Newspaper column 15/04/24 - Fishing, fishermen, and the Pollack compensation scheme

Fishing, along with mining and farming is one of the three traditional Cornish industries, and in my time as Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth, championing our Cornish fishing communities has been one of the things I have been most proud of.

Of course I have to declare an interest here, being married to a proud Cornish fishermen, who fishes from Falmouth, but I believe the Cornish fishing community catches the best fish, in all conditions, (and fishing is the most dangerous occupation), for our plates. But due to the nature of our fishing fleet, with many of them being small vessels with only on or two crew, catching particular species in very localised habitats, we have to ensure that the national rules work for them and do not unfairly penalise them.

Twice in recent months, I’ve been delighted to help our fishing communities, both in assisting the extraordinary community campaign to stop a seaweed farm off the Roseland that would have been placed right on inshore fishing grounds, and more recently ensuring that rules on medicals for fishermen had exemptions added for existing fishermen in order to not deprive these experienced fishers of their livelihoods at short notice.

Last week, I was delighted to work with my Cornish MP colleagues to score another victory for the Cornish fishing community, as the Government announced a new compensation scheme to assist fishermen most impacted by restrictions placed on the catching of pollack earlier this year.

This followed last year, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) telling European countries that, for pollack in Western waters, the Total Allowable Catch for 2024 should be set at zero for the first time. However in Cornwall many fishermen relied on pollack for most if not all of their catch, and this ruling meant that from the beginning of the year, they were no longer able to fish, with replacement gear and different fishing grounds difficult to find or access.

I was pleased to campaign for a compensation scheme for these fishermen, and it was good to see the Environment Secretary announce it last week, in doing so crediting the wider industry along with MPs such as myself for our work in fighting for this outcome.

The scheme will be administered by the MMO, who will get in contact directly with eligible vessel owners over the coming weeks to provide further details on how they can access the compensation.

I will continue to work with our fishing community to ensure they get a fair deal going forward.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.