A Fisherman's Tale v5

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in
England in 2009
Report of Research Findings
COI Job No: 291928

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in
England in 2009
Report of Research Findings
December 2009/ Job No. 578/ Version 5
Prepared for:
COI, on behalf of their client, Defra
Creative Research Ltd Phone: 020 8567 6974 Email: creative@creativeresearch.co.uk

43 Broadway, London W13 9BP Fax: 020 8567 6979 www.creativeresearch.co.uk
Contents
1 MANAGEMENT SUMMARY..............................................................................1
1.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................1
1.2 Attitudes, Motivations, Perceptions.....................................................................1
1.3 Fishermen Typologies.........................................................................................2
1.4 Communicating with and Influencing Fishermen................................................3
2 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................4
2.1 Background to the Research...............................................................................4
2.2 Aims and Objectives...........................................................................................4
2.3 Method................................................................................................................6
2.4 Sample Structure.................................................................................................8
2.5 Sample Profile...................................................................................................12
2.6 Filming...............................................................................................................15
2.7 Other Matters....................................................................................................15
3 MOTIVATIONS AND DRIVERS.......................................................................16

3.1 Introduction: An Embattled Industry..................................................................16
3.2 What Led Them to Become Fishermen............................................................17
3.3 The Fisherman’s CV.........................................................................................23
3.4 Owner Skippers, Non-owner Skippers and Crew.............................................24
3.5 Super Under 10s...............................................................................................24
3.6 The Positives and Negatives of a Fisherman’s Life..........................................26
3.7 A Day in the Life................................................................................................41
3.8 Safety at Sea.....................................................................................................44
3.9 Financial Aspects of Fishing.............................................................................48
3.10 Why They Stay in the Industry........................................................................55
3.11 What the Future Holds....................................................................................57
A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

4 COMMUNITY STATUS.....................................................................................61
4.1 Introduction........................................................................................................61
4.2 Status Within their Local Community................................................................61
4.3 Status Among the Wider Public........................................................................64
4.4 The Future of their Community.........................................................................65
5 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.............................................................................69
5.1 Introduction........................................................................................................69
5.2 Overview of Fishermen’s Response.................................................................69
5.3 Response to Environmental Issues..................................................................70
5.4 Response to Scenarios.....................................................................................86
6 COMMUNICATION WITH FISHERMEN..........................................................99

6.1 Introduction........................................................................................................99
6.2 Keeping Themselves Informed.........................................................................99
6.3 Communications with and from Defra.............................................................102
6.4 Licence Capping – an Example of Communication Failure?..........................110
7 FISHERMAN TYPOLOGIES..........................................................................113
7.1 Introduction......................................................................................................113
7.2 ‘Leaders’, ‘Lieutenants’ and ‘Followers’..........................................................113
7.3 Additional ‘Types’............................................................................................117
8 COMMUNICATING WITH AND INFLUENCING FISHERMEN......................120

8.1 Introduction......................................................................................................120
8.2 Ineffectiveness of the Current Model..............................................................120
8.3 Future Communications: Is There a Way Forward?.......................................120
9 APPENDICES.................................................................................................124

9.1 Recruitment Questionnaire.............................................................................124
9.2 Recruiter Guidelines........................................................................................129
9.3 Discussion Guide and Stimulus Material........................................................133
TABLE 1: INTENDED SAMPLE STRUCTURE....................................................9
TABLE 2: PERCENTAGE OF VESSELS BY CATEGORY AND TYPE OF

GEAR...........................................................................................................10
TABLE 3: GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE INTENDED SAMPLE. .10
TABLE 4: ACHIEVED SAMPLE COMPARED TO INTENDED SAMPLE..........12
TABLE 5: SAMPLE AGE PROFILE....................................................................13
TABLE 6: AVERAGE VESSEL LENGTH, ENGINE POWER AND VCU...........14
FIGURE 1: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH LOCATIONS......................................11
FIGURE 2: HEADLINES ON ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS................................70

Acknowledgment
142 fishermen from across England took part in this research. We would like to
take this opportunity to thank them for their contributions.
Many of them arrived at the sessions not knowing quite what to expect but ‘ready
to do battle’ with the researchers, and to put their views across with varying
degrees of forcefulness. By the end of the discussions, they often made a point
of shaking the researchers by the hand and thanking them for taking the time to
listen to what they had to say. A key aim of this research is to provide fishermen
with the opportunity to tell their story and to have their voice listened to. We hope
we have managed to capture and present their opinions as accurately as we can.
With this in mind, we have included a large number of verbatim comments.
During the course of the research we learned a great deal about what it is like
being a fisherman in England today. It was difficult not to come away without a
sense of admiration for what they do in what are undoubtedly difficult times. We
hope in some small way our research will help to realise a more fulfilling future.

1 Management Summary
1.1 Introduction
The overall aim of the research was to assist Defra in building up a rich and detailed
understanding of fishermen registered in England, to identify and define a range of
‘types’ of fishermen based on their needs, motivations, attitudes and behaviours, and to
put forward a possible segmentation. The research findings will inform the Department’s
long term strategy for the fishing industry, with particular emphasis on the inshore fleet,
help it to develop effective policies and services, and enable it to communicate more
effectively with the fishing community.
142 fishermen took part in 21 research sessions, each lasting some two hours. Over
half of these sessions were drawn from a cross-section of the Inshore fleet – fishermen
operating vessels that are under 10 metres in length and working quotas that are set
and managed by Defra. The remaining sessions were conducted among members of
the Over 10 metre fleet including so called Sector fishermen, who own their own quota
which is managed on their behalf by Fish Producer Organisations, and Non-sector
fishermen, who hold and manage their quotas individually.
1.2 Attitudes, Motivations, Perceptions
The key findings are as follows:
• Fishermen are collectively extremely angry and frustrated with their lot and feel
under attack from all sides. There are conflicts and tensions with a wide range of
external organisations but there are also lots of tensions within the fishing
community.
• Fishermen are extremely independent and yet they find themselves in what is
perceived to be probably the most highly regulated industry in the country; it is
therefore not surprising that many of them summed up what they disliked most
about their industry in one word – Defra.
• For many of those interviewed, ‘Defra’ is a catch all for a variety of Government
bodies, including the Marine & Fisheries Agency and the EU.
• Fishing is not considered a job; it is a complete way of life. It is also an addiction
– drug metaphors were commonly used to describe what it is like to be a
fisherman. Most fishermen were brought up in a fishing community and learned
their skills at their father or grandfather’s knee, often from a very early age.
Some of them are descended from long lines of fishermen. Fishing is very much
‘in their blood’, they are immensely proud of their heritage and their community
and this sense of belonging goes a long way to defining how they see
themselves. For most of them, the idea that they could switch to another career
because of the increasing difficulty of earning a living from fishing is simply not
something they will consider.
• Although they are extremely skilled at what they do, most fishermen lack formal
academic qualifications. Almost without exception, they left school as soon as
they were able to. Many of them have poorly developed literacy skills which
makes reading and writing a challenge.
• Just about every fisherman we spoke to said that the financial rewards are not
what they once were. Irrespective of their actual level of earnings, the nature of
1
fishing means that they feel under constant financial pressure. This pressure is a
function of a range of factors such as loans and overdrafts and the unpredictable
nature of their earnings.
• Most of them would not encourage a son to become a fisherman because they
feel the future of the industry is too bleak and uncertain, something they mainly
attribute to Defra. They are equally pessimistic about the future of their
communities as they have seen the fleet sizes severely depleted over the last
few years.
• Most of the fishermen were reluctant to engage with environmental issues,
especially in relation to fishing practices. A few were willing to accept that there
are issues here but feel they face a dilemma; they need to earn a living and this
is already difficult enough without worrying about the environmental impact.
• When it comes to fishing stocks, most fishermen denied that there were any
serious shortages, they feel that ‘there are more fish in the sea than there has
been in years’ and that, if certain stocks are low, this is due to natural cycles or
climate change. They do not accept it is due to over-fishing. Most fishermen feel
they fish in a sustainable way and that they make very little long term
environmental impact. This is especially true of the Inshore fleet who believe that
any problems in this regard are being caused by the Over 10 fleet and that they
are being unfairly ‘tarred with the same brush’.
• There was a very strong feeling that Defra and the UK Government are ‘fighting
against, rather than on behalf of, UK fishermen’. Unfortunately, given their
independent nature, the only effect this has is to make the fishermen even more
entrenched.
• There is a universal hatred of the quota system which is perceived to be both
unnecessary and ineffective. It is considered unnecessary because fishermen do
not accept that there are serious shortages of fish stocks and it is ineffective
because they believe that all it results in is high discards, rather than having any
conservation value. It is seen to result in a ‘lose, lose’ situation.
• Given their views on stock levels, it is not surprising that fishermen have no faith
in fisheries science since they believe this is what underpins the quota system.
1.3 Fishermen Typologies
At one level, all the fishermen we spoke to were very similar and shared many values
and attitudes; at the same time, they are extremely individualistic and highly fragmented
as an industry. This makes it difficult to develop typologies in the usual manner.
However, there was a dimension or spectrum along which it was possible to place
fishermen and this was with respect to how they are responding to the uncertain future
of the fishing industry. Given that this is the very issue about which Defra needs to
engage with fishermen, it makes it a particularly suitable basis for developing a
segmentation. With this in mind we have developed a segmentation based on three key
types. They are qualitative, broad brush descriptions or pen portraits; the descriptions of
the various ‘types’ are not based on individual fishermen but should be seen as
amalgams of characteristics. As such, they should be treated very much as working
hypotheses.
• ‘Leaders’: although by far the smallest segment, they represent the most
important group of fishermen with whom to engage as they are likely to influence
2
how all other fishermen think and respond. They are characterised by being
more strategic and business focused in their thinking; they are proactive in
responding to their circumstances and are looking for solutions. They are the
more likely to be willing to consider a greater use of electronic communications.
• ‘Lieutenants’: many skippers fall into this segment. While they are highly skilled
fishermen they are less likely to adopt a strategic and business focused
approach and tend to be more reactive in their thinking. They are an important
group to engage with partly because of their numbers but also because they are
likely to follow the direction taken by ‘leaders’.
• ‘Followers’: this segment is mainly made up of crew and those skippers who
want to carry on doing what they have always done. Many fishermen lack well
developed literacy skills and this is particularly the case among this segment.
This can mean that they find it difficult to express their opinions clearly. They
have no interest in receiving communications from Defra. They are self
professed followers and, as long as ‘leaders’ and ‘lieutenants’ provide the
necessary steer, they are likely to follow. As they are the hardest segment to
reach and because they take their lead from the other two segments,
communications would be more effectively targeted on the ‘leaders’ and
‘lieutenants’ who, in turn, will influence the ‘followers’.
1.4 Communicating with and Influencing Fishermen
The research has revealed that from the fishermen’s perspective, communications from
and with Defra are often not very effective. Key learnings for more effective
communications include:
• genuine two-way communication: if fishermen are to embrace the long-term
vision for sustainable fisheries, they must take ownership of, and feel that they
have a degree of control over, both the process and the outcomes. For this to
happen, they need to feel that their views, concerns and needs are taken into
account.
• a local community model of communication: their local fishing community
defines who a fisherman is and represents their main sphere of influence and
interest; a model of communication that takes this into account is more likely to
succeed in engaging with fishermen.
• taking literacy levels into account: there is a pressing need to develop
methods of communications that rely less on the written word.
• better targeted: for example, Defra should consider whether it is possible to
provide monthly licence variations on a more targeted basis, especially among
the Inshore fleet.
3
2 Introduction
2.1 Background to the Research
Defra is the lead department for fisheries. In 2007, the Department published ‘Fisheries
2027, a long-term vision for sustainable fisheries’ which sets out how the Government
intends to deliver its vision of clean, safe, healthy, productive and biologically diverse
oceans and seas.
Published a year earlier in 2006, the Varney Report identified major opportunities to
strengthen public service delivery to make it more accessible, convenient and efficient
to meet changing citizen and business expectations. The report called for services to be
designed to meet the needs of people and businesses rather than the needs of
Government. An internal review of its services carried out by Defra concluded that
‘Defra needs to do more to understand customer needs in designing the provision of its
services.’
If the Department is to deliver its long-term vision for sustainable fisheries, it needs to
have a good understanding of the individuals it wishes to influence, their attitudes and
behaviour, their needs and motivations and their experiences of Government. To date,
there has been little audience research among the people who work in the fishing
industry to explore their needs and opinions. Against this background, Defra
commissioned Creative Research to carry out a research project to help it understand
fishermen.
2.2 Aims and Objectives

