Guardian: ‘Small-scale fishers say mostly EU fleet is devastating catches with method that nets entire shoals of fish

The UK has been accused of allowing a fleet of mainly EU “fly-shooting” fishing boats “unfettered access” to the Channel, without a proper assessment of the impact on fish populations, the seabed or the livelihoods of small-scale fishers.

Organisations representing small-scale fishers on both sides of the Channel have warned that the fleet is having a “devastating” effect on their catches. They are calling for a review of the vessels’ UK licences until an impact assessment has been carried out.

Fly-shooter fishing boats, sometimes called Danish or Scottish seiners, tow lead-weighted ropes along the seabed at either end of a net that encircles and captures entire shoals of fish.

Victoria Prentis, the environment minister, said in response to a parliamentary question this month that fly shooters had a lower environmental impact than other gear types because they could be operated from lower-powered vessels with lower fuel consumption.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP, described this assessment as “not good enough”.

A catch is processed onboard a fishing boat operating out of Newhaven, East Sussex. At least 75 boats use the fly-shooting method in the Channel.

One expert told the Guardian that fly shooters had “killing power” estimated at four to 11 times as much as that of inshore fishing boats.

Currently, at least 75 vessels use this fishing method in the Channel, up from a handful years ago.

Jeremy Percy, director of Low Impact Fishers of Europe (Life), accused the government of allowing “unfettered access” to fly shooters at the expense of the under-10 metre fishing fleet, which he said had been “hanging on by its fingernails for years”.

“We’re being told by our fishermen that it’s pointless going to sea when these boats have been through, because there’s nothing left,” Percy said. In a letter to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Percy said: “From the increase in reports from coastal fishermen on both sides of the English Channel of the impacts of the use of the Danish seine, there is no doubt that the method is having a devastating effect and not least on non-quota stocks.”

These stocks, of species such as bass and mullet, were “vital” to the under-10 metre and non-sector fishermen (those outside the large co-operative “producer organisations”), who have become increasingly reliant on them, “largely due to restrictive government policies”, he said.

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