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Fishermen Support EC's Fuel Aid Proposals
Wednesday, 9th July 2008
The Anglo-North Irish FPO Ltd (ANIFPO) has voiced it's support for a series of proposals made by the European Commission (EC) yesterday, which attempt to deliver short-term aid to Europe's fishing fleet, while positioning the industry for long-term higher fuel costs.
The ANIFPO believe that the EC's proposals vindicate the position it took several months ago, when it called on local DARD Minister Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA to deliver a package of assistance to the local fishing fleet. At the end of February 2008, the ANIFPO submitted a series of proposals to the DARD Minister that included emergency measures and long-term proposals designed to help the fishing fleet adapt to increasing fuel costs, which today accounts for over 50% of a fishing vessel's weekly earnings.
The EC's Press Release states: "The Commission has singled out the fisheries sector for help upon a clear mandate from the European Council because of the unique situation that fishers are facing due to a unique combination of constraints on operations due to sustainability considerations, difficult market conditions and high fuel costs."
The proposals will be discussed at next Tuesday's EU Fisheries Council and along with organisations throughout Europe, the ANIFPO is calling upon all Fisheries Administrations including those in the UK to support the EC's proposals.
The ANIFPO trusts that UK fishermen will not find themselves once again in a position where Europe agrees a package of aid that other Member States implement for their fishermen, but DARD refuse to extend to local fishermen.
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NI Fishermen in London Fuel Protest
Tuesday, 3rd June 2008
Thirty fishermen from Northern Ireland joined with 500 of their colleagues from across the UK in a rally at DEFRA’s head quarters in London this morning. The rally, organised to highlight the crisis affecting UK fishermen as a result of the record high fuel costs, culminated in a meeting between representatives of the National Federation of Fishermens Organisations (NFFO), the Scottish Fishermens Federation (SFF) and the four UK Fisheries Ministers. Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA, Northern Ireland’s Fisheries Minister, was linked to the meeting via video from Belfast.
Northern Irish fishermen have been lobbying DARD since December on the impact of increased fuel costs. Local trawler owners are paying a fuel bill of up to £1,500 per day or 50% of their weekly gross earnings. The fishermen’s plea for short-term aid, as a prelude to a long term ‘fuel’ strategy for the local fishing fleet, received cross party support from the Northern Ireland Assembly and unanimous support from the Assembly’s Agriculture Committee, but in April the Minister vetoed the proposals.
Fishermen had requested similar short-term aid to that extended to fishermen in other parts of Europe, including France and Spain, which would cost DARD less than £1 million, a budget that the industry believes is well within the capability of DARD. However, at today’s meeting the Minister suggested that she would be happy to provide the aid, known as di-minimus, if the financing was forthcoming from London. Later, the Minister’s officials back-tracked on this position, stating that any aid would be dependent upon the usual costing exercises.
Speaking from the London rally, Alan McCulla from the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation said that while the Ministers’ positions were very disappointing, the rally had achieved its goal by highlighting the fishermen’s plight in the UK’s capital and on media outlets from across the world.
"This is the largest fishing industry protest there has been in London for 16 years. The delegation from Northern Ireland was very well received and the effort they had made in travelling the furthest to the rally was recognised. Never the less, the outcome was very disappointing and fishermen across the country and Europe will now be considering further options."
David Hill from Kilkeel, the next Chairman of the NFFO, said that the NFFO and SFF, together with industry organisations from across Europe would now be sitting down to discuss co-ordinated action.
"Unlike their colleagues in other parts of Europe, UK fishermen have so far adopted a very polite approach on this issue. However, as we study the situation in France and Spain the message to our fishermen is clear; that the only language many politicians seem to understand is more militant action. This is very regrettable, and the challenge we face is channelling the fishermen’s frustrations in a productive way." said David Hill.
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Devolution Fails Local Fishermen
Monday, 28th April 2008
Local fishermen have reacted with disappointment and anger to the DARD Minister’s statement earlier today, in which Michelle Gildernew announced that she was opposed to the provision of emergency short term aid for local fishermen. Since late last year Northern Irish fishermen have been lobbying the Minister and her Department about the growing crisis affecting the local fishing fleet brought about by increasing fuel prices. Fishermen proposed a package of short-term proposals to the Minister, which would have cost around £600,000- over the next twelve months, but this morning the Minister ruled out any short-term help, instead advocating a long term strategy to assist the fishing fleet. This approach is unlike that adopted in other EU member states including Spain, where short-term aid is being awarded to their fishing fleets, in advance of the long term plans.
