Jerry Percy, Director of the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association (NUTFA) has announced the forthcoming closure of the organisation that has represented the under ten sector of the industry for many years.

A Difficult Decision

The non-profit organisation has worked for the under 10m and non-sector at local, UK and EU levels, for quota and non quota, trawlers and netters, liners, shell fishers and all other licensed fishers.

The organisation Director, Jerry Percy, announced that “while it was always going to be a difficult decision to close, I’m not getting any younger and to be honest, I refuse to be party to what I see as the ongoing destruction of the under ten fleet.”

“I think it is a tragedy that the 80% of the fleet that are under ten metres have been treated so shabbily by administrations going back decades that has in turn resulted in such a lack of fish on the inshore grounds, the almost complete lack of effective management especially in terms of effort, the deafening sound of cans being kicked down the road when exactly the opposite approach is needed, and the lip service paid to the under tens by other organisations.”

Image by Albrecht Fietz

“What I still fail to understand is the failure by successive administrations to recognise and reward the smaller scale inshore fleet and thereby ensure the sustainability of their presence in coastal communities. The inherent danger in the current situation facing them is that they are largely the keepers of the knowledge, skills, culture and heritage going back generations and that once lost will be almost impossible to recover.”

Resilient Community

Despite recent criticism of the NUTFA, Jerry defended its role as a dedicated representative body, emphasizing its support from over 1000 fishers. He acknowledged the challenges faced by fishers, including financial constraints and the voluntary nature of their work. Jerry reflected on the resilience and courage of fishermen, expressing pride in his efforts to advocate for them.

He remarked, “If I’m honest, I will look back on my time with NUTFA and the other organisations I’ve been involved with, with a mixture of frustration at the lack of genuine representation and support from other bodies and the lack of recognition of their value by governments but overall with a massive sense of pride and honour to have done what I could to support them through difficult times.”

Jerry recently featured on the Greenpeace podcast “Oceans: Life Under Water” in an episode titled ‘People of The Sea’ where he reflects on his life as a small scale fisher in the UK, listen to the full episode here.

Read the post “End of an Era” on the EU LIFE Platform.