The overall aim of the research was to assist Defra in building up a rich and detailed
understanding of fishermen registered in England, to identify and define a range of
‘types’ of fishermen based on their needs, motivations, attitudes and behaviours, and to
put forward a possible segmentation. The research findings will inform the Department’s
long term strategy for the fishing industry, with particular emphasis on the inshore fleet,
help it to develop effective polices and services, and enable it to communicate more
effectively with the fishing community.
4
The research objectives were as follows:
• Typology of fishermen
− to provide a typology of attitudes and behaviours for fishermen based on

their attitudes, behaviour and motivations for being in the fishing industry
− to ‘profile’ the typologies according to other criteria such as demographic

data, region, industry data i.e. type of vessel/fishing etc.
• Communication
− to explore how the typologies/segments currently interact with Defra, and

to establish what are their preferred channels for communication,
engagement on Defra issues and general media consumption
• Attitudes, motivations, perceptions: to explore
− their motivations for fishing and longer-term objectives
− their perceived status in their own communities and with the public as a
whole
− their perceived role as part of the wider fishing community including that of
fishermen within the EU
− their views on relevant environmental issues such as coastal erosion,

overfishing and marine biodiversity
− what they believe they would be doing if they were unable to continue to
fish i.e. the impact on them and their communities
• Language
− to determine the potential language that could be used and developed for
use in a quantitative attitudinal segmentation i.e. development of relevant
attitudinal statements.
5
2.3 Method
The lack of any previous research with fishermen meant that this study was developed
on an exploratory basis. A qualitative method was used because we needed to spend
time exploring a range of potentially complex issues in considerable depth. Our aim was
to hold a series of group discussions with fishermen drawn from a cross-section of
fishing communities in England. These discussions were planned to last some two
hours. Given the tensions between fishermen and Defra, it was unclear just how willing
fishermen would be to participate in the research so we planned to recruit a mix of full
groups among crew (recruiting ten respondents on the assumption that not everyone
would attend and allowing two members of crew from the same boat to attend), mini-
groups among skippers (recruiting six respondents per group) and, possibly, some
paired depths (either in a situation where we were unable to persuade more fishermen
to participate or in locations where the number of available vessels meeting the
recruitment criteria was small).
Recruiters were briefed about the types of respondents they needed to find and were
given the contact details of a local MFA officer who could brief them about the local
fishing community and suggest times and places to find the fishermen. They were also
given contact details of the fish producer organisations (POs) where they were being
asked to recruit Sector fishermen (see 2.4.1 below for explanation of terms) as well as
the relevant Sea Fisheries Committees1. Some recruiters used their own initiative, for
example, by making contact with a harbour master or local fishermen’s association who,
in turn, could put them in touch with fishermen.
This approach proved very successful. Although our recruiters were rebuffed by a
number of fishermen because they were unwilling to cooperate in any research being
conducted for Defra, we had little difficulty recruiting enough fishermen to fill the
sessions. The only exception to this was at Scarborough where we were aiming to
recruit two sessions from fishermen based in Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby but
we were unable to find enough fishermen who were willing to take part. These sessions
were re-allocated to other locations. As with most research projects involving focus
1
POs are organisations set up by the fishermen to act in the collective interest, including managing their
quotas on a collective basis.
SFCs manage the inshore waters from mean high water mark out to 6 miles. There are 12 SFCs covering
the coast of England and Wales. Their responsibilities cover all marine fish and shellfish including the
fisheries for cockles, mussels and other shellfish found between high and low water marks.
6
groups, fishermen received a financial incentive for giving up their time and this clearly
helped encourage attendance. One mini-group among Sector skippers was replaced by
two paired depth interviews. This was because the number of suitable vessels at the
location involved was small to begin with and, at the time of the fieldwork, most of the
vessels were at sea for most of the time.
In addition to contact details, each recruiter was given the names of vessels that were
registered in either the port where we were aiming to hold the discussion groups, or in
nearby ports, and which were likely to meet the recruitment criteria for the discussion
groups in question. The lists were divided up into Sector vessels (Over 10 metres), Non-
sector (Over 10 metres) and Non-sector (Under 10 metres) (see 2.4.1 below for an
explanation of these categories). They were further sub-divided on the basis of the main
gear types (see Table 2) that had been used during the previous financial year2. These
lists were intended to provide recruiters with a focus for finding the types of fishermen
we wanted to include but recruiters were free to find fishermen working boats not on the
lists. This was for a number of reasons. Firstly, fishermen may not be working out of
their home port or vessels may have changed hands and still be shown on the register
under the previous administrative and home ports. Secondly, the type of gear being
used may have changed since the previous year and thirdly, some of the vessels on the
lists may have been dormant. Details of each respondent’s vessel were recorded as
part of the recruitment process and these were cross checked against the lists. Any
vessel not on the recruiters’ lists was cross-checked against the relevant databases.
This confirmed that most respondents were operating on the types of vessels using the
types of gear that matched the recruitment criteria.
Further details of the recruitment questionnaire and recruiter guidelines can be found in
the appendix (see 11.1 and 11.2).
2
An initial set of vessels was identified using the UK Fishing Vessel List – a list of all registered fishing
vessels held by Defra Fisheries Statistics Unit. This includes details such as vessel name, RSS and PLN
(two unique numbers), the administrative and home ports, vessel length and engine size. These lists were
then cross referenced with data about the amount of fish that had been landed using different types of
gear.
7
2.4 Sample Structure
2.4.1 Intended sample
The English fishing fleet is divided into three main categories based on vessel length
and how quotas are managed. The following terms have been used throughout this
report:
• Sector: the sector refers to fishing boats of any size (the majority are
greater than 10m in length but not all) holding FQAs, and with
membership of a PO that manages the quotas on a collective
basis (see footnote 1).
• Non-sector: the non-sector refers to boats of more than 10m in length that are
not in a PO (the majority of these boats fish for shellfish, i.e. non-
quota stocks.) Defra operates a non-sector pool with monthly
catch limits for the few non-sector boats that fish quota stocks.3.
• Inshore fleet: the 10m and under fleet (aka “the under 10s” or “the inshore
fleet”) refers to all boats of 10m and under in length that are not
members of a PO. Defra operates an U10s pool with (usually
monthly) catch limits for quota stocks.
An initial sample structure was agreed based on 20 research sessions. Twelve of these
were among members of the Inshore fleet (which accounts for some 82% of fishing
vessels registered in England in 2007)4, four were with fishermen working on Non-
sector vessels and four were with fishermen from Sector vessels (see Table 1 –
numbers in brackets refer to an estimate of the number of suitable vessels registered at
each port).
The aim was to recruit each group on the basis of the main type of fishing gear being
used. Gear falls into two main categories: mobile gear that is towed by the vessel and
passive gear. Table 2, which is based on data about the English fleet 2007 supplied by
Defra as part of the project briefing, shows how different gear types are distributed
across the three categories of vessel. Following a briefing meeting, a statistician at MFA
3
The first two categories are sometimes referred to collectively as the Over 10 (metre) fleet.
4
UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2007, a National Statistics publication.
8
provided further guidance on vessels based in various ports to enable us to focus on
each vessel category and gear types. Our intention was to reflect the variety of gear
types across our sample. We also planned to recruit separate groups among skippers
and crew. With the skipper sessions, we were aiming to recruit a mix of owner and non-
owner skippers (i.e. fishermen who either both owned and skippered their vessels or
who were skippering a vessel on behalf of someone else).
Table 1: Intended Sample Structure

Skippers Crew
Demersal Trawl/Seine G11: Portsmouth (50) G2: N Shields (57)
Dredge G13: Plymouth (34) G7: Harwich/Felix (42)
Inshore fleet
G9: Hastings (40)

Drift and fixed nets G17 Mevagissey (50)
G12 Poole (38)
Hooks G14: Plymouth (51) G20 St Ives (46)
G3: Hartlepool (62)
Pots and traps G5: Scarborough (71)
G19: Newlyn (53)
Sector Non-sector
mix of mobile G8: Leigh on sea (9) G6: Kings Lynn (24)
mix of passive G16: Brixham (18) G10: Portsmouth (18)
mix of mobile G1: N Shields (15) G15: Brixham (33)

mix of passive G4: Scarborough (13) G18: Newlyn (18)
Finally, we were planning on recruiting fishermen from a number of home ports chosen
partly on the basis of the number of vessels of the appropriate types registered there
and partly to ensure we achieved good geographical coverage. Every District and
Administrative port was included with the exception of Merseyside and Fylde/Fleetwood.
This was because it has the smallest number of vessels and no single type of vessel is
present in very large numbers (see Table 3).
9
Table 2: Percentage of Vessels by Category and Type of Gear
(source: Defra statistics about the English fleet 2007)
Inshore
as % of overall total fleet Non-Sector Sector Total
MOBILE - Beam Trawl 1 1 3 6
MOBILE - Demersal Trawl/Seine 23 1 6 29
MOBILE - Dredge 5 1 1 7
MOBILE - Pelagic 0 0 1 1
PASSIVE - Drift & Fixed Nets 27 0 1 29
PASSIVE - Gears using hooks 6 0 0 7
PASSIVE - Pots & Traps 16 4 1 22
MOBILE - Polyvalent 0 0 0 0
Total 79 8 13 100
as % of each category
MOBILE - Beam Trawl 2 17 23
MOBILE - Demersal Trawl/Seine 29 10 43
MOBILE - Dredge 6 9 7
MOBILE - Pelagic 0 2 7
PASSIVE - Drift & Fixed Nets 35 2 10
PASSIVE - Gears using hooks 8 3 1
PASSIVE - Pots & Traps 21 55 8
MOBILE - Polyvalent 0 2 1
100 100 100
Table 3: Geographical Distribution of the Intended Sample
District Administrative Port Home Port* No of Groups
Eastern Harwich/Felixstowe 1
Lowestoft
Leigh on sea 1
Grimsby Kings Lynn 1
Humber
Scarborough Scarborough 2
Merseyside & Fylde Fleetwood 0
North Shields 2
Northern North Shields
Hartlepool 1
Hastings Hastings 1
South Eastern Portsmouth 2
Poole
Poole 1
Brixham Brixham 2
South Western
Plymouth Plymouth 2
Newlyn 2
Western Newlyn Mevagissey 1
St Ives 1
*Some locations involved vessels from other, nearby ports.
10
2.4.2 Achieved sample
Apart from the difficulty in recruiting fishermen from the Scarborough area, the main
changes to the intended sample structure reflect what we discovered about the Inshore
fleet as we were recruiting the sessions. Many of these fishermen are either working
single handed or, if they have a member of crew, there is not the same degree of
hierarchy that might exist on larger vessels. The crew may be family members or long
standing friends of the skipper. We therefore relaxed the skipper/crew requirement.
Most of these sessions involved groups made up entirely of skippers or were groups
with mainly skippers and the occasional crew member. We also discovered that many
fishermen, especially those that form the Inshore fleet, use a wide range of gear types
so we relaxed the requirement that all fishermen in the same group should mainly be
using just one type of gear. A comparison of the intended and achieved sample is given
in Table 4. The table entries summarise the vessel category (Sector, Non-sector or
Inshore), the type of gear being used, whether it was a skipper or crew session and the
location.
Figure 1 summarises the geographical spread of the research.
Figure 1: Summary of Research Locations
North Shields
Hartlepool
Bridlington
Grimsby
Boston
Kings Lynn
Harwich
Leigh on sea
Hastings
Mevagissey
Portsmouth
St Ives Brixham
Newlyn Poole
Plymouth
11
Table 4: Achieved Sample Compared to Intended Sample
Intended Profile Actual Profile
G1 Sector; trawls/dredges; skippers; North Shields Sector; trawls; skippers; North Shields
G2 Inshore; trawls; crew; North Shields Inshore; trawls; crew; North Shields
G3 Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool Inshore; trawls and pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool
G4 Sector; mix of passive; skippers; Scarborough Sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington
& Grimsby
G5 Inshore; pots/traps; crew; Scarborough Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn
G6 Non-sector; mix of mobile; crew; Kings Lynn Non-sector and Inshore; mix of mobile & passive;
skippers; Boston
G7 Inshore; dredge; crew; Harwich/Felixstowe Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich
G8 Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea
G9 Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings
G10 Non-sector; mix of passive; crew; Portsmouth Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew;
Portsmouth
G11 Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Portsmouth Inshore & Non-sector; mix of mobile & passive;
skippers; Portsmouth
G12 Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole
G13 Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth
G14 Inshore; hooks; skippers; Plymouth Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth
G15 Sector; mobile; crew; Brixham Sector; mobile; crew; Brixham
G16 Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham
G17 Inshore; nets; crew; Mevagissey Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey
G18 Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn
G19 Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn
G20 Inshore; hooks; crew; St Ives Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives
2.5 Sample Profile

