25 February 2010

MPA Coalition launched to defend fisher interests

A new UK-wide fishing industry coalition was officially launched on Tuesday at the House of Commons, London, to ensure that fishers’ interests are fully considered during the consultation and designation process for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). During a presentation before MPs, fishers and other marine stakeholders, MPA Fishing Coalition representatives underlined the import of ensuring that MPAs are introduced in a way that minimises the impact on the fishing industry’s traditional and sustainable activities. Many fishers believe the establishment of MPAs is the biggest potential threat of loss of access to fishing grounds they have ever confronted. There are now legal obligations for the UK and devolved governments both at European and domestic levels to institute MPAs in UK waters. Representatives of the Coalition -- which is supported by the UK's two national fishing industry federations, the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO) and the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), and other fishers' organisations -- said there is a real danger that the interests of fishermen could be dismissed during the designation process. "There is a diverse range of interests and activities in the marine environment and the process for planning and protection is incredibly complex, given that as well as various European habitat directives we also have two new Marine Acts,” said Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the SFF. "There is real concern that the fishing industry will end up in its normal default position of being the first to suffer.” Consequently, the aim of the Coalition is to make sure that fishing is rightfully taken into account during the marine planning process. It is imperative, he continued, that a sensible balance is achieved between marine ecosystem protection and ensuring that fishers can go on sustainably harvesting fish. "Our intention in establishing this group is to provide the fishing industry with a powerful negotiating platform,” affirmed Barrie Deas, chief executive of the NFFO. "In many instances the only way fishermen are going to avoid being swept off their grounds is by presenting a strong, coherent case backed by supportive evidence. The Coalition has been formed as an instrument of mutual support so that individual fishermen or groups of fishermen will have strong backing in putting the strongest case possible forward in defence of their grounds," Deas added. The new Coalition expressed particular concern regarding the hastiness of the UK and devolved governments to introduce the new MPAs, and said it plans to operate at the highest strategic level to guarantee that the MPAs are introduced logically, coherently and fairly.