Draft response from the Committee

The Committee welcomes this initiative from Defra aimed at setting out a long term vision for the fisheries sector in England over the next 20 years.

Noting that this paper essentially covers only England, the Committee recommends that every effort should be made to create a common vision for all UK fisheries including Devolved Administrations. The Committee does not believe that it is realistic to manage fisheries on a local basis only and considers that more successful policies will be developed if they are set out on a common basis with Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other EU member states.

The Committee supports the 9 vision statements but is concerned that the CFP (Statement 1) will need radically changing to make fisheries more sustainable. The Committee’s response to the EU Maritime policy consultation states that there should be increased devolution of fisheries management and decision making to member states and that distant water access rights which are intrinsically unsustainable by reason of the distance travelled should be curtailed.

The Committee accepts the challenges for SFCs to assist with delivery of the vision although it is concerned that at present it has a very restricted budget for scientific research on fisheries.

The Committee looks forward to working with Defra over coming years to deliver the 2027 vision.

Top