A total of 142 fishermen took part in the research. We recorded a number of details of
the fishermen, along with the vessels they operated. These are summarised here.
2.5.1 Gender, age and nationality
Although fishing is a very male dominated industry, we did have one female fisherman
in our sample – she crewed for her husband who was also a fisherman.
12
The skipper sample included two owners who were not fishing5, 80 owner skippers, 16
non-owner skippers and 40 crew; the relevant information was not captured for four
fishermen.
Eight out of every ten fishermen in our sample were aged between 35 and 64; the
modal age band was 45-54 which accounted for one third of our sample. There was an
age difference between skippers (two-thirds were aged 45 and above) and crew (two-
thirds were aged below 45). The numbers of fishermen in each age band are set out in
Table 5.
To be eligible to take part in the research, a fisherman had to be either a British national
or to be permanently resident in the UK. In the event, with two exceptions, everyone in
our sample was a British national. The two exceptions were Danish fishermen who had
English wives and were living permanently in England. Although the sample is very
small, there was nothing to suggest that their attitudes and perceptions were any
different to the other fishermen.
Table 5: Sample Age Profile

(Base: all respondents where details have been recorded; n=137)
Age band Total sample Skippers Crew

n= 137 98 39
16-24 10 3 7
25-34 13 6 7
35-44 38 26 12
45-54 45 37 8
55-64 27 23 4
65+ 4 3 1
2.5.2 Fishing activity
135 of the fishermen were currently fishing and/or planning to do so in the next 12
months; two had vessels that had been selected to be decommissioned as part of the
5
Although non-fishing owners were supposed to be excluded from the sample, one of them had come to
take the place of his son who was still at sea at the time of the group. The other had been invited by his
business partner, who was a skipper, without the agreement of the recruiter. As he had travelled a
considerable distance to participate, he was allowed to join the session.
13
latest decommissioning scheme and one had fished last year but had no plans to do so
in the next 12 months. 123 of them described themselves as full-time/all year round
fishermen, 13 said they were full-time/seasonal fishermen and just two said they were
part-time fishermen (this information was not available for four respondents).
2.5.3 Membership of fishing related organisations
Fifteen fishermen were members of the National Federation of Fisherman’s

Organisations (NFFO) and 29 were members of the New Under Tens Fishermen’s
Association (NUTFA)6.
2.5.4 Vessel length, engine size and vcu7
Although this information was not recorded as part of the recruitment process, we were
able to obtain it by cross-referencing vessel names, RSS and PLN numbers with the UK
Fishing Vessel List. In this way, we were able to establish the vessel length, engine
capacity and vcu for 132 vessels (we were unable to find details for the other ten
vessels). These details are summarised in Table 6.
Table 6: Average Vessel Length, Engine Power and VCU

(Base: all vessels where details are available; n=132)
Super Other
Total Non Under Under
sample Sector Sector Inshore 10s 10s
Vessel length (m) 11.1 15.8 13.4 8.3 10 7.9
Engine power (kw) 137 250 186 73 146 53
vcu 113 204 151 62 109 49

‘Super Under 10s’ are vessels that are designed to be no more than 10 metres in
length, so that they fall under the rules and regulations that govern the Inshore fleet, but
which are powerful enough to compete with larger vessels. There is no agreed definition
of a Super Under 10; we have based our classification by selecting those vessels that
make up the Inshore fleet that were either 10 metres in length or just under and which
6
Any fishermen that belonged to these organisations and who were committee members or acted as
representatives of other fishermen were excluded from the research. This was to ensure the fishermen
spoke about their own circumstances and aired their own opinions rather those of other fishermen.
7
Vessel Capacity Units (VCU) is a value based on the combined vessel size and engine power; it is given
by (Length over all X Breadth) + (Engine Power X 0.45 ) where length and breadth are in metres and
Engine Power is in Kilowatts (Kw)
14
had larger engine power and vcu scores compared to the other Inshore fleet vessels.
More information about Super Under 10s can be found at section 3.5.
2.6 Filming
A number of film clips were taken at ten of the research sessions. Suitable clips were
then edited together to illustrate a number of themes and two DVDs were produced.
Disc A has five short films; each one illustrates a particular theme:
• fishermen feeling embattled
• the financial aspects of being a fisherman
• motivations for becoming a fisherman
• perceptions of Defra, the Government, etc
• opinions about stock levels, quotas and discards.
Disc B has 9 clips, each of a different fisherman describing a day in his life. The
selection includes a mix of Inshore fleet and Over 10 fishermen using a range of
different gears.
2.7 Other Matters

The fieldwork was carried out between March 23rd and May 1st 2009.
Details of the discussion guide and the stimulus used during the research sessions can
be found in the appendices (see 11.3).
15
3 Motivations and Drivers
3.1 Introduction: An Embattled Industry
The fishermen taking part in this study demonstrated a high level of hostility, anger and
frustration. Their starting point was adversarial, and to a much greater degree than the
research team had previously encountered in other projects. Although much of this is
focused on Defra, the fishermen we spoke to were feeling under attack from all sides.
Many of the conflicts and tensions identified by fishermen are with external
organisations and individuals. Briefly, these include:
• the EU, the UK Government, Defra, the MFA, the Royal Navy, for example, with
respect to quotas, rules, regulations and restrictions, enforcement and the widely
held perception of the ‘mismanagement of the fisheries’
• the environmental lobby, ranging from organisations such as Greenpeace to

‘green leaning’ members of the public; the implications of the new Marine Bill and
marine conservation zones are a current concern
• the impact of wider industry on fishermen including aggregate dredgers and wind
farms
• the press and media who are felt only to be interested in painting fishermen in a
bad light
• in some locations there are issues relating to the local Sea Fisheries Committee,
the attitude of the local authority or the port authority
• yachtsmen and marinas being seen as having priority over local fishermen
• market forces as typified by buyers and the large supermarkets who dictate low
prices.
We also noted lots of examples of conflicts and tensions among members of the fishing
community itself including:
• between the Inshore and Over 10 fleets
• the use by some skippers of migrant workers
16
• the behaviour of ‘foreign’ fishermen (mainly from other EU countries)
• anglers who are free to fish with almost no restrictions and who may be having a
negative impact on local markets by selling fish directly to restaurants
• so called ‘part-time’ or ‘weekend fishermen’ – people who do not need to go

fishing to earn a living and are either unregulated or have invested in a licence
and who are felt to have an impact on the full-time fisherman’s livelihood
• in a similar vein, we were told about ex-fishermen who make money by leasing
their quota and who may be seen as making money at the expense of the ‘real’
fishermen
• there were also local divisions within communities. For example, at one point we
were trying to encourage fishermen from two nearby fishing ports on the Wash,
Boston and Kings Lynn, to take part in a joint research session, only to be told
there was no way fishermen from one port would attend a meeting with their
colleagues from another port
• relationships between fishermen and their spouses/partners could often be

strained; several respondents had been divorced (some more than once).
Many of these issues are elaborated upon in other sections of our report. The reason
for briefly raising them here is because it provides an important backdrop against which
the whole research needs to be viewed. Fishermen have a strong sense of injustice
because they feel they have been unfairly treated and this makes them come across as
extremely defensive, inward focused and unreceptive.
3.2 What Led Them to Become Fishermen

We explored with the fishermen the reasons that had led them to become fishermen in
the first place. We were told over and over again that fishing is not a job, indeed, it is not
even a career – it’s a way of life, a completely unique lifestyle.
“Well, some people ask me ‘what do you do for a job?’ I mean I don’t call it a job,
I just call it a way of life. It isn’t a job that normal people have, is it? Because
people don’t get up at silly times like we get up or do what we do. A lot of people
17
wouldn’t put themselves through what we do, I don’t think.” (Sector; mix of
mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington)8
“Fishing is just a way of life. It’s not really a career, is it? It’s a way of life.”
(Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“I think it’s more of a vocation than a career…
…Way of life as well…
…If you go in it purely for the money, some of the hardships you have to put up
with and the lack of money - sometimes it’s more a way of life than anything
else.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth)
“I don’t think you should see fishing as a job. You are a fisherman - do you see
what I mean? That’s what you do, you know. People who do it for a job don’t
usually stay in the job very long.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham)
Herein lies the rub – the idea that people will look to change their jobs in the face of
severe economic difficulties and an uncertain future, that fishermen will stop fishing and
seek alternative employment – overlooks the main reason they are fishermen in the first
place. It is not ‘just a job’ that they can or are willing to change.
Many of them spoke about fishing as if it was an addiction, something they could not
stop doing even if they wanted to. They used drug metaphors when describing what
they do – there were lots of references to the ‘buzz’ they get from the pursuit of fish, the
‘high’ they experience when they haul in a large catch and the fact that they cannot help
themselves, they just have to go out fishing.
“It’s soaked into you, it’s a drug, you can’t leave it alone. If you wake up at four
o’ clock in the morning - the sun is shining, the tide is right, the weather is good -
you can’t stay home. Like if you’ve got a day off you can stay home, but if you’ve
got to do a couple of days work before you earn your day off and when you’ve
had your day off, you’re like a tiger in a cage, you’ve got to get out there.”
(Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
“It’s just getting out there, you get out there and you just feel different to being
ashore, the wide open space and that and waiting to see what you’re fishing for.
Every haul is different, every haul is exciting to try and see what you’re catching,
every time it’s full of excitement, waiting to see what you've caught. And there’s
times where you know there’s going to be nothing, which can be a bit of a
downer, but it’s what you're going out to get there to catch and seeing what’s
going to come on board. It’s exciting, it gets to you because everything is
always different, every morning you have something different.” (Sector; trawls;
skippers; N Shields)
“It’s in your blood anyway, if you’ve done it all your life, it’s in your blood, you
can’t help yourself…
…It’s a combination of things, but when you are sat in here, you’ve spent all day
catching fish, you’ve got to get out there, it’s just something, it’s got to be in your
8
Attributions display the vessel category (Sector, Non-sector, Inshore fleet), the main type of gear being
used, whether the group was predominantly made up of skippers or crew, and the main home port (some
fishermen would have been based in other, nearby ports).
18
blood, you can’t really explain it because it’s just there.” (Sector; seine; skippers;
Grimsby)
Some have even tried ‘cold turkey’ by trying to follow alternative career paths only to
come back to what they love best.
“I could see them coming in of a night time where I was working [on a
construction site], I could see all the boats coming in. I thought ‘I want to be
there, I don't want to be here’. It was a proper 8.00 to 4.00 job, it was the
tedium, where fishing, really you're your own man.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N
Shields)
“I started fishing when I was 16, deep sea. That packed up because of Iceland
and Common Fisheries Policy. Fishing finished where I was working in Grimsby
so then I went into the offshore industry. I had enough of that, 30 years, so I’ve
come back here again and I’m now fishing again because I like that sort of work,
on a boat.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
“Just less than two years ago I joined the Royal Mail as a postman, it lasted nine
months. I went in for an assessment and my manager asked me what I thought
of the job and what I thought of him and I told him and that was the end of that.
If you’re used to doing this, you can’t work by numbers, you really can’t, 9 to 5 -
just don’t.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth)
For a lot of fishermen fishing is also in their blood. Many of them come from fishing
families, sometimes stretching back several generations and they are extremely proud
of this tradition.
“Me, I just followed in me dad’s footsteps. I left school at 16 and my dad was a
fisherman, aye. I used to go to sea with my dad from a very young age, I think I
was four years old when I first went, that’s how old I was. The water’s in your
blood.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“It’s part of my heritage, it’s something that all my family’s done, my dad’s done it
for 30, 40 years now, 39 years and it’s something that I’ve been brought up with
and it’s like something I’d like to keep as part of my family.” (Inshore; trawls;
crew; N Shields)
“My family have been in it, not necessarily in Mevagissey, before we came here
they were in Port Lowen and other various places but from what I’ve been told, it
at least goes back five or six generations.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
“Well, I went to sea with my grandfather who was a fisherman and my father was
fishing, both of them, and my first trip, I was 12 years old and I went to sea with
my grandfather, mackerel fishing. And then I went to sea with my father the
following summer during the summer holidays on his beam trawler. I spent three
weeks of my summer holiday going to sea with him on the beam trawler and then
from there, because I was thirteen and I was allowed to, it was silly but I knew
what I was doing, I had a little boat and I went off with my own fleet of lobster
pots at thirteen years of age and that was when I was bitten and that was it from
then on really. So every holiday, every evening, every weekend I was down in
the harbour mucking about and that was that.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers;
Newlyn)
19
And even if they are not descended directly from fishermen, many of them have been
born and brought up within fishing communities and they have family ties with the
wider fishing and marine industries. They made references to growing up in a
community where the ‘sea was their playground’. They described being involved in
boating and fishing from a very early age. They spent their evenings, weekends and
school holidays following various fishing related pursuits and some had taken time off
school and/or truanted in order to follow their passion.
“Me and J were like bargemen, Thames barges, all my uncles, relations, until
they [the barges] disappeared.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on
sea)
“Harwich is surrounded by water, isn’t it? [Other] kids go and play football or go
and do things like that, don’t they? …
…You’d spend the day down the quay…
…You’re just playing on boats…
…That’s what there is to do…
…Most people that used to have paper rounds, all of us here mucked about on
boats as kids.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
“I have no family background for fishing at all. My grandfather and that, they
were all in the navy and so on, so it comes from there really I suppose. I used to
go with the old blokes sand netting day and night, bunk off school.” (Inshore;
nets; skippers; Poole)
For many of the people we spoke with, it was almost inevitable that they would
become fishermen and many had done so the moment they could leave school.
Nevertheless, not everyone had gone straight into fishing. Some, often under
pressure from their parents, had tried other things first. However, they quickly decided
that this was not for them and after a fairly short period of time - in some cases, just a
few weeks or months into a course or apprenticeship – they had switched to fishing.
“When I left school I was a bricklayer and I got my trade, did college, tech, and
everything. When I came to the end of it I’d been going fishing all the time with
my brother T, who by then was a fisherman. Whilst doing the bricklaying I saved
my money and I got a boat of my own at 21 years and I started being my own
boss and I wanted to be out at sea.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers;
Hartlepool)
“[My father] actually got me a job as an apprentice carpet layer and they trusted
me to do a bedroom and I cut round all the legs of the bed and I got the sack
promptly, so that lasted a week. Every job he got me I left and went back to
fishing…
…So in the end he gave up trying to?...
…Yeah, he just disowned me, he threw me out.” (Inshore; hooks & nets;
skippers; Plymouth)
20
“Yeah, that’s what I always wanted to do basically. I did try a 9 to 5 once and
lasted about two weeks, so yeah, it’s a nice way of life, well it can be.” (Inshore;
hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth)
“It’s the same, my father said to all the boys ‘before you make a choice, get an
apprenticeship’. So we all had a go of getting an apprenticeship, which mine was
a welder and it was the same thing, I hated it. I just didn’t like it, you were stuck
in a factory, 40 hours a week and walk home with nothing in your pocket. It’s
more fun going out on a fishing boat and coming home with a wad of money as it
was then in the old, but now it’s…” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
A few of the fishermen had worked for a considerable number of years in other jobs
and/or careers and had come to fishing relatively late in life. In most cases, they had
always been keen fishermen and had determined to spend their remaining years doing
what they really loved.
Almost without exception, all of our fishermen had left school aged 15 or 16 and,
although we did not record their levels of educational attainment, it was clear both from
what they said and some of the things they wrote down during the sessions, that many
of them lacked literacy skills.
“I left school at 15 with no qualifications, so there’s nought I can do…