Alan McCulla from the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation said that fishermen accepted that a long term strategy was needed, but argued that short-term aid was required to bridge the gap between today’s crisis and implementation of any long term plan. During the past twelve months the fuel bill of the larger trawlers in the fleet has rocketed to over £1,000- per day, with the weekly fuel bill for all trawlers accounting for around 50% of their gross earnings.
“The Minister and DARD have yet again presented the EFF (European Fisheries Fund) as the panacea for the industry’s woes. Today is at least the third time the Minister has used EFF to ward off criticism of her support for the industry, but the £25 million trumpeted by the Minister is not a payment for fishermen, rather it is to be spread across the entire fishing industry, including her Department’s own fishery harbours over the next five years.” said Mr. McCulla.
Mr McCulla went on, “Today devolution has failed Northern Ireland’s fishermen. DARD’s spin doctors have been hard at work to portray an image that they are working hard to support the industry. The £100,000- of funding announced for fishing vessel satellite tracking equipment should not be presented as money for the fishermen. This equipment is not used by the fishermen, but rather is used by the Minister’s officials to keep a constant watch on the fishing fleet.”
The Minister also failed to pursue discriminatory stealth taxes levied on local fishermen known as Light Dues. Unlike their colleagues in the Republic of Ireland, local fishermen have to pay £50,000- per annum for navigation aids, which they seldom used. The Minister ducked this subject by saying the issue was not a devolved matter.
There is also some confusion regarding what consultations the Minister had with her Executive colleagues about the issue. Despite unanimous support from the Assembly’s Agriculture Committee and cross-party support in the Assembly, the Minister’s Department refused to table any firm proposal with the Executive. The industry is now calling on Michelle Gildernew’s Executive colleagues to publicly explain what they knew about DARD’s announcement today.
“The Minister has presented herself in the past as a Champion for Northern Ireland’s fishermen. Tonight, most fishermen regard her performance as a failure. The future she spelled out today for the local fishing fleet was bleak and the message is don’t expect any meaningful help from your devolved minister.” said Alan McCulla
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No Celebration following Brussels Negotiations
Wednesday, 19th December 2007
There is certainly no celebratory mood in ports around the Irish Sea following the outcome of the December 2007 Fisheries Council.
In advance of the Council meeting, the UK’s three priorities for the area were to resist the proposed 25% reduction in days at sea, seek a 15% increase on Irish Sea Haddock and secure a rollover of the Herring quota. However, even before the negotiations started it became clear that with regard to days at sea, the UK’s priority had changed from resisting any reductions, to minimising reductions.
The result was a 10% reduction in days at sea for the prawn fleet (to 184 days) and a 18% reduction in days at sea for the whitefish fleet (to 135 days), which during 2007 had comprised of two trawlers in the UK – a reduction from over 40 trawlers eight years ago.
On the quota front the best that could be achieved on Haddock was a 5% increase, giving the UK an additional 28.2 Tonnes in 2008. The 2007 quota for Herring was secured again for 2008 at 4,800 tonnes.
In the midst of this it was confirmed that the temporary spring spawning area closure in the western Irish Sea would be continued for a ninth year in 2008 and the pioneering Data Enhancement Programme that had been proposed by the industry would continue for at least another twelve months, with the reward of additional days at sea for those trawlers volunteering to be part of the scheme.
What came as a major surprise was the level of cuts on other quota species. While it had been anticipated that Irish Sea cod would be cut in accordance with the science, the 18% reduction in the TAC was higher than had been anticipated. What came as a shock was that the UK’s quota for Irish Sea cod in 2008 will be cut by a total of 33%, the additional amount resulting from the refusal by the Republic of Ireland to swap back to the UK the amount surrendered by UK fishermen to their Irish colleagues as a result of the application of the Hague Preference in the Irish Sea.
In addition, while the TAC for Irish Sea Plaice was rolled over, the UK’s quota has been cut by 5% because of the application of The Hague Preference Regime and Ireland’s failure to swap fish back to the UK.
In brief the Northern Ireland and UK teams (officials and industry) representing Irish Sea interests did achieve two out of their three objectives for the Brussels negotiations, albeit with a very modest increase on haddock. The negative impact of the Hague Preference, especially with regard to cod has been a major failure. In terms of devolution, Northern Irish fishermen are already asking the question where the alleged cross-border co-operation between both parts of Ireland fits into the new equation, when it is the Republic of Ireland and not Brussels that imposes further cuts upon Northern Irish and all UK fishermen in the Irish Sea.
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Fisheries Council Begins
Monday, 17th December 2007
The EU’s December 2007 Fisheries Council begins in Brussels tomorrow with Northern Irish fishermen hoping that proposals for significant quota and effort reductions can be reversed before the final decisions are made.
