To read them and accept all at face value would damn the towedgear fishing industry as rapists and pillagers. Indeed, this was a term used in all seriousness by one ex-leader of Natural England when, at a conference in London she described SW inshore trawlermen as such to an audience of academics! There have also been many headlines and articles written about the share-out of British Fish Quotas and who “owns” them. To quote Greenpeace last week, “The UK small-scale fleet makes up three quarters of the fishing vessels in our waters, and provides two thirds of jobs in the English fleet but gets a farcically tiny slice of the quota cake, just 4%. No, I haven’t missed out a number, I really do mean 4%. Over 95 per cent of the UK’s fishing quota is held by powerful fishing organisations, which represent larger, more destructive vessels and are often dominated by foreign interests that contribute little or nothing to the UK economy.” What is the truth behind the headlines? The facts are far less controversial than Greenpeace would have you believe. QUOTA SHARE-OUT: UK Fish Producer Organisations: Dispelling the myths, presenting the facts Fish Producer Organisations (POs) in the UK were set up under European Common Market guidelines by the fishermen who had invested in the means of production, i.e. the vessels. The first UK PO, the FPO in Hull, emerged in 1974. The SWFPO Ltd was also inaugurated that year. POs are funded by, run by and for fishermen. POs are not for profit, mutual societies and organisations. As such they are operated entirely for the benefit of fishermen and their communities. POs have strict Rules and Articles of Association that have been approved by the Ministry of Fisheries and are lodged with them and with the Commission. There is a very strict compliance
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