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Published on Thu Oct 21 13:02:11 BST 2010
WHITBY’S few remaining deep sea fishermen have issued a devastating warning – all their boats are up for sale and there will be no fleet next year.
The skippers of the town’s four remaining white fish trawlers Good Intent III, Abbie-Lee, Emulate II and Copious, also claim there will be a death among their crew because they are risking their lives to meet tough EU restrictions about the number of days they can spend at sea.
Now the Whitby Gazette has launched a campaign – Fight For Our Fleet – and we want you, our readers to support our struggling fishing industry before it is too late.
We will be launching a series of initiatives to support our lads including starting a petition which will be in our offices in Bridge Street for people to sign from today calling for the British government and the EU to act now to save the fleet.
First and foremost, we want decision makers to visit the town and its fishermen to listen to what they have to say.
Speaking on behalf of all the trawlermen, skipper of the Copious and fifth generation fisherman, Richard Brewer, told the Whitby Gazette that the town’s fishing industry, which was once its lifeblood, has gone past desperate and is at crisis point.
“The only endangered species in the North Sea now is the fishermen’s trawlers,” he said.
“There are only four of us left. There use to be 25, 10 years ago.
“Next year I don’t think there will be a fleet.
“We can fish for 135 days a year but they are proposing 90 days fishing for white fish vessels from 2011.
“It has become so serious now it’s become dangerous.
“These lads are pushing themselves too far. When they start their engines the clock starts ticking and as soon as they leave the harbour they have got to start catching fish straight away.
“They can’t come back if it’s bad weather because they have lost a day for nothing and they are taking more and more chances.
“Although we follow all the health and safety procedures to the letter, these conservation measures could create a serious, serious accident.
“It’s going to happen, lives will be lost.”
The town’s fishermen are also restricted to the amount of fish they can catch which has a huge impact on the amount of produce they can supply.
And they are calling for more quota to stop them having to throw fish they have caught back into the sea because it’s dead.
Howard Locker, skipper of the Emulate II added: “I just can’t put it into words how we feel. There are more people policing the industry than there are in it. It does at times get on top of us.
“We are treated worse than criminals. I don’t think there will be a next generation of fishermen. We are the last ones.”
l We have sent copies of today’s paper to Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Parliamentary Under Secretary For Natural Environment and Fisheries Richard Benyon, The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Whitby MP Robert Goodwill and Yorkshire and Humber’s six MEPs – Edward McMillan-Scott, Linda McAvan, Godfrey Bloom, Diana Wallis, Timothy Kirkhope and Andrew Brons.
We await their response.
You can support our campaign by becoming a fan of our Facebook page Fight For Our Fleet.
Or pop into our offices in Bridge Street to sign our petition.
WHITBY’S few remaining deep sea fishermen have issued a devastating warning – all their boats are up for sale and there will be no fleet next year.
The skippers of the town’s four remaining white fish trawlers Good Intent III, Abbie-Lee, Emulate II and Copious, also claim there will be a death among their crew because they are risking their lives to meet tough EU restrictions about the number of days they can spend at sea.
Now the Whitby Gazette has launched a campaign – Fight For Our Fleet – and we want you, our readers to support our struggling fishing industry before it is too late.
We will be launching a series of initiatives to support our lads including starting a petition which will be in our offices in Bridge Street for people to sign from today calling for the British government and the EU to act now to save the fleet.
First and foremost, we want decision makers to visit the town and its fishermen to listen to what they have to say.
Speaking on behalf of all the trawlermen, skipper of the Copious and fifth generation fisherman, Richard Brewer, told the Whitby Gazette that the town’s fishing industry, which was once its lifeblood, has gone past desperate and is at crisis point.
“The only endangered species in the North Sea now is the fishermen’s trawlers,” he said.
“There are only four of us left. There use to be 25, 10 years ago.
“Next year I don’t think there will be a fleet.
“We can fish for 135 days a year but they are proposing 90 days fishing for white fish vessels from 2011.
“It has become so serious now it’s become dangerous.
“These lads are pushing themselves too far. When they start their engines the clock starts ticking and as soon as they leave the harbour they have got to start catching fish straight away.
“They can’t come back if it’s bad weather because they have lost a day for nothing and they are taking more and more chances.
“Although we follow all the health and safety procedures to the letter, these conservation measures could create a serious, serious accident.
“It’s going to happen, lives will be lost.”
The town’s fishermen are also restricted to the amount of fish they can catch which has a huge impact on the amount of produce they can supply.
And they are calling for more quota to stop them having to throw fish they have caught back into the sea because it’s dead.
Howard Locker, skipper of the Emulate II added: “I just can’t put it into words how we feel. There are more people policing the industry than there are in it. It does at times get on top of us.
“We are treated worse than criminals. I don’t think there will be a next generation of fishermen. We are the last ones.”
l We have sent copies of today’s paper to Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Parliamentary Under Secretary For Natural Environment and Fisheries Richard Benyon, The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Whitby MP Robert Goodwill and Yorkshire and Humber’s six MEPs – Edward McMillan-Scott, Linda McAvan, Godfrey Bloom, Diana Wallis, Timothy Kirkhope and Andrew Brons.
We await their response.
You can support our campaign by becoming a fan of our Facebook page Fight For Our Fleet.
Or pop into our offices in Bridge Street to sign our petition.
