AND ANOTHER THING
A Fishy Business
Throughout
the 2016 referendum campaign the mantra of the Brexiteers was the now
famous mantra ‘Take Back Control’. Fear ye not, we were told,
upon our exit from the evil ‘empire’ the EU, we would no longer
be subject to EU rules and regulations on everything from human
rights, environmental rights, agriculture, fishing and so on.
Fishing
only 0.1% GDP
Of the
various elements, to which now we will no longer be subject, fishing
is by far the least economically important comprising no more than
0.1% GDP but, emotionally, it has become a significant and potential
stumbling block in future trade talks. In addition, it also provides
a perfect example of the complexity of our interconnectedness with
the EU and the concomitant difficulties of separation.
UN
Convention on Law of the Sea – a de facto Common Fisheries Policy
So, ‘Take
back control!’ Simply impose a 200 mile exclusion zone and then
arrange negotiations with relevant countries and regions to inform
them where they can fish, when they can fish
and how much they can catch; easy peasy lemon squeezy… but hold
your (sea)horses! To begin with we, along with our nearest
neighbours, are signatories to the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea. As John Lichfield
explained in the Guardian newspaper on 10.02.20, the Convention
states that… ‘The United Kingdom is legally
obliged to manage North Sea and Atlantic fish stocks with both Norway
and the European
Union. The Convention also requires, but does not oblige, the UK to
consider the historical fishing rights of its neighbours.
Ooops!
Don’t tell the Brexiteers, but the above sounds a bit like, well, a
Common Fisheries Policy. Mm, haven’t we already got one of those?
The
Current Quota System
The second
element of ‘Taking back control’ relates to the quota system.
Every year the EU distributes, on scientific advice for the health
and maintenance of fish stocks, a fixed quota allocation to the
relevant member states. The distribution of these quotas is then the
responsibility of, in the case of the UK, the Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and thence gives each
holder the right to land a certain share of the UK’s total
allowable catch (TAC). I know this all sounds rather stodgy but bear
with me because this is where it becomes interesting and just a tad
‘smelly’.
Selling
and Leasing of Quotas
Once
the quotas have been distributed there is a significant trade in
selling and/or leasing quotas.
*Taking
England
as an example, just three families on The Times rich list hold 30% of
the quota. A further 49% is ultimately held by Dutch,
Spanish and Icelandic interests
who have bought up English vessels and quotas. See
Crispin Dowler:
https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/10/11/fishing-quota-uk-defra-michael-gove/
In
total, something like 96% of British quotas is in the hands of a
small number of foreign owned and Rich List families. Only
approximately 4%
of fishing quotas are held by inshore or small scale fishermen.
In effect, therefore, a cartel exists whereby governments allow
quotas to be consolidated to a handful of super-trawlers while
smaller, low impact fishermen who make up 77% of the total shipping
fleet, have been progressively starved of access.
One
final point to remember: in all this, in the context of ‘taking
back control’ of all Britain’s catches 75% is exported to, guess
where... the European Community!
Taking
back control? Easy peasy!
*Who
are the families on fishing's Rich List?
Alexander Buchan and family
are ranked 804 in the 2018 Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated
net worth of £147m. The family’s Peterhead-based Lunar Fishing
Company owns or controls 8.9% of the UK’s quota holdings (739,153
FQAs), making it the biggest quota holder in the UK.
Jan Colam and family are
ranked 882 on the Rich List (estimated worth: £130m). The Colam
family-owned company Interfish is the second largest quota holder,
with 7.8% of the UK total (643,927 FQAs)
Robert Tait and family are
ranked 980 on the Rich List (estimated worth: £115m). The family’s
Klondyke Fishing Company is the UK’s third-largest quota holder,
with 6.1% of the UK total (506,953 FQAs).
Andrew Marr and family are
ranked 567 on the Rich List (estimated worth: £209m). The family’s
Hull-based Andrew Marr International owns or controls 5.1% of UK
quota holdings (419,937 FQAs), making it the UK’s 5th largest quota
holder. It also has minority stakes in companies and vessel
partnerships that hold a further 5.4% of UK quota (445,981 FQAS).
Sir Ian Wood and family are
ranked 77 on the Rich List, with an estimated worth of £1.7bn (a
fortune built largely on oil and gas services). Sir Ian’s fishing
business, JW Holdings, holds 1% of the UK’s fishing quota (83,463
FQAs) and has minority investments in businesses/partnerships that
hold a further 2.3% (192,169 FQAs).
Fishy Business in Numbers (You do the maths}
- 3 Times Rich List families hold 30% of England’s fishing quotas
- 96% of British quotas is in the hands of a small number of foreign owned and UK 'Rich List' families.
- 49% is ultimately held by Dutch, Spanish and Icelandic interests who have bought up English vessels and quotas.
- 4% alone of fishing quotas are held by inshore or small scale fisherman
- 77% of the total shipping fleet is made up of low-impact fisherman; they have been progressively starved of quotas
- 75% of UK catch is exported to the EU-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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