take decommissioning and those who wouldn't, then these people might have an idea how many boats will be left, and therefore how much fish will be landed into Newlyn.
"For example, 100 boats catch 1,000 tons of fish in 12 months.
"If 60/70 per cent of the boats get scrapped, then 30 boats left would catch 3,000 tons if they are lucky, as fish stocks are constantly on the decline through over fishing.
"I wonder if that little lot is all included in the Business Case Study, Mr RDA, Mr Woodhams, Mr Perkins.
"And may we have an answer as to why Long Rock Industrial Estate cannot be used for a Seafood Park, as it is wasteland and it wouldn't ruin Newlyn Coombe."
Meanwhile, the local campaign group "Stop The Marina!", which has been raising concerns about the regeneration proposals for Newlyn, launches a new website at noon today.
The site, which will retain the original URL address of www.stopthemarina.co.uk, is the result of six months of consolidating research material by group members.
article copyright © THE CORNISHMAN
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