The owners of eight large beam trawlers will receive a total of £4.7 million to scrap their vessels.
The
money has been made available by the Government's Marine and Fisheries
Agency (MFA) which is implementing rules set out by the European Union.
In
total three boats from Brixham, two from Shoreham, West Sussex, one
from Plymouth and two from Newlyn will be scrapped under the plans.
It
is the third time the Government has made cuts to the number of fishing
vessels since the mid-1990s when it was decided the UK fishing fleet
was too large.
The idea is that fish stocks will be preserved if there are fewer boats on the water.
But Rick Smith, chairman of Brixham Trawler Agents, said scrapping boats will not lead to stocks being preserved.
He said: "The problem is that in the 1990s the fleet got too large because they gave too many licences out.
"Since then they have been trying to cut tonnage and horsepower.
"One of the methods they have chosen is to scrap some of the large older vessels.
"But even though the boat is scrapped another boat can buy the quota, so you have another boat simply taking over the catch."
Grants of up to £1.1 million will be given to the owners of the boats being scrapped.
The MFA claims the cuts will protect stocks, including the Western Channel sole. But Mr Smith says this is not the case.
"These boats catch 40 to 50 types of fish, not just Western Channel sole.
"How many they catch is determined by quotas.
"The MFA would like people to believe scrapping boats will save fish stocks but other boats will simply take over the quota.
"In many ways it is sad to see the industry lose vessels, even though many of them were perhaps 30 years old.
"The
problem is always that our Government always seems to appease Europe.
Whatever they ask for, we bend over backwards to give them.
"We
don't feel places like Spain, France and Holland enforce the rules in
the same way that we do, and fight harder to protect their industry."
With the latest cuts a total of 1,578 tonnes will be taken from the South West fishing fleet.
Vessel owners will have to break up their boats and claim their grant by November 15.
All of the boats that have been taken out of service are over 10 metres long.
As
well as the MFA the funds have been made available from the European
grants programme and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance
(FIFG).
A spokesman for the MFA said: "We had invited
applications from owners of beam trawlers over 10 metres long to apply
for grants offered by the decommissioning scheme for the South West of
England.
"Trawlers eligible were those likely to be affected by
the cuts in fishing effort required by the new EU management plan to
conserve Western Channel sole stocks."
article copyright WESTERN MORNING NEWS