ACCORDING to the NFFO, resolving the problems of acute quota shortage in a number of under-10m fisheries hinges on pilot projects planned to begin in April.

The organisation believes that during the early meetings of the Industry Working Group – set up by Defra to address this issue (and involving NFFO, NUTFA and UKAFPO) – it became clear that the under-10 metre fleet was at a distinct disadvantage in managing their quotas by comparison with the producer organisations, who have a full-time staff working on behalf of their members to arrange measures such as quota swaps and transfers.

“Even with the best will and plenty of resources, centralised quota management by government is unlikely ever to be as fleet-footed and responsive as regionally-based quota managers with full-time industry-savvy staff. The pilots are a way of testing how groups of under-10s could take advantage of decentralised quota management if it were offered to them,” states the organisation.

Three Community Liaison officers will be appointed to support the pilots with advice and administrative assistance. If the pilots are considered successful, it is envisaged that other groups of under-10s will be invited /encouraged to manage their own quotas on a group basis.

“We understand that around 20 groups of under-10s, with vessels numbering from 5 to 45, have expressed interest in the pilots and Defra is currently assessing which of these would be the most viable. Those groups offered a pilot will be advised of the quota available to them to manage for a 12 month period and will then make a decision to proceed or withdraw.”

The most recent meeting of the Industry Working Group focused on the detailed terms and conditions for the pilot drawn up by the MMO. The main areas of concern voiced from the industry side were:

•Running the pilots from April to April across the end of one quota year and into another would increase the complexity of the task faced by the pilots

•The draft pilot rules prepared by the MMO do not seem to be consistent with the UK Quota Management Rules as they currently stand

•The contracts for the EFF funded Community Liaison officers will not allow for sufficient support prior the April launch of the pilots, or time to analyse and present the project results

•The lack of formal legal status of the pilots would leave the management group of each pilot exposed in the event the group applies disciplinary measures to one or more of its members

•MMO support for each pilot group, in the form of seasonal catch profiles, to help inform quota management decisions would be required

•The amount of quota available to each pilot, and how this would be perceived prior to swaps, transfers etc. will be critical to groups’ decision to participate

•There is a question whether the pilots would be genuinely representative of conditions in the under-10 metre fleet because of the self-selecting character of the groups coming forward

It has been clear from the outset that the most controversial issue in setting up the pilots is whether and to what degree the quotas given to the pilots to manage, based on the track record of the vessels in membership, will be supplemented by additional quota, either:

•Top-sliced from TACs that have been increased from 2011 (redistribution) and based on the perceived needs of the under-10s

•Taken from producer organisations on the basis that they are consistently under-utilised (realignment)

The methodology to be employed in realignment and redistribution has been under discussion for some time and when it has been refined – both in relation to assessing the needs of the under-10s, and where genuine under-utilisation by POs on a consistent basis is identified – discussions will be held between Defra and the relevant POs.

The NFFO has warned that this type of administrative redistribution/reallocation/realignment is fraught with both ethical and legal difficulties: how to treat vessel owners who have sold over 10 licences and quotas and joined the top end of the under-10m fleet is the tricky example usually quoted.

The Cornish Fish Producer’s Organisation, whose membership is 50% under-10s and 50% over-10s, has offered to run a pilot quota management project for non-member under-10s but on the strict condition that there would be no forced redistribution. This offer has been rejected by Defra with the consequence that the valuable experience and knowledge available within the PO will not be employed in the service of non-member under-10s.

It is important to acknowledge that the MMO’s efforts to tailor quota management arrangements for the under-10s over the last year, through regional quota group meetings, have been reasonably successful. By listening to the industry at local level, quota limits for the pool can be set to provide maximum return over the course of the year with what is available. This has certainly been a step in the right direction – towards more effective and sensitive quota management, although the endemic problems remain in some fisheries. Nevertheless, this small step in the right direction illustrates the potential of a fully effective management regime for the under-10s and it is important to build on it.

MMO statistics suggest that in 1983 when quotas and fishing vessel licensing were first introduced there were 3,406 under-10 metre vessels and 1,018 over-10m vessels in England and Wales. In 2010 the respective figures were 3,011 under-10s and 593 over-10s. In other words, whilst the fleet of larger class of vessels has been halved, the under-10s has seen a relatively small reduction. At the same time TACs for most demersal stocks have been drastically reduced, although many are now climbing again as stocks rebuild. Other factors were also, in play including differential access to decommissioning grants by under and over-10s, the migration of fishing effort and capacity from the over-10s to the under 10s and the increased catching capability of vessels in the under-10m fleet, especially at the top-end of the category. These fleet and TAC developments explain in large part, why part of the under-10m fleet is under pressure today.

They are also the reason why the NFFO has argued that part of the package of solutions should include capacity reduction through a well-designed decommissioning scheme for under-10s that would allow those who wish to leave the industry to do so with a degree of dignity. Defra is currently considering the NFFO’s proposals for a co-financed decommissioning scheme.