Marine Management Organisation
Current projects:
- Small eyed ray project aiming to remove the non retention policy in 7e.
- Lyme Bay investigation into the level of fishing in Lyme Bay.
Date of next meeting:
Thursday, 22nd December 2022: 4pm to 6pm. The meeting will be held in-person with the option to join on MS Teams. Please contact regionalfisheriesgroups@marinemanagement.org.uk to request the invite link.
Successes in the South West 7efg:
1. Small eyed ray (RJE) investigation to explore removal of 7e non-retention
This was the first project to come from the RFGs. Inshore fishers in the Southwest Regional Fisheries Group raised the local abundance of small-eyed ray in area 7.e and the rationale behind the non-retention policy in 7.e when it can be retained in 7.f-g. The non-retention policy is the result of a political decision at EU level, it was not based on ICES advice.
The MMO commissioned Cefas to carry out a study, this was paid for by MMO evidence team. The study highlighted that there is no evidence of decline in the stock, distribution is patchy as is trawl survey data due to its preferred habitat. Small-eyed ray is not a significant stock nationally or financially but could be significant to coastal communities in the southwest particularly inshore fishers.
Currently the Defra negotiations team are taking this to the EU at the annual negotiations in December 2022 with the hope of getting an allowance. We will keep the group updated.
2. Grants FaSS match rates on Health & Safety funding
The NW RFG raised the disparity between the amount for grant funding available for bottom towed gear and other gear types.
The Defra FaSS team bought a paper to the board asking for the match-funding rates of fishing vessels which are classed as micro entities to be raised to 80% for Health & Safety projects regardless of the type of fishing gear used. This would bring them in line with the rate available to small-scale coastal fishers (SSCF).
Following discussions within this group and with the HM Treasury, the change has been approved: match-funding rates for any vessel with a length of 12m or less will be raised to 80% for Health & Safety projects, regardless of the type of gear used.
3. Additional Quota 2021 round
Additional Quota was made available from the MMO at the end of 2021. The one-time offer meant a small amount of the additional quota England received from the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was distributed via selected Producer Organisations (PO) without cost to the U10m vessel or benefit to the PO. It enabled capped vessels to fish above their annual 350kg limit for quota stocks before January 1 2022.
4. Additional Quota 2022 round
A similar scheme took place again in 2022 starting earlier in the year.
Temporary lift of the under-10m licence cap from 1 August 2022.
The cap on some under-10m vessels which restricts their uptake to no more than 350kg per year of quota stocks was temporarily lifted for the remainder of 2022. This is being done to facilitate uptake of available quota and as an exercise to make an initial test for any unexpected consequences of lifting the cap more permanently.
Offer of additional quota to vessels with Category B and C licences.
The MMO opened a window for vessels with Category B & C licences to apply for access to additional quota. Over 10m vessels with Category B or C licences have a limited number of quota stocks for which they can fish. Under this scheme, these vessels can apply for access to more opportunities for the remainder of 2022.
It enabled vessels with Non-Sector Category B or C licences to fish above their current limits for quota stocks before 1 January 2023.