Fisheries Policy

Alan Campbell Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr Alan Campbell (Tynemouth) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Nuttall. I congratulate the hon. Members for South East Cornwall (Mrs Murray) and for South Down (Ms Ritchie) on securing the debate, and I welcome my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) to his new role. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for the debate, but not for granting this venue. In my view, debates of such importance should be on the Floor of the House. In my constituency—indeed, in the north-east as a whole—the fishing industry is still a significant employer. It also remains the most dangerous peacetime occupation, an unfortunate fact that we reflect upon each year in our annual service for lost fishermen and seafarers. I hope that in future years the venue will reflect the industry’s importance, even if it means having a debate in Government time.

I wish to raise three points; I make no apology for their being local to my constituency. The first concerns the difficulties that fishermen are currently having where they depend upon the nephrops fishery—prawns to the rest of us—particularly in the Farne Deeps, which is a critical fishing ground for local fishermen, particularly for the under-10 metre boats. I understand that stocks in the Farne Deeps are under a great deal of pressure. Local fishermen talk about boats coming from other parts of the United Kingdom, including from Northern Ireland and Scotland. Before I cause a stir, this is not a geographical or even a national point, it is about the size of the boats that are coming and the amount of stock that they are able to take. My guess is that they have been displaced from their traditional fishing grounds, or that they have diversified into prawn fishery.

The danger level for the Farne Deeps is being reached. ICES would say that the stocks are at least heading towards being unsustainable, even if they are appropriate at present. If the answer is a reduction in catch, which some are talking about, then unless the issue of access is dealt with, that will not support the local fishermen I am here to speak on behalf of. The options that the Minister has suggested to me that his officials are looking at have been met with scepticism by local fishermen. Why does he appear to have rejected measures that would limit access to the Farne Deeps?

The prawn fishery is key for North Shields fishermen, and those fishermen and the fleet are key to the success of the port. The port is key to the successful regeneration of the coast, and regeneration of the coast is key to the local economy. So this is of the utmost importance to my constituency and the fishermen in it. What can the Minister say to reassure them? What does he believe will come out of the Fisheries Council that might reduce pressure on areas such as the Farne Deeps and at the same time support the livelihoods of local fishermen? Will he, for example press for low-impact boats to have priority access to coastal waters under article 17? That is my first set of questions.

My second set of questions is about the salmon fishery and the future of the relatively few driftnet licences that remain. There are at present only 11 licences left. They are few in number, but very important to the local families who still hold them. The fishermen who have licences not only take salmon but play a part in renewing the salmon stock. It is a sustainable fishery. The salmon summit met on 19 November, and I look forward to the outcome, but why did pressure from me and others have to be applied before fishermen themselves were invited? The list of invitees that I saw was so weighted in favour of groups that want to get rid of those few licences that it looks like the end of the fishery is in sight. Does the Minister at least accept that it looks like vested interests are playing a part in driving policy towards the end of the licences as soon as possible? Why is this sustainable heritage fishery being kept in Ministers’ sights when it is exactly the sort of sustainable local fishery we should be looking to support?

I have raised my third point in a slightly different form in previous debates. It concerns the regeneration of North Shields port and the much-needed urgent quay renewal project. I understand that the European fisheries fund is being replaced with the European maritime and fisheries fund, but that grants from the new fund might be capped. The new arrangements might work against investing in port infrastructure, particularly in small ports such as North Shields, which might prove to be the big losers, yet those are precisely the ports that are struggling with the implementation of the discard ban. Can the Minister clarify whether the EMFF is on track to replace the EFF? If it is, can he reassure me and my local fishermen that it will not work to the detriment of North Shields, where regeneration is vital if we are to safeguard the future of the fishing industry?