…I’ll second that like, I was 14.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“When we started fishing, the fishermen couldn’t read or write…
…My granddad would have just about writ his name - like a spider going across
the page. His dad was the same, they could just about write…
…I’d have thought 90% of us haven’t got any school qualifications…
…a lot of fishermen, wherever you go around the country, got into fishing
because they left school and wasn’t interested in nothing else, they didn’t want
GCSEs, all these grades, as they couldn’t have done something else. It is a way
to go and earn a living that somebody enjoyed with no qualifications…
…When I left school, my teacher said to me, ‘what you going to do B when you
leave school?’ I said, ‘I shan’t want a bloody pen and a book, I’ll need a knife and
a needle.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
“If one of the crew didn’t turn up, I’d have to have a week off school to stand in
his place. [ ] School suffered because of it and in the end I didn’t bother going
anymore, I just went to sea.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
“I can remember leaving an O level exam and hitchhiking home because there
was mackerel to be caught then and practically going down the beach in a
school blazer. I had to be pretty much dragged in to get the school clothes off
me.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
Nevertheless, some of them were quick to point out that what they lacked in the way of
academic qualifications was more than made up for by their experience and practical
skills.
21
“When we’re at sea, we’re riggers, we’re engineers, we’re electricians, we can do
anything. But once you step off the boat onto the shore, you’re nothing – we’ve
got no qualifications, we’ve got no papers – we’re unskilled labour.” (Inshore;
trawls; crew; N Shields)
It is not clear exactly which is the cause and which the effect – whether they became
fishermen because they lacked more academic abilities or whether their single-
mindedness in wanting to go fishing meant they lacked the drive to acquire educational
qualifications. Nevertheless, low levels of literacy characterise many fishermen and this
has major implications when it comes to communicating with them.
“That’s why I went into fishing so I haven’t got to do no paperwork, I’m no good
at writing, I’ve got no glasses. That’s one reason I went into fishing to start with.
Without my Mrs now, I wouldn’t have a clue, I’ve got to be honest.” (Inshore;
pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
“I’m dyslexic mate. I can’t read or write, so that is why I went fishing in the sea. If
you have stuff filling forms in, I can’t, I best go now…
…No that is only part of it…
…That’s half the reason why we are all fishermen is because we all didn’t have
the best chances in life and we see an easy opportunity to make some money
and we sort of, like, basically bit the bullet and we stuck to it, and that’s basically
why.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
The other main reasons for becoming fishermen were the earnings potential and the
lack of alternative forms of employment. Certainly at the time most of them started
fishing, the earnings potential was said to be extremely good and far higher that most
other forms of employment. Moreover, most of them pointed out that there were limited
alternative sources of work in their locality and what was available was often poorly
paid, such as agricultural, construction or tourism related work.
“There was a fishing boat I was working on [as an engineer doing repairs] and he
earned a lot more money than I did, so I went fishing.” (Sector; seine; skippers;
Grimsby)
“One of the things I would really like to know is what made you decide to
become a fisherman, all the things you could have chosen to do with your
life, you’ve all made the choice of being fishermen, so what was it that
made you think?...
…Mine was purely financial…
…Mine as well…
…My father went before me and he was earning decent money.” (Sector; mix of
mobile; crew; Brixham)
22
3.3 The Fisherman’s CV
We explored with respondents their fishing careers from the moment they first started
getting involved in fishing and asked them to describe some of the key milestones.
Although each fisherman’s story was different, a number of common themes emerged
which we have summarised below.
• As we have already seen, most were learning the basic skills from a very early
age while they were still at school.
• They left school at the first opportunity, in most cases with few qualifications.
• They started out as a ‘deckie learner’ – a trainee crew member, often on a

relative’s boat; some chose to remain crew members while others rose up
through the ranks to mate and skipper. During this time they may well have
worked on a number of different vessels and become experienced in using a
variety of different gears and fishing for different target species.
• For those who had done so, getting their skipper’s ticket was a sense of
achievement (this is not currently a requirement for the Inshore fleet although we
were told this is about to change).
• For many, the biggest milestone (and, according to some, millstone) was the
decision to buy their own vessel which represented a major commitment.
• Since that time, some had been forced to relinquish their own vessels due to
financial difficulties while others had acquired additional vessels and now own
two or more.
• Many of them had changed vessels at least once and, in some cases, several
times. This was partly due to the fact that the engines quickly clock up a lot of
miles and it is sometimes cheaper/more cost effective to replace the whole boat
rather than fit a new engine. It also reflects the desire to keep themselves up to
date in terms of engine size and/or speed, manoeuvrability and technological
developments.
• A number had commissioned their own new build rather than buying second
hand vessels and some had even built their own boats.
23
• Some had started out working on larger vessels and then ‘traded down’.
• Many had experienced incidents at sea including being sunk, fires and being
rammed by larger vessels. Most either had family or friends who had lost their
lives or knew of others in this position.
3.4 Owner Skippers, Non-owner Skippers and Crew

The majority of skippers in our sample also owned their boats – only 16 were non-
owner skippers - but it was not at all obvious which were which as their values and
opinions were very similar.
There was a clear divide between crew and skippers on the bigger vessels. Skippers
were said to keep their distance socially, for example, preferring to drink in different
pubs to their crew. Crew members lacked both the financial means and the desire to
take on the responsibilities of being a skipper. The skippers were the ones with all the
experience and know-how in terms of knowing where and how to maximise their catch
and the crew were dependent upon their skipper when it came to making a living. In a
similar vein, the crew expected their skipper to keep himself up to date with all the rules
and regulations and to pass on to them what they needed to know. Not surprisingly, the
crew held a good skipper in high regard.
The skipper/crew divide was considerably less marked for the Inshore fleet. Many
fishermen were operating either single handedly or with just one other person. In these
situations, the crew member was often a family member or someone the skipper had
known for years.
3.5 Super Under 10s

One of the ways some fishermen have tried to respond to what they see as over-
regulation has been to commission boats that are under 10 metres in length and
therefore not subject to the same degree of monitoring but which are powerful enough
to enable them to compete with larger Over 10 metre vessels. These are sometimes
referred to as Super Under 10s or ‘Rule Beaters’. Our aim had been to try and include
in the research a number of fishermen operating such boats. Recruiters were briefed to
this end and told they should ask fishermen if their boat was a Super Under 10 and to
record this on the screening questionnaire.
24
None of the fishermen taking part in the research admitted at recruitment that their
vessel was a Super Under 10 and even when the topic was raised during the research
sessions, they did not necessarily acknowledge that their boat came into this category.
Nevertheless, we did have some fishermen who were operating Super Under 10s
although this only became clear because of comments they or other fishermen in the
session made or as part of the analysis process9. While there is no precise definition of
a Super Under 10, we estimate that there may have been 16 fishermen in our sample
who were operating one10.
There was often a reticence to express opinions about Super Under 10s; in some
cases, this may have been because respondents were aware that one of their group
was operating one even if the moderator did not. Where opinions were expressed,
these varied from a ‘good luck to them’ attitude to a degree of resentment/hostility.
There was some suggestion they were associated with ‘keen, ambitious fishermen who
are making a good living’. For example, one non-owner skipper of a Super Under 10
had just bought his first brand new (as opposed to second hand) car, something his
peers teased him about. Another fisherman who owned a Super Under 10 was clearly
making a better living than his peers, although he was also heavily in debt.
In contrast, as the following quote demonstrates, some owners of smaller vessels

expressed a degree of resentment that other fishermen were able to exploit what they
considered to be a loop hole.
“It’s what we call the Super 10’s and they’ve exploited it and they’ve gone to the
whole dimension so, like you say, these guys [those not owning a Super Under
10] have got 20-30-40 horse power and then we’ve got 300 horse power in a 10
metre boat and it can stay out there all week [ ]. So it’s still back to the
managers who are now, like I say, enforcement - instead of managing and they
never close the loopholes quick enough, do they?” (Inshore; mix of passive;
skippers; Brixham)
9
At recruitment we recorded at least one of the following: the vessel’s name, its RSS number and/or its
PLN. We were then able to cross-reference this with details of the vessel’s length, engine capacity and
Vessel Capacity Units (VCU) - (Length over all X Breadth) + (Engine Power X 0.45) where length and
breadth are in metres and Engine Power is in Kilowatts (Kw).
10
We arrived at this estimate by taking all the vessels in the Inshore fleet which were just under 10 m in
length and which had larger than average engine capacities and/or VCUs.
25
3.6 The Positives and Negatives of a Fisherman’s Life
3.6.1 The Positives
Without exception, the fishermen we spoke to were fiercely independent individuals.

