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CHAPTER FOUR: SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES
The stability of many of Scotland's fishing communities is underpinned by vessel owners and Producer Organisations access to fishing quotas. Vessels across the fleet (from 70 metre pelagic trawlers to inshore hand liners) require appropriate management systems to give security to quota holders, that can help deliver economic and social benefits to the fishing industry and Scotland's fishing communities. The Scottish Government wishes to enhance the current PO management arrangements, and put in place measures to improve the viability of inshore vessels fishing quota species.
In-year Quota Management and Role of Producer Organisations
Issues
Producer Organisations ( POs) were established by the EU. They are recognised on the basis of their link with a specific geographical area, and are required to undertake a particular marketing role in line with arrangements for the Common Organisation of the Market arrangements. This includes a remit to improve price, market stability and quality through managing the supply of fish to the market, and where necessary administering minimum price EC legislation to withdrawn unsold fish. These arrangements are implemented by Port Officers working on behalf of POs in their respective geographical areas. In Scotland, two of the largest POs (Scottish Fishermens Organisations and Shetland FPO) carry out a significant marketing role. Producer Organisations also provide an important quota management service for their members (including monitoring landings; enforcing catch restrictions; and imposing penalties on members who are in breach of restrictions).
The Scottish Government welcomes the unique nature of Producer Organisations in terms of their link with specific fishing communities and regions, and wishes to encourage them to continue to address their quota management role, whilst also in certain cases widening their marketing potential.
We intend that managing quota in Scotland should continue to be the responsibility of Producer Organisations. Changes are, however, required to the current management arrangements, and we recognise that there is a need to review and improve the rules and requirements of sectoral management and to ensure POs are delivering the benefits to communities that their recognition criteria warrants. For example, on quota we need to improve governance, and ensure POs provide proper accountability. There is a need to improve transparency in monitoring quota uptake, along with a requirement to revise the disciplinary process to ensure POs have the tools to carry through their responsibilities and that there is a new common scale of penalties.
There is also considerable scope for some POs to improve their marketing role.
Moving forward, we believe that POs should have clear indicators of success which should be focussed on three key areas:
- Marketing and quality control ( e.g. involvement in processing activity, links with auctions, salesmen and agents, and input to quality improvement)
- Market price achieved for members (fish processing and marketing of products, e.g. market recognition)
- Quality of product ( e.g. support for Seafood Scotland and local initiatives)
- Vessel profitability.
- Quota management
- Managing quota to optimise uptake with no overfishing
- Maximise members quota limits thereby improving overall quota management flexibility and catch volume.
- POs and the fishing community
- Encouraging young progressive fishermen to develop ( e.g. those who do not hold sufficient FQA/quota)
- Acting as a Community Quota Scheme ( CQS). For example, acquiring quota for the benefit of the group.
These indicators of success need to be supported by an appropriate organisational structure and proper management reporting to ensure POs are fit for purpose.
Proposals
The Scottish Government proposes to:
- grant sectoral management responsibilities in Scotland only to Scottish recognised POs, and, for the most part, to allocate Scottish quota to those POs on the basis of FQAs associated with Scottish vessel licences and Scottish PO holding licences
- monitor the level of quota managed by Scottish POs collectively, to ensure that Scottish quota is not overfished. This will mean a further (new) level of uptake monitoring by the Scottish Government, which would be shown in uptake monitoring spreadsheets
- develop new group arrangements designed to ensure that Business Plans and strategies properly reflect PO members' requirements
- revisit arrangements for PO Board membership (including possible widening of Board membership to include non-executive members). Improving governance is essential to successful delivery of both a group's strategy and to oversee the effective implementation of its Quota Management responsibilities
- improve transparency of monitoring quota uptake, and better demonstrate the effectiveness with which quota, an asset of national importance, is being managed
- revise the disciplinary process to ensure that all groups are provided with the requisite tools to carry through their responsibilities. Within this, we propose that a new common scale of penalties, both financial and in terms of quota, should be devised and implemented uniformly by all groups given responsibility for quota management. These arrangements should be underpinned by mechanisms to ensure that no individual can leave a group until the quota or financial penalty is paid
- formalise the submission of Operation Plan and Accountability reviews as part of a formal process of accrediting POs in respect of their functions
- maintain the current arrangements for deductions for overfishing of end-year PO allocations or quotas allocated to the UK
- although originally established with a remit to improve market price, stability and quality, the focus of most PO activities is now quota management. The Scottish Government is keen to ensure that Scottish recognised POs are also focussed on marketing and quality control. We therefore propose to require detailed marketing plans from each PO, including performance indicators designed to measure market impact.
Q8. Do you consider that our proposals will improve sectoral management in Scotland?
10 METRE AND UNDER (10mu) AND NON-SECTOR MANAGEMENT
The Scottish 10mu and non-sector is a diverse fleet fishing mainly inshore waters. These vessels make an important social and economic contribution to many fishing communities around our coastline, including some of the most remote parts of the country.