The European Commission have proposed reductions of up to 25% on some fishing quotas, as well as the number of days local trawlers can spend at sea. Irish Sea interests are aiming for an increase on the haddock and plaice quotas, which is supported by the science. With regard to days at sea it is hoped that any reductions will be minimal and that by committing to various projects designed to manage the by-catch of cod and minimise discards of un-wanted fish that many Northern Irish fishermen could avail of more days at sea in 2008 than they had in 2007.
Speaking from Brussels, Alan McCulla, Chief Executive of the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation said that this week’s negotiations would be difficult, but that a great deal of work had been put in with officials prior to the negotiations in the hope that an equitable deal could be secured.
In addition to the Brussels talks, there is growing concern in the local industry regarding the impact of increasing fuel costs, which have risen by one third in the past 12 months. According to Alan McCulla the industry were again lobbying Government on the issue and had proposed initiatives that could provide a small degree of financial relief to the fleet.
“As well as the traditional issues involved in the Fisheries Council, the cost of fuel to the fleet has become critical and indeed many fishermen regard this as being more important than the quotas etc.” said Alan McCulla.
“It is important that as we face the fuel problem, the EU doesn’t further complicate matters by making it even harder for fishermen to make a living next year.” he concluded.
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MLAs meet Borg
6th December 2007
In advance of the EU’s December Fisheries Council, representatives from the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee met the EU’s Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg in Brussels on Thursday morning. The delegation from the Assembly was led by the Committee’s Chairman Dr. William McCrea MP, MLA and included Alan McCulla, Chief Executive of the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation.
The cross-party delegation of Assembly members told the Commissioner that they had not come to see him with a wish list, but having listened to evidence from officials, fisheries scientists and the fishing industry had come to present the Commissioner with what they regarded as the priorities for Northern Ireland’s fishing industry in advance of the Fisheries Council.
While accepting the importance of safe-guarding cod, the Committee Chairman expressed the hope that the Commissioner would regard the delegation’s presentation as a pragmatic approach to the issues faced in the Irish Sea, in the context of the wider UK negotiating position.
Commenting after the meeting, Alan McCulla said, “The timing of the meeting was excellent. The meeting has provided us with the key areas where we must focus attention over the next few days, in terms of offering clarification on some issues and doing additional work in others.”
“We up-dated the Commissioner with regard to the latest positive science on the haddock and herring stocks in the Irish Sea and we hope this encourages the Commission, through the Council, to give us a positive outcome on both these quotas.”
“We also had a lengthy discussion with the Commissioner about the proposed cuts in the number of days at sea for the fishing fleets in the Irish Sea. This is going to be a very difficult issue, but we detected that the Commissioner was keen to help and he did offer some suggestions on the way forward.” concluded Alan McCulla.
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Fisheries Minister Visits Kilkeel
5th December 2007
Northern Ireland Executive Fisheries Minister Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA visited Kilkeel harbour early on Wednesday morning, where she heard at first hand many of the issues being faced by the local fishing industry.
Her visit included a visit to the new offices of the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation where she discussed with a group of Kilkeel trawler owners and skippers the main issues that were up for negotiation in the forthcoming EU Fisheries Council, which starts in Brussels on the 17th December. The industry representatives expressed their frustration with the European Commission’s proposed reduction in the Irish Sea haddock quota, which was contrary to the positive science on the stock and the fishermen’s own findings. Proposals on the number of days at sea local fishermen will be permitted next year were discussed. It was pointed out to the Minister that as the proposals stood, local fishermen would be granted fewer days at sea to fish in home waters than they would in the North Sea or West of Scotland, which in turn would add to the incentives for a growing number of local fishermen to work away from home.
Despite the problems, the Minister was told the fishermen were working on a range of initiatives to secure an economically viable future for the fleet. Newer vessels were being purchased by local fishermen, but restrictions on and the costs of flagging trawlers from other parts of the EU into the UK were highlighted as a particular problem for those who were confident of a future in the industry.
The Minister’s visit included her announcement of a significant package of financial support from the EU and UK. Although some fishermen were sceptical about the timing of the announcement in advance of the December Fisheries Council, the announcement was described as good news by the ANIFPO’s Chief Executive Alan McCulla.
“We will be spending the next few months ensuring that the operational plan for the European Fisheries Fund will include detailed measures that insure this grant aid is wisely spent and leaves a positive legacy for the local fishing industry.” said Mr. McCulla.
“However, over the next couple of weeks we will be looking to the Minister and her team to secure a deal in Brussels that will provide even more encouragement for the local fishing industry. In many ways the outcome of the Fisheries Council is more important than the Minister’s announcement of grant aid. After all we need an industry to take advantage of the EFF scheme.” he concluded.
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