They enjoyed the freedom of being their own bosses, making their own decisions and
working whatever hours best suited them.
“I think it’s just basically being your own boss and making your own decisions is
what I enjoy about it. If it goes wrong, you basically only have yourself to blame.”
(Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“No, see it’s like what I said before, I couldn’t put up with somebody telling me
what to do.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“You are in charge of your own destiny, nobody tells you what to do.” (Inshore;
nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
They thrive on the sense of isolation of being at sea and being able to leave all their
worries behind them on dry land.
“It seems like when you throw your line off and go out there into the river and out
to the sea, any worries or concerns you might have on the land, you seem to
leave them behind, you don't worry about things when you're at sea, of what
might be happening on the land.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings
Lynn)
Independence is a core characteristic of fishermen which means that they are reluctant
to be told what to do or how to do it; control and regulation are an anathema and yet
they find themselves in what is probably the most highly regulated industry in the UK.
This fact alone sets them on a collision course with ‘the authorities’.
Fishermen thrive on the challenge and thrill of the hunt. They see themselves as the
last (as far as the developed world is concerned) of the ‘hunter gatherers’; this, together
with their strong desire for independence, means they see themselves as ‘frontiersmen’.
“We’re the last of the hunters really…

…last of the dying breed.” (Inshore/Non-sector; mix of mobile & passive;
skippers; Portsmouth)
“I like being out in nature and catching fish for the people, you know, catching
food. It’s the hunter gatherer in the end and it’s bringing food home to the plate,
isn’t it? It’s basic.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
“So you’re going out and you’re hunting and gathering and you’ve got to get it
right, you’ve got to go the places where the fish are going to be.” (Inshore; mix of
mobile; skippers; Harwich)
26
Fishing provides a real sense of adventure and excitement; there is the challenge of
finding and catching the fish – they see themselves as highly skilled problem solvers –
coupled with a tremendous sense of pride and achievement when they are successful.
“I think everybody enjoys fishing because of that thrill of the hunt.” (Sector; mix of
mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington)
“When you get a decent haul, you get a buzz from a decent haul.” (Non-sector;
mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“Nothing’s better when you bring your nets up and they’re absolutely jam packed
and you have a really good haul, it is a good buzz.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of
mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
“I do like when I see two or three lobsters come out the pot. It’s quite satisfying if
you get a good string of pots and you get a few lobsters in very satisfying…
…So just a sense of satisfaction as you pull those pots in?...
…You feel like you’ve done your job best to your ability and that’s it.” (Inshore;
pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
The potential earnings from a successful trip were an important motivator when
respondents first started fishing. While there was no doubt that fishermen felt that the
financial returns are no longer what they once were, and many of them feel under
pressure financially, nevertheless, they can still stand to earn substantial sums of
money from a successful trip. This was especially the case for some of the crew
working in the Over 10 metre fleet.
“Picking up your first wage packet after being on £8.00 a week or whatever like
and you earn £100.00. It’s ‘wow. I’m the king’. It’s something that, you’ve seen
like, as you’re growing up you’ve seen the fishermen that you grew up with and
that lot and you think ‘wow they’ve always got plenty of money in their pocket,
we’re going to have some of that’.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
“The money when it’s right!” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
It is the potential of ‘hitting the jackpot’ that carries them through leaner times.
“I’ve been today and I haven’t made it pay hardly but I’ll go again Friday.
Hopefully I’m going to make it pay.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive;
skippers; Boston)
The financial rewards of fishing are explored in greater detail below (see 3.9.).
They see themselves as belonging to a small, select group who look after one another
and there is a great sense of camaraderie; as one crew member put it, his fellow crew
members are his ‘second family’.
“There’s a sort of camaraderie of the fishermen.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
27
“A community thing really, isn’t it? Everyone in every village seems to know
every other fisherman, that’s the way it is.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
“Yeah you’ve got four or five lads on the boat and then you were a family on the
boat. You got on together, alright you had your fall outs and that lot but I mean
you were a unit on board the boat and you didn’t have to tell no one what to do,
when to do it, everybody just done it.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
While their strong sense of identification with their local fishing community sets them
apart in their own minds from the rest of the world – it defines who they are – there is
also a strong sense of competition between fishermen. Much of this is friendly banter
but there is no doubt a keenly competitive streak in every fisherman. Their success, or
otherwise, goes a long way to defining their status within the group.
“We want to catch the biggest haul; we all want that, don’t we? That’s the
competitive bit - I suppose - it’s that whole thing, isn’t it?” (Non-sector; mix of
mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“Yeah you have the good days you get a real buzz. I’m top dog, you know,
you’ve beaten everybody else…
…That’s right, it’s competition.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“The most frequent question is where did you get that?...
…They say no friends outside the quay, don’t they?...
…Unless you are sinking….
…Is it all friendly rivalry?...
…Yeah…
…Most of the time.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
“If you don’t catch, you don’t earn, so if you’re not a good fisherman and you’re
not good at catching fish then you will starve.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers;
Brixham)
Fishermen enjoy the outdoor life and being at sea – the peace and quiet, fresh air,
the feel of the sun on their back, especially when the weather is good.
“But when you are out there on a nice day, the sun coming out, flat and calm,
and you’re catching a bit of fish, there is no better job in the world, I don’t think.”
(Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
“Just the sea - it says it all really, doesn’t it? Whether you’re out on deck or on
your own having your own bit of space.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
They spoke at length about being at one with nature, pointing out some of the things
they had seen and experienced which most other people would spend a lot of money to
do.
“[When I was] lobstering a couple of years back I saw a family of peregrines and
it had three youngsters and we watched the mother come down off a cliff, catch
a pigeon, take it round and let it go and the first chick went up, had a go at it,
28
missed it. The mother went and caught it again and come back, let it go and after
the third one, this poor pigeon - and they let it go and it got away and the mother
went and sat on the rock and must have told them what they were doing wrong.
For about an hour we sat and watched this.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers;
Brixham)
They also spoke about the unpredictable nature of their work, the fact that the job
varies from one moment to the next and that no two days are the same; this was in
contrast to what they perceived to be the repetitive nature of most nine to five jobs.
“It’s a bit of an adventure, every time you go, every day’s different, no two days
are the same…
…There’s always something new, something to learn. Even after 40 years you’re
still learning.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“You don’t know what’s going to happen in twenty minutes time, you never know
what’s going to happen when you open that door, if you have a pot in there, you
have a lump of bone, a mammoth’s tooth, or a lump of aeroplane or anything.”
(Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
3.6.2 The Negatives
Almost without exception, the single greatest dislike that fishermen had about their work
was summed up in one word – Defra. They often used ‘Defra’ as a ‘catch all’ term which
encapsulated everything they felt was wrong with the state of fishing. It seemed to be
used almost interchangeably with other terms such as the UK Government or the
Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) or any other part of Government that has some
involvement with managing the industry including ministers and civil servants.
There was a universal sense that Defra and the UK Government is fighting against,
rather than on behalf of, fishermen and that this has been the case ever since Ted
Heath first took the UK into Europe.
“They [UK Government] haven’t stood up for our own fishing fleet. They have not
had the backbone to stand up for its own fishing fleet. We are just a European
number as an overall body of fisherman now, we are no longer a UK fishing
fleet.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“The biggest problem what we’re all suffering from is when Ted Heath went to
the first meeting; he didn’t have a clue what he was doing.” (Non-sector/Inshore;
mix of mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
They feel that the aim of Defra and the Government is to ‘force them out of business’
and, to this end, it is persecuting a ‘war of attrition’ and trying to ‘starve them out’.
“When Defra comes down, all they’re interested in is trying to get you, is trying to
put you out of business, they’re never trying to help you.” (Sector; trawls;
29
“There’s a war going on and they are doing all this with a huge Navy gunship to
try and catch us out, it’s unbelievable.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“They’re [the EU and the UK Government] starving us out of it.” (Non-
sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
“You can’t make a fisherman redundant but you can starve him out of a living.”
(Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
From their perspective, Defra is a largely ‘faceless’ and ‘unaccountable’ government
department. The Minister responsible for fishing, together with senior civil servants, are
‘constantly changing’ and seem to ‘know nothing’ about fishing or fishermen.
“Who actually makes the decision that from midnight, two days time, the fishing
is closed? Nobody tells you who makes that decision, they don’t even ask your
opinion and if you went to them and said, ‘ah well next month what’s my quota?’,
they’ll say, ‘how on earth would we know?’ I don’t know who actually makes the
decision and on what principle they base it on.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers;
Plymouth)
“September last year, September gone, we had a full new Director of Fisheries
and a change in all the heads of department, and a change in the staff, so we’ve
got all brand new faces in charge which are all on a learning curve.” (Inshore;
trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“There’s nobody high up in Government that’s ever done fishing before, so they
haven’t got an idea how fish is caught and what goes into it…
…All the English Government is made up of landowners, traditionally, and
they’ve got no idea what goes on with the fishermen.” (Non-sector; mix of
passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
On the one hand, there is a perception that Defra is employing a ‘divide and rule’
strategy by segmenting the industry in what they consider to be fairly arbitrary ways,
such as the over/under 10 metre division. Inshore fishermen believe they represent the
sustainable face of fishing and yet they feel that Defra and the Government are only
interested in promoting the interests of the larger, commercial fishermen.
“There’s such distrust with Defra and they’re trying to pigeon hole every different
sector of the industry, whether you’re a shell fishing entitlement or a scalloping
entitlement or over 10 metres, under 10 metres and they’re trying to divide and
conquer and I’m afraid they are doing it.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers;
Plymouth)
“They [the Government] don’t want us single independent people in the game
any longer and they’re trying to push us out by one rule or another, quotas.”
(Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“Most of us are under 10’s but my two boats are under 7[metres]. Now I’ve been
put in the same category as a boat that’s got 700 horse power and drags six tons
of scallop dredges across the seabed. Now my boat, for being an under 7 metre
boat, I can’t push the boat, it can’t hold the weight, it can’t tow the gear, it can’t
do the damage. If I was to stay on the sea and fish all day, I wouldn’t even
scratch the surface because it’s a sustainable fishing. Defra should be
30
promoting the small fisherman, not killing him.” (Inshore; mix of passive;
skippers; Brixham)
On the other hand, they believe that Defra applies a ‘one size fits all’ approach to
decision making by introducing industry wide rules and regulations without any
appreciation of how these impact on different types of fishermen.
“It’s a small community fishing [yet] we’re all lumped together as an industry
whether they’re boats fishing off of Norway or Iceland, or they’re fishing a mile
out to sea here. We’re all under the same bloody rules and regulations.”
(Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
“They just seem to make rules up to suit themselves…
…There is no hands-on stuff, they don’t know what’s going on out there. They
push their pen up there and they don’t realise the effect they’ve got out there.”
(Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
“This is where the problem comes. They class a fisherman as fisherman,
there’s all different styles of fishing…
…They’re making rules for one…
…One covering everybody whereas it’s not like that.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers;
St Ives)
They resent the fact that while they are highly regulated and policed, they believe that
Defra and the associated enforcement agencies, such as MFA and the Royal Navy, are
unwilling or reluctant to police foreign fishermen operating in ‘UK waters’.
“Which is so frustrating when you see French fishermen fishing on your doorstep
and you're not allowed to. When they come along quite regular and they just let
the French just do what they want because they’re [the politicians] frightened of
what the repercussions what’ll come from France.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N
Shields)
“Doesn’t it annoy you that you can see boats from France and Spain coming up
and down the coast here, you know, fishing inside where you are, they’re
allowed to catch anything they want? And they’re allowed to take anything they
want and there’s no policing them.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth)
They also resent the fact that in comparison to fishermen, UK farmers seem to ‘get a
better deal’.
“Everything was the farmer, the farming industry got everything, the fishing
industry got nothing.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
“The farmers get subsidies, why don’t we?” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
“Now there’s always a little bit of friction between farmers and fishermen over
these issues. A fisherman, to all intents and purposes, is a farmer of the sea,
fruits of the sea is what we go and bring in. It is important to think of it like that.
Now if the Government continually wants the fishing industry out, when it’s come
to the farming, alright we know the farming’s in crisis, but where farmers are
concerned, there has been an ability there for him to work with the Government
to get monies and different things available to help him see his business through
31
difficult times. We’ve not had any of that.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers;
Newlyn)
As a consequence of all this, there is a strong sense among the fishermen that Defra
and the UK Government have ‘mismanaged’ fisheries policy and this has resulted in
a complete ‘lack of trust’ and ‘loss of credibility’.
“Defra are completely incompetent in what they’re doing. They are so far behind
in their management, their science, everything is out of the window, it shouldn’t
be allowed.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
“The lack of confidence in the management of the fishery. The common fishery
has failed and it’s failed consistently since it was introduced and there’s nothing
been done to get us out of it or to come up with some alternative plan.” (Inshore;
There was also a universal hatred of the quota system which is perceived to be both
unnecessary and ineffective. From the fishermen’s perspective, it is quotas and all the
other rules and regulations that ‘prevent them from making a decent living’ and, instead,
is ‘turning honest fishermen into criminals’.
Most of the fishermen we spoke to feel that ‘the seas are teeming with most quota
stocks’ so that quotas are not needed.
“When he said where they done reports on the cod and that and they said there
was short supply, well in the North Sea, there’s been more cod in the last two or
three years than there ever has been before.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile;
skippers; Kings Lynn)
“Cod, we’ve had more cod this year than we’ve ever seen in the last couple of
years.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
Even if there were shortages, quotas were felt to have no conservation value. They
simply result in high discards and, as most discards do not survive, this produces a
‘lose, lose situation’.
“In the winter, there was that much cod getting dumped, we were catching rotten
dead ones, rotten cod and you’re shovelling them out of the pile, it’s already
been caught and dumped back – it’s ridiculous.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N
Shields)
“It’s just depressing when you read about all this fish that’s getting dumped. It’s
criminal really…
…The discards now, that’s a big negative. This week I’ve had to dump probably
half a ton of skate because I'm not allowed to catch it. So we throw it away…
…Some of it lives, some of it dies, but after, that was Friday night and by
Saturday afternoon we had to move off the ground because we were starting to
pick up the dead skate again and there is only so much you can take.”
(Inshore/Non-sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Portsmouth)
32
Not only are fishermen discarding fish because they have no quota for them, we were
told that the quota system is seen as encouraging fishermen to throw back
perfectly good but small fish if the next haul contains larger, more valuable fish.
“They dump them smaller ones, even though it’s nice cod but it costs [i.e. it sells
for] a little bit less than the best one…
…That is happening through the whole industry, mackerel, herring, they take up,
see what size they are, if they are too small, whatever, there will be 200 or 300
ton, let it all go and they are all dead. Let it all go. Yeah, they keep going until
they get the size they want, they just keep dumping them…
…You see you’ve got to make the most of it, of that bit of quota you’ve got. So if
you get something that is too small, you get a pound less per kilo for them, dump
them, get some bigger ones and then we don’t use so much of our quota but we
make twice as much money. So you can have a good sense, it makes big sense
to…
…It does feel very crazy, oh aye yeah, but the system makes you do it.” (Sector;
seine; skippers; Grimsby)
“There’s a change in quota, we’ll say it’s for cod, so your first shot you get small
cod, so you box them up ready. Your next shot is big prime cod and if it’s at the
end of your trip and you’ve already got your quota you’re going to chuck the
small stuff over so as you get prime cod, so it’s discarded.” (Non-sector/Inshore;
mix of mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
Most fishermen we spoke to said that they found the volume of discards ‘soul
destroying’. Some of them commented that Defra ‘turns a blind eye’ to this fact and
that if the true level of discards was made public knowledge, there would be an outcry.
“And let’s be honest, it’s not saving anything because if you catch it on land you
were definitely a criminal but you throw it back in and Defra don’t seem to
understand that…
…They do but they don’t want to…
…Well, they don’t want to listen…
…[ ] It does not save anything. It makes the figures look good but it won’t
address the situation.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“And you have to shove them over the sides and Defra, all they’re concerned
with is what comes in, and if you know you can’t land it, you throw it back over
the sides, so it’s still dead.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth)
“And then fish that gets thrown back today doesn’t get registered therefore, it
never enters the system, that’s the bottom line. And the Government say, ‘well
you’ve not written it down, it’s not recorded so therefore it never existed’. [ ]…
…It doesn’t matter it’s polluting the bottom of the ocean, do you know what I
mean? It’s crazy, no fisherman wants to throw fish away because once it’s dead,
it’s dead…
…We’d rather give it away.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
33
When asked about the economics of fishing and the extent to which they were able to
make a living, most fishermen felt that if it was not for quotas they would be able to
make a comfortable living without having to work such long hours or take the same
levels of risk (such as going to sea in bad weather).
“I mean, when I first started on this boat, like five years ago, we were allowed to
catch what we liked and we done very well at trawling and we would have kept it
on that. All of a sudden, bish bash…
…If they said to you, ‘I want to cut your wages by 25%’, you wouldn’t be very
happy, would you?...
…If you said to them, ‘I want you to take a 50% or a 100% cut in your wages’,
they would say, ‘you must be joking’. But how they expect you to land 25 kilos of
sole and monk which, at the top, is worth £250 - you know, makes a mockery of
it, an absolute mockery.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
It was also pointed out that there are so many rules and regulations which are
constantly being changed, often at very short notice, that it is easy to ‘run foul of the
law’.
“One that went to court the other day, they were going to get prosecuted for
over-fishing their quota because they went out on a Friday, they got a letter
through the post on the Saturday when they were fishing. They weren’t ashore
and they’d caught over their quota when they come in on the Monday, the two
day trips or three day trips. When they come ashore they were over their quota.”
(Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
We were also told that there is a ‘presumption of guilt’ attitude among the law
enforcement agencies and that fishermen get cautioned and/or fined ‘at the slightest
opportunity’.
“There is still a lot of paperwork. And when they threaten, for paperwork
infringements, you can be fined, I mean I’ve been told you can be fined up to
£50,000.” (Sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington)
“We’re policed very heavily. If you got stopped in your car as many times as I
get boarded, you would claim police harassment.” (Inshore; mix of mobile;
skippers; Harwich)
“They can be pretty devious…
…They are waiting on the beach for us when we come ashore…
…Especially hiding behind things if they think you’ve got cod…
…A bloke and a girl come over and says ‘oh we’re from Defra’…
…It’s persecution.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
While none of the fishermen we spoke to had a good word to say about the quota
system, inshore fishermen felt that they were being particularly adversely affected by
the rules and regulations. We summarise below their main criticisms and concerns.
34
• The original division of quotas between the Over and Under 10 metre boats was
unfair
“But there was a big wrongdoing in the first place that they didn’t give enough
quota to the under 10 fleet. The whole UK quota, they didn’t give enough to the
under 10 fleet and what they should be doing is increasing the quota for us and
putting right the wrong of back then really.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
• Much of the quota is owned by a very small number of people and is open to
abuse
“Why is it that a football team up country owns dover sole quota in Seven E? It’s
got to be some sort of racket…
…Sorry just run that past me again because I don’t understand…
…There are people all over the country who actually own dover sole quota,
you’ve got a chap called R C in Scotland, he owns 350 tons - and why and how
this has all come to be, I don’t know. It should never have come to be and these
people control like what’s going on. It’s a racket…
…So is it a relatively small number of people that own much of the
quota?...
…Very rich people. It’s £15,000 a ton so…
…Greenpeace owns quota, Greenpeace owns quota to stop fishermen from
having it.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
• The Inshore fleet have minimal impact on stock levels compared to Over 10s
partly due to natural constraints such as adverse weather, but also because of
their fishing methods (e.g. using passive methods) but the quota system takes
no account of this
“I can understand quotas on the big boats that hoover up fish from the seabed
and all that because they are destroying the fish. But us with the old methods,
alright, the nets are newer and more modern than what they were, but it’s still hit
and miss when you are putting your nets down. We are not wiping the fish out.”
(Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
• The size of their vessels/engine capacity means that they have to wait for fish to
come to them rather than being able to go to wherever the fish are found which
further restricts what and how much they can catch
“Fish around here are seasonal, we wait for them to come to us, we don’t go
around chasing them around the North Sea. So we get our little slots in the
seasons when they come to this part of the coast to go and catch them. As soon
as they go beyond 10, 12, mile out to sea, they’re out of our range, because the
boats are too small, we’re single handed. You just can’t have the travelling time
to go out there, do a bit of fishing and come back. So, the quota system is not
taking this into account for us. So they’ve given us cuts in quota when the fish
35
are here, which is denying us a living, and then giving us quota when the fish are
not here.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
• Quotas are based on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis and they have no say on when a
quota is applied; prolonged periods of bad weather mean they may not be able
to completely ‘use’ a quota
“It’s ‘use it or lose it’. The quota is only for the month, so if you’ve got two tonne
to catch in a month and you only catch a tonne and a half, you lose that half a
tonne, that’s gone…
…If you don’t catch your quota, then the Government sees it as that you don’t
need it…
…They don’t even take into consideration the weather” (Inshore; mix of mobile;
skippers; Harwich)
• Restrictions on one stock can effectively mean they can’t catch other stocks for
which there may be a large quota or which may not attract a quota in the first
place
“So you’ve heard a lot about sole netting but sole netting knocks out everything
else as well. I mean, if you put out sole nets you also catch monkfish, you catch
lemon soles, you catch plaice, you catch dabs, you catch all sorts of fish and it
means everything else is wiped out as well. I mean, people don’t understand
this. I mean they’ve stopped us sole netting but they’ve stopped us catching
everything else…
…Yeah, you can’t go plaice netting or that without catching the sole…
…Brill, turbot, all sorts…
…Whatever net you shoot for a flat fish, you are going to catch them, aren’t
you?” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
• One effect of quotas is that more and more fishermen are chasing the same
stocks (non-quota stocks and those where there are large quotas) which are
coming under increasing pressure; fishermen are concerned that this will result
in further restrictions being introduced
“Like everyone is chasing pollock and that’s just taken a hammering. “ (Inshore;
• Some quotas are so low that they might as well be set at zero
“Well, because of the sole quotas, what they give us per month, I’d be catching
in two hours.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
• Quotas are forcing fishermen to diversify but not everyone can afford to do this.
Even those who can, are concerned that additional restrictions will mean their
investment might not be realised
36
“You can’t just go out and buy nets because you're thinking they're going to cap
our licences soon. What are they going to do next, what restrictions are they
going to put on us next? Is it worth spending money buying all this gear and then
you can’t use it?” (Inshore/Non-sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers;
Portsmouth)
• They feel it is unfair to lump all Under 10 vessels together, especially treating the
Super Under 10s in the same way as smaller, less powerful vessels
“One thing we have suggested, and has been suggested before, is taking the
small boats, not necessarily under 10’s, because the division between the under
10’s and the over 10’s you know, you had these super under 10’s come in that
were like rule beaters, but to take the small boats maybe under 10 metre…
…Under 8…
…Or under 8’s, out of the quota system. Just leave us go because we are
restricted by weather and stuff, you know. We don’t think we do any damage.”
We summarise below the other important negative aspects of being a fishermen.
• Many of them feel under constant financial pressure trying to make a living.
This is explored in greater detail below (see 3.9.).
“And is it a financial burden?...

