The Campaign for change
In order to keep “Cornwall Fishing” and safeguard the Cornish Fishing Industry and its communities, the Duchy Fish Quota Company aims to raise £24m (approximate 2015 market value of all quota held by Cornish vessels) to buy fishing quota back from fishermen. The quota will then be community owned, All quota would then be leased back to the fishing industry.
The Duchy Fish Quota Company’s mission is to ensure that young fisherman can enter the industry by being able to gain access to fishing quota, as well as safeguarding access for the existing industry.
Example: This approach has been successfully achieved in the USA through the establishment of a ‘community catch shares’ program funded by an environmental NGO – the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF).
See http://www.edf.org/oceans/catch-shares-resources for more information.
Case Study: Closer to home, Cornwall own ‘County Farms’ scheme could be adapted to purchase quota and therefore allow Cornish fishermen to harvest Cornish seas as ‘tenant fishermen’ not owning the quota but leasing it from Cornwall Council at commercial rates. The costs would be significant but the cost to Cornwall of not having a fishing industry would be much greater.
SUPPORT/ACTION REQUIRED
A wide range of funding options is currently being perused in order to secure sufficient funds are available, some examples include:
- Local Fishing communities – via community shares
- Public support – Crowd funding
- Industry support – Company Bonds
- Local authority support – transfer of long term assets
- Public Funds – Legacy Funds e.g. Wave Hub
- Financial Institutions – Grants and Trusts
- Private Sector Investment
- Long Term Loans
The DFQC is also actively building a network of stakeholder support, as is currently looking for partners to help scale the implementation of their initiative.