The Duchy Fish Quota Company (DFQC) has reacted angrily to the Defra announcement that it would be further restricting the fishing licences of small under 10m vessels despite the proposal being rejected by the majority of respondents to the Defra consultation. The process known as ‘capping’ limits fishermen who landed less than 300kg of quota species in any year 2010-2013 to annual landings of 350kg.

“The small boat inshore sector is under enough pressure already and yet again Defra have missed the point on how to address quota issues in the under 10m fleet” said Nathan de Rozarieux, DFQC company secretary.

“Vessels who want to catch more simply need to lease or buy more quota as is the situation with the larger vessels; taking away a fundamental right away from those who are not using much quota greatly devalues their investment and will provide very small benefits” he added.

The not-for-profit DFQC set up to ‘Keep Cornwall Fishing’ leases quota to fishermen with vessels from 8 to 30 metres to enable them to fish sustainably and further the economic benefits of the industry to the Cornish economy.

For more information on Defras announcement please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reducing-unused-licences-latent-capacity-in-the-english-10-metre-and-under-fishing-fleet
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