…Oh yeah, I had to take a 20 year mortgage out on this one so I’ve still got 15
years to go…
…[ ] It’s second [only] to your house.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers;
Plymouth)
• One of the consequences of this pressure is that many fishermen are having to
work increasingly longer hours in order to keep their heads above water (see
3.7. which explores in more detail the nature of their work) which has
implications for safety (see 3.8.).
“It’s a lot harder these days as well because generally everyone is shortening
crew and everyone is working a lot harder and a lot of people are two handed
now, aren’t they?” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
“What I don’t like about it at the moment is the work is just getting harder just to
hope you stand still and stay where you are. [ ] His grandfather had a boat of
three men and 120 pots. He’s one man with 400 pots now, so am I…
…That’s a lot of gear…
…And to put it in perspective, if I haul as I did one day, 300 pots and they weigh
20 kilos, each a quick calculation that will tell you that’s six tonnes and they have
to be handled twice plus everything else that goes with them, lumps of iron and
ropes, and you’ve got to do it on a watery surface.” (Inshore; pots/traps;
skippers; Newlyn)
37
• Bad weather, especially if this was for any protracted period, only adds to the
pressure. The effect of weather varied according to both the size of the boat
(smaller boats are less able to operate during bad weather) and, to an extent, the
type of gear being worked. For example, dredgers are more affected by a swell
than trawlers because the dredging equipment needs to stay on the seabed.
“If it’s good on the day, we’ll go. But the trawlers go out a bit more than we do
because it’s the same type of boat but if our gear don’t go on the ground so it
don’t catch as much so there’s no point in going on a lumpy day really. It lifts off
ground and when they’re trawling it’s [the trawl] miles behind so it don’t effect
them so much.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
• The combination of the financial pressures, the long hours and the unpredictable
nature of the weather impact on both their lifestyle and their family life. Many
fishermen reported that their working patterns are so weather dependent that
they cannot plan what they will be doing one day ahead, let alone in the coming
weeks and months. This makes it difficult to book holidays or take time off to
attend family events and such like.
“My missus cleared off to Florida on holiday and took the kids with her and I
stayed home because it was in the middle of October and you can’t go on
holiday in the middle of October and that’s the end of it.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Poole)
“You can’t book nothing a week in advance because if it’s poor for that day you
may be in for a whole week and that particular day that you’ve booked may be
the only day you go to sea.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
Some of them reported coming under pressure from wives and partners to
consider a change of career, something they had, until now, resisted, sometimes
at the expense of their relationship. If their relationships were to survive, they
needed very supportive and understanding partners.
“I would imagine the amount of divorces is quite a good indication of how it does
affect fishermen…
…Divorces are par for the course these days, I think. I know my first wife, she
said to me, ‘it’s me or fishing’, and I showed her where the door was…
…My wife said, ‘it’s me or the boat’; we had to compromise.” (Non-sector; mix of
“I think to be fair, because you do that much time at sea, you have to have a
really good missus to put up with it…
…Yeah….
…Because basically they are living a single life because they never see them, do
you know what I mean?...
38
…It’s bringing up the kids on their own and that.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew;
Brixham)
• Fishermen using static nets and hooks and lines said that their catches were
often subject to heavy predation by seals and dolphins – in some cases, to the
extent that an entire haul might be lost. They resented the fact that
environmental groups always seemed to win the argument about protecting the
predators, rather than allowing population culls to take place.
“If I can just go back to the damage by the seals, last year my nets were in the
water for about seven months and I lost nearly £5000 worth of monk [fish]
because of seals, so it’s a fair damage you know, a fair lot of damage for the
year. They’ll take out all your fish, you could catch ten fish, ten monks in a day
and you’d just have ten heads and you might not have any fish to land, that’s
how bad it is some days.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
As we have already noted, a number of internal divisions within the industry were
raised. These included:
• the Inshore fleet blaming the Over 10 metre fleet for much of their troubles;
the Over 10 metre fleet complained about the Inshore fleet (but not nearly to the
same extent), and both groups were highly critical of factory vessels and foreign
fishermen – typically from other EU states (we explore these complaints in
greater detail at 5.3.4.)
“What I’m seeing now with the Under 10 and rulings, we are having to give our
portion of fish away to bigger boats that have raped and pillaged the stocks and I
don’t think it’s fair. No justice…
…Are these bigger boats from ports around here?...
…No they’re coming from Scotland or Wales. We’re giving our livelihood away
for bigger boats and it’s the bigger boats, from my perspective, that have done
the damage…
…They’re on our doorstep you can see them…
…It’s frightening what you see at - I mean I’ve been up there when I was big
boating and it’s frightening what’s going around you up there. More than 50
beamers around in a 30 mile radius. It’s scary.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St
Ives)
“[Talking about log books] But what makes us pissed off about that is, R with an
Under 10 ain’t got to do it…
…It’s a smaller boat…
…Me and R [who owns an Under 10 metre boat] and them Over 10 we’ve got to
do it and we fish exactly together…
…We all fish the same place, we all catch the same species, but we’ve got to fill
a log book in and they haven’t.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive;
skippers; Boston)
39
“Then you’ve got great big Spanish and French trawlers fishing offshore and why
is the resources not policing them? Instead, they’re policing small inshore
communities that’s going down the drain – there’s one rule for them and another
for us.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
• A number of fishermen were concerned about the impact of ‘part-time’ or
‘weekend’ fishermen. This was the term they used to describe people who had
other full time jobs and who fished at weekends and at other times when they
were not working in the ‘day job’. In some cases, they may be unlicensed. Other
‘part-time’ fishermen were licensed and operated under the same terms as full-
time fishermen but they were resented because they did not need to fish to earn
their living and were therefore seen as having a detrimental effect on the full-time
fishermen. In a similar vein, one fisherman complained bitterly about anglers
catching bass off the beach and selling them directly to local restaurants.
“Sorry to say, we’ve got a postman who’s earning his £400 a week during the
week and then he goes fishing at the weekends and you know he’s got a licence,
he’s bought a licence like the rest of us. It doesn’t matter to him because if he
don’t catch nothing he’s still got his £400 from the week.” (Inshore; mix of
passive; skippers; Brixham)
“Well half of them are fishing part-time, aren’t they?...
…I think you’ll find the rules are such that as long as you’ve got a boat you can
go to sea and catch, I think it’s five lobsters a day, and I don’t know how many
crab, something similar of crab and you don’t have to have a licence or anything.
But the point is there’s your problem. Five lobsters a day doesn’t sound very
much but it certainly is...
…30 fish at the end of the week…
…Exactly, 30 fish come the end of the week and whose to say if he’s not landing
them when he comes home from work and goes out in the evening and puts
them in store cages, that he hasn’t caught ten?…
…So it’s not being monitored?...
…Nobody is monitoring what’s going on and yet we, as fishermen, are having to
jump through hoops now with all the information you’ve got to give to do
whatever we want in the way we’re fishing and it’s very, very frustrating…
…With the hand lining side of it, some of these part-timers I know, I know quite a
few blokes that have got these fast boats now or fast punts 19-20ft boats went
off a few miles catching like 20-30 stone of pollock and they’re getting rid of
them, they’re landing them.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
“And another point is about fishing is anglers. They piss me off. They’re catching
their bass on the cliffs and they go to the restaurants and find buyers and that’s
why the price of bass and fish is down because the restaurants and the angling
people are getting the cheap fish.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
• Some of the fishermen in the North East spoke about how skippers were
increasingly taking on migrant labourers as crew hands as they would work for
40
considerably lower wages. Not only did this reduce the opportunities for local
fishermen, they were also concerned about safety issues resulting from
problems of communication as most of the migrant workers were said to have
little, if any, English.
A skipper owner, say he’s got a million pound mortgage on his boat, he can’t pay
five or six men to crew the boat because you can’t live. If he pays a couple of
foreign workers £100 per week if they fish, it’s better for him.” (Inshore; trawls;
crew; N Shields)
Finally, we recorded some more ‘mundane’ complaints about being a fishermen such as
problems with their boats and/or their gear, skippers complaining about the difficulty of
finding reliable crew – a problem they felt was exacerbated by the unpredictable nature
of the work which meant they could not always keep the same crew together – while
some crew working older vessels complained about the lack of facilities. While the
modern Over 10 metre vessels are often fitted out with lots of ‘mod cons’ (washing
machines, dishwashers, showers, TVs etc.), older boats often had only very basic
facilities.
“Why we said that was because mechanical breakdown or you can rip your nets
up and you can’t get back because there’s no water to come back, so you're out
there 14 hours and when you come back, you've earned nothing, you're actually
in debt.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“Getting a decent, reliable crew who would be there at six o’clock in the morning,
then you could go to work. If there’s two of you turn up and you need three to
work the boat kind of thing, to do any gear, and they don’t turn up, then you’re
knackered.” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
“Poohing in a bucket!” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
3.7 A Day in the Life
Although there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ day in a fisherman’s life, we invited
respondents to describe how they typically spend their time. One thing that is very clear
is that on days they go to sea they are working very long hours – typically 12 or more -
and they are carrying out very physical work. Although the pattern of their work varies
enormously, nevertheless their daily routine is determined by a number of interrelated
factors of which the most important are:
• the prevailing weather conditions
• quotas and other rules and regulations
41
• the tides
• the type of vessel
• the types of gear being deployed
• the stocks being targeted
• the time of year.
The single biggest factor is whether or not they put to sea on any given day. This is
governed by a number of considerations of which the most important is the weather.
The smaller the boat, the more weather dependent it is. The type of gear being used
can also have an impact – trawling is less affected by the weather than dredging or
potting, for example. Lengthy spells of bad weather in the winter months can mean a
fisherman goes weeks without earning and many feel under pressure to work non-stop
during fine weather in the summer to ensure they earn enough to tie them over the
winter. Local conditions can also come into play; for example, some fisherman spoke
about a sand bar that they have to traverse in order to put to sea and, for smaller boats,
even a small swell can prevent them from going to sea.
Another factor is having sufficient quotas to make it worthwhile going to sea; for the
larger vessels, they also have ‘days at sea’ restrictions. Some of the fishermen working
for companies operating larger vessels spoke about fishing to contract which meant
they would not put to sea unless the company had orders to fill.
Some fishermen are dictated to by the tides, either because their home port is tidal
and/or because of the type of fishing they carry out; for example potters and shell
fisherman.
The type of vessel they operate interacts with the prevailing weather and the type of
gear they deploy (smaller boats, for example lack the capacity to haul large trawls or
dredges) which in turn has a bearing on the types of stocks they target. It also has an
impact on how far they can travel and whether they can ‘chase the fish’ or have to ‘wait
for the fish to come to us’. The majority of the Inshore fleet are ‘day boats’ that would
tend to spend no more than between 12 and 24 hours at sea at any one time. The Over
10 metre fleet is made up of ‘day boats’ and ‘days at sea’ boats. This latter type of
42
vessel typically travels to fisheries that are much further out to sea so it does not make
sense for them to return each day. They may spend anywhere between one and three
weeks at sea on any one trip, putting into port when they need to offload. They can
often choose where to land in order to ensure they get the best prices for their catch.
Irrespective of weather conditions, the state of the tide, and the size of their boat, the
type of gear they use impacts on how they spend their time. For example, fishermen
using passive nets would set their nets on day one and then need to go back and check
them on day two in order to ensure their catch is fresh and to minimise predation. They
would then reset the nets and revisit them on day three. This routine means that if they
want to take a day off, they effectively lose two day’s fishing because the first day back
is spent re-setting their nets. In contrast, presumably because lobsters and crabs are
caught alive, pots can be left for several days between visits.
The type of stocks being targeted also has a bearing. Larger vessels may need to
travel to different fisheries as target stocks migrate; for example, trawlers operating out
of North Shields targeting prawns need to follow the prawns north into Scottish waters
during the summer months. In contrast, smaller vessels need to wait for the fish to come
to them and different species of fish pass through their local waters at different times of
the year – these timings will be different from one port to the next. Some fishermen will
switch between different target species according to these patterns while others will aim
to earn enough during the season to cover them for the rest of the year. Another
example of a different pattern of fishing is how some stocks are more likely to be caught
as the light is changing either at sundown or dawn.
Some fishermen will be going to sea, weather permitting, all year round. Others will be
busier at different times of the year, partly as a function of the weather and also the
different seasons. For example, the season for potters runs from about April/May
through to Christmas. During this time, they will start off catching lobsters, then move on
to hen crabs before finishing the season catching cock crabs.
We were told that if they are to succeed at what they do, fishermen need to be both
flexible and able to diversify in order that they can take advantage of the opportunities
that come their way. Thus, although some fishermen focused on just one type of fishing
(in some cases, due to licence restrictions but also because of preferences and what
43
they know how to catch), others switch between different target stocks, changing their
gear accordingly (for example, using different mesh sizes or switching from trawling to
dredging). Among the Inshore fleet, it was not unusual to find fishermen who would be
using a combination of nets, hooks and lines and pots over the course of the year.
Although fishermen spend a proportion of their time on land, they were quick to point
out that this should not be seen as ‘time off’. The main exception to this was those
spending a number of days at sea. For example, some of the crew working on Sector
vessels out of Brixham worked a two week ‘shift’ at sea, followed by a week’s leave.
However, for the majority of fishermen we spoke to the time they were not at sea was
used to maintain their vessels and their gear and, since they were not earning any
money all the time they were doing this, they considered it to be ‘unpaid work’.
While the above description provides a summary of the factors which determines the
nature of their work, it fails to give any real sense of the detail of their daily lives. In
particular, it does not convey any sense of how long or how hard they work. In order to
give a fuller picture of the nature of their work, we have provided a number of case
studies in the form of a DVD (see 2.6. for more details).
3.8 Safety at Sea