Issues
Although Scottish fleet capacity and fishing opportunities are broadly in balance, there are management challenges. In particular there is a shortage of quota for the North Sea langoustine 10mu and non-sector pool. Although in recent years quota managers have been able to secure a full year fishery combined with a reasonable set of catch limits, the initial quota has been significantly supplemented by quota from economic link arrangements, favourable quota swaps, and gifts from POs. This is not a long term sustainable solution. The Scottish Government is clear that both the non-sector and 10mu "pools" should be reserved for those smaller inshore vessels which do not catch significant amounts of quota stocks. These "pools" (particularly for the non-sector langoustine fisheries) should not been seen by some fishermen as an opportunity for individual gain by being able to fish well beyond their FQA entitlements, on what are currently a reasonable set of catch limits, without acquiring additional quota.
The current quota pool arrangements provide stability for fragile and remote fishing communities, a flexible means of managing a diverse inshore fleet, as well as an important entry point into the fishing industry, and we wish this to continue. We believe that the social risks associated with allocating FQAs to the 10mu fleet outweigh the potential benefits and, therefore, we do not propose this option.
Proposals
We propose to:
- Maintain the "Pool" for those who need it
Maintain the current quota "pool" for 10mu and non-sector vessels, with the Scottish Government managing in year quota centrally through quarterly and monthly catch limits and fishery closures. We recognise the stability and flexibility the current arrangements provide, and that most of these vessel owners will wish to continue to fish within the non-sector and 10mu "pools" rather than join a PO.
- Introduce Scottish langoustine permits
In order to prevent a growth of effort for the important Scottish inshore langoustine (nephrops) fleet, we propose to introduce permits for non-sector and 10mu vessels. Permits would not only help cap effort, but would also help secure a viable inshore sector and safeguard quota holding in the future. A permit would be an additional entitlement to fish for a specific species associated with that vessel's licence. Permits could, for example, be issued to vessels based on their recorded landings since the introduction of the Registration of Buyers and Sellers Scheme. Thus, for example, during any consecutive 12-month period between 1 April 2006 and 1 April 2008, the vessel must have fished for langoustines outwith the sector and landed or sold more than 500 kgs of langoustine. Where landings criteria could not be met, pipeline provisions would be available where owners could demonstrate they had an enforceable financial commitment, entered into prior to 21 May 2008 to acquire non-permit holding licence entitlements. The provision would not apply to vessels in membership of Producer Organisations. Langoustine permits will be transferable only when accompanied by the parent licence.
We propose to consider further any additional need for effort restriction measures such as limits on the numbers of creels in use and on the type of gear used by trawlers. A working group will be established to consider these wider issues.
- Review the Scottish North Sea Langoustine annual allocation to 10mu and non-sector groups
In order to ensure there is a viable inshore Scottish North Sea langoustine fleet, fishing under management arrangements which ensure a full year fishery on as reasonable a set of catch limits as possible, we consider it prudent to increase the initial "pool" allocations of North Sea langoustine to the 10mu and non-sector. We propose to review the transfer of quota annually, in order to consider the perceived need of the sector, 10mu and non-sector following any changes in quota levels, uptake and market conditions.
Subject to the outcome of discussions with other Fisheries Administrations as to how the non-sector and 10mu allocations will be split between Scotland and the rest of the UK, we estimate that around an additional 400 tonnes of in-year quota (2.5% of Scottish POs' collective initial 2007 allocation) would need to be transferred in 2009 from Scottish POs to maintain a viable Scottish inshore North Sea Langoustine fleet. As noted above, the quota share between the sector, 10mu and non-sector would be reviewed annually. How such quota would, in practice, be secured from Scottish POs and formalised under a Scottish system is a matter on which the Scottish Government would consult POs and other stakeholders if such an arrangement were adopted.
- Introduce an "exit" scheme to encourage vessels currently fishing in the Scottish non-sector and 10mu "pools" to join a Scottish Producer Organisation
The Scottish Government wants to preserve the quota pool arrangements for genuine inshore vessels. We wish, therefore, to put in place arrangements that encourage those remaining vessels with a relatively large capacity (mainly targeting langoustine), to join Producer Organisations. We recognise the present difficulties that exist in progressing from the non-sector and 10mu sector to the sector, and therefore propose to provide an incentive (exit strategy) for 10mu and non-sector vessels to join POs. Under this scheme, for a 10mu or non-sector vessel wishing to join a PO, the Scottish Government would undertake to transfer in-year quota from the "pool" to a PO at the beginning of the quota year. This quota would be allocated based on the vessels average recorded landings over the previous 3 years. Those vessels wishing to leave the pool and join a PO would receive a proportion of their track record (for example 80%). It is proposed that this scheme would be available to owners for a 2 year period, and will help give vessel owners an opportunity to overcome some of the difficulties that exist in progressing from the 10mu and non-sector to the sector. It is hoped that following this period these owners will be in a better position to remain in the PO. Conditions on the use of transferred quota from the pool would need to be put in place to help ensure quota holding and associated benefits remain in fishing communities. We believe this scheme would help improve flexibility for non-sector and 10mu vessels in planning their fishing year, reduce the barriers that exist to joining a PO, increase income for POs, and maintain the integrity of the pool arrangements.
Q9. Do you agree with our package of measures to help safeguard the viability of inshore vessels fishing quota species?
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