This was a topic that was rarely raised spontaneously by the fishermen themselves
although, when prompted, they acknowledged that fishing is an intrinsically dangerous
activity and a number of them had witnessed serious (and, at times, gruesome)
incidents or had been injured themselves.
“It’s an extremely dangerous job; I don’t think you can ever take that away.”
“Nineteen years ago, we were pair trawling at the time. The end came when we
lost one of the boats, it went down, one of the boats sunk and we had two people
lost their lives. I was skippering the other boat.” (Sector; mix of mobile &
passive; skippers; Bridlington)
“We were shooting a fleet of pots and I got my leg wrapped up in one of the
towels [ropes], because the pots are joined up, I got a turn of a rope on my leg
and it put my leg over the side and I had the full weight of the boat on and I broke
my femur, shattered my femur and tibia, you put the boat into stern gear to try
and take the momentum away but of course it’s going so you can’t… [ ] Oh, I
didn’t feel a thing at the time, you don’t though, because everything else kicks in,
doesn’t it? But I was airlifted to hospital and had an operation. They said I was
lucky not to lose my leg.” (Sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington)
44
While accepting that fishing was intrinsically dangerous, they also attributed some of the
accidents and incidents to the increasing pressures of the job which they felt has
resulted in most fishermen having to work longer hours and to embrace riskier
behaviour, for example, going to sea with fewer crew, in bad weather conditions and
without sufficient sleep.
“Could lose a man, yeah, we’re actually forced in hard times to work this in worse
weather because with the shortage of days at sea, you’re working in much worse
weather than what you would do three years ago.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N
Shields)
“I wouldn’t think it’s got any safer because more people are going out there
single handed.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
“Well it’s probably a financial thing, isn’t it? People are owing more money to the
banks, people are pushing more weather, working more gear so accidents
happen.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
Quotas and other restrictions were often seen to contribute to fishermen adopting riskier
behaviour.
“It can be so much more dangerous now. Skippers are being forced to go to sea
in rougher weather than they would have before, when there weren’t all the
quotas.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“That comes down to Defra again because they are pushing you to sea when
you shouldn’t be out there.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
For example, some cocklers explained that they were restricted in terms of the number
of days they can put to sea; moreover, this is determined on a week by week basis and
if the weather prevents them from going to sea one week, they ‘lose’ their allocation as
the days cannot be carried over. Moreover, they have a daily quota in terms of the
volume of cockles they are allowed to land. This means that if they have put to sea only
for the weather to turn rough, if they return to port without a full load, they will have ‘lost’
much of that day’s quota. Even if they return empty, it will still count towards one of their
days at sea. This means they will try and stay at sea, possibly seeking shelter, and try
to ride out the bad weather, in the hope that they will be able to return to the fishery and
still land a reasonable catch later in the day.
There was some evidence that safety had become more of a priority. For example,
fishermen are now required to have certain certificates before they can go to sea and
we were told that there are more checks by insurance companies and the Marine
Coastguard, as well as better maintenance schedules and safer equipment. We were
told by one group of crew that some skippers are now requiring them to sign disclaimers
45
such that if they have an accident and it can be shown that they have not followed
certain procedures, they will not be able to make a claim on the skipper’s insurance.
This was a concern for the crew as they were worried that if they had an accident they
might not be covered.
“Everyone’s been on safety awareness courses.” (Non-sector; mix of passive;

skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
“We all have our MCA Certificate, which is a code of practice from the
coastguard, which certifies that this boat’s safe. We do everything we can to
make it as safe as possible – it’s just, it’s a dangerous job.” (Inshore; trawls &
pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“And we’ve had to sign a disclaimer, and he’s [the skipper] provided us with life
jackets, we’ve had to sign a log book so if any of us aboard that boat are injured
either going, coming ashore to land or coming aboard the boat and we’re not
wearing the gear provided we will not be able to make a claim. So that means if
you fall down a hatch and you haven’t got your life jacket and your hat on, you
can’t claim anything.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
The moderator pointed out that death rates within the industry have remained static
over the last ten years while in just about every other sector death rates had fallen.
Fishermen were invited to comment on this state of affairs. Their attitudes varied. In a
number of cases they attempted to deflect the issue by suggesting it did not apply to
them. A common response from members of the Inshore fleet was to suggest that it
was mainly fishermen working on trawlers who were exposed to dangerous conditions.
Indeed, those working on trawlers of all sizes acknowledged this but accepted it as part
of their job.
“A wire could snap, a wire could snap and if it snaps and you’re walking past,
you’re gone.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“There’s such high tension on the wires when you’re pulling the haul. When I first
went to sea another lad got cut nearly clean in half. The wire snapped and it cut
him right through to his back muscles and spine – he’s never worked again…
…Personally, we’ve got them big hydraulic winches too, if you’re hands in that
and you’re screaming, it doesn’t stop, it just keeps going and it eats your hand.”
(Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
In a similar vein, some fishermen argued that it was mainly the younger, less
experienced fishermen who were most at risk or that fishing is no riskier than some
other jobs.
“When you’re a young man, you’re not frightened; when you get older and older,
you’re more cautious…
…When you were younger, you didn’t know what you were doing.” (Inshore; mix
of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
46
“It doesn’t feel dangerous because we’ve done it all our lives, we wouldn’t say it
was a dangerous job, it’s like going down a mine.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N
Shields)
Some claimed that the design of fishing vessels and the use of new technology has
meant the situation has greatly improved in recent years. While this may be true for
those fishermen fortunate enough to be operating the latest gear on the most up to date
boats, these improvements have not had any impact on mortality levels.
“The boats are safer now than what they were maybe 20 years ago, there’s a lot
more safety equipment on.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
Another response was to deny there is a problem while others adopted a
philosophical acceptance of their situation, arguing there is only so much you can do
to mitigate the risks.
“The most dangerous thing we do is drive along a road! …

…I’d sooner be in my boat than a car.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of
“You know, when you’re at sea, you don’t really think about it, you’re not going to
say, ‘Oh I’m going to hurt myself here, I could fall in the water now’ like. You say
you’re coming back in and you never think what if that happens?’ and you just
sort of do it, if you know what I mean?” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“And there’s not much you can change about fishing to make it safer is there
really?...
…No…
…You’re out in an open boat; I know you’re on your own…
…You’ve got to take that on the chin, you know that when you’re doing it…
…You think it’s a safe platform until it happens.” (Inshore; mix of mobile;
skippers; Plymouth)
In a few cases, there was what could only be described as a ‘macho’ response, the
dangerous nature of their work was seen as some sort of ‘badge of courage’.
“I think we’ve all had incidents and major events but, you know, that is just part of
the job, that’s just a normal walk in the park for us boys…
…Okay but that is what I want to try and understand because I don’t have
that…
…I mean I’ve lost loads of friends that have died round and about. That’s not a
major incident because I don’t consider it as an incident, I just consider that as,
that’s why you get paid, that’s the risk you take and I’m quite happy, that’s fine. It
doesn’t bother me and you know one day my day will be up and I won’t care.”
(Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
47
Indeed, one or two fishermen were keen to point out that they willingly flouted even the
most basic safety principles, for example, by refusing to wear a life jacket. Once again,
there was evidence that they resented being told how to go about their work.
“I mean I’ve totally refused to wear a life jacket, I’ve never wore one and I hate
wearing one. Regardless of whether they bring in rules, I still won’t wear a life
jacket…
…But you carry one?...
…I carry one but they’re trying to bring in rules that we have to wear them, but I
will totally refuse.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
3.9 Financial Aspects of Fishing
It is difficult to assess just how much of a living the individual fishermen were making
partly due to a reluctance on their part to discuss this openly in front of their peers but
also to some suspicion about how this information might be used. Having said this,
there was no doubt in respondents’ minds that the financial rewards are not what they
once were. For example, one trawler man observed that they were getting £700 – £800
per catch some thirty years ago whereas now the same catch might be worth just £500
– £600. In real terms, this represents a significant decrease. There was considerable
resentment and frustration that they could, according to them, be earning a great deal
more if it was not for the quotas and other restrictions imposed upon them.
“On a spectrum of people my age ashore, I think that I do earn a reasonably

good living, but I know I could earn more if I was allowed to. I know I could make
a good living if I was allowed to, for my age.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Mevagissey)
“It was a big mistake when I went back to fishing because the fishing industry’s
just crap now, totally…
…Why is it crap?...
…Just all the legislation, there’s loads, you're not allowed to catch fish, you have
to dump it over the side and it’s a struggle to get a living now. Government’s
saying there’s no fish but everywhere you look there are loads…
…So they’re saying there isn't any ...
…Aye, they’re saying there’s no cod in the sea, during the prawn season,
everywhere you put your net you get two or three boxes of cod everywhere,
couldn't get away from it, just got to hoik it back over the side, you know, that's
what they tell you to do, they say there’s none and there’s loads there.” (Sector;
trawls; skippers; N Shields)
From the comments that were shared with us, a mixed picture emerged. While no one
was prepared to admit they made a really good living, a number described themselves
as making ‘a reasonable living’ while others were apparently struggling.
48
“I’m middle of the road sort of thing, I’m not top but I’m not bottom…
…It’s a real difficult one that. I’m quite comfortable but I’m not wealthy. But last
year I thought it was a struggle.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“It’s three weeks since I got paid now, but we’ve had 10 days out because of the
winds – I got £120 three weeks ago, you know. Would you be happy with that?”
“We’re living on a shoestring.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“For the last five months I would say struggling a lot…
…The last three years was very good and now your next three years are going to
be very bad…
…The fishing feels like at the minute death by a thousand cuts…
…For the last five months no-one’s really done a lot. We was cockle dredging
the other day with a little bit of shrimping but nothing happening. We ain’t earned
a lot of money at all. If the job carries on like this for the next year, they’ll be a
hell of a lot of people off the job. I can’t stand it.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of
“Me, I'm just going downhill all the time, getting deeper and deeper in debt. I'm
not going to last must longer in the fishing industry, to be honest with you, it’s got
that bad now, the price has got that low.” (Inshore/Non-sector; mix of mobile &
passive; skippers; Portsmouth)
The fact that many fishermen in our sample had changed boats on a number of
occasions implies a certain level of financial strength.
“Well, P has got a vast amount of money invested and S is having a new boat
built and you’re having a new boat built and M has just had one built, hasn’t he?
There is a lot of money being spent.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh
on sea)
Fishermen’s views on the financial rewards also need putting into context; many of them
claimed that they were not in fishing primarily to ‘make money’ but because it was a way
of life which they really enjoyed. They did not expect to end up wealthy but what they
did expect was to be able to earn a reasonable living.
“You don’t do it for the money aspect of it, you have some good times and you
have a good cheque now and again but you don’t really do it for the money. You
do it because it’s a way of life and it’s what you enjoy doing.” (Inshore; nets;
skippers; Poole)
“I think if you are a fisherman you don’t actually, alright we all need money, but
it’s a way of life, I wouldn’t say you do it for the money, it’s a way of life…
…You’ve got to have a passion for the job.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Mevagissey)
Each fisherman’s personal circumstances varied. For example, some of the older
fishermen had paid off their mortgage and any outstanding bank loans during the period
when they were making a very good living and their children had grown up and left
49
home. In contrast, some had never been able to afford to buy their own homes and had
always lived in rented accommodation. A few spoke about going abroad on holiday
while others said they had not had a holiday of any sort for years. While some of them
may have been able to put any spare money into savings and pension schemes, some
of them commented that they had no pension or savings to fall back on when they
retired, other than the basic State pension.
“Perhaps I’ll stick my head on the block and say I own my house, I haven’t got a
mortgage. I told you that I felt I earn a living but after you’ve paid all the bills and
the legitimate bills, I don’t pay very much tax, so that would tell me what the end
result is, it’s not a lot…
…And you came to fishing fairly late on so presumably the house and…
…I’ve always fished, exactly and I was in the building trade so therefore I
managed to get myself a house and get it paid off.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Mevagissey)
“None of us are young people…
…We’re all about 50 years old…
…The majority of us are all sorted out in our lives - we don’t need huge pay
packets each week to survive. Most of us own our own houses, children are off
our hands.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
“Yeah when it comes to buying a house and that, we’re buggered. We’ll never
get there.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
“We’re married with wives and children and everyone’s suffered. The last couple
of years no holidays, no pension contributions, everything has suffered, business
has gone right down the pan.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
We detected some sign that the ease with which fishermen were making a living varied
according to the stocks they were targeting. For example, some of those targeting
shellfish, such as cockles and whelks, seemed to be finding it easier to make a living.
Having said this, they may also have additional overheads. Some cocklers pointed out
that they had to process their catch on land before they could sell it on and this meant
they needed premises and equipment in which to do this. These had to meet food
hygiene standards and they had to employ staff who were trained to the appropriate
standards. Given that their season only runs for a certain number of months, they
cannot guarantee permanent employment to these staff and this can create problems in
recruiting and retaining good people.
There was also a feeling among some of the crew working on larger vessels that even
under today’s conditions, they were able to earn more as fishermen than they could
hope to earn doing anything else.
50
“You can make a good living compared to a land based job, say.” (Non-sector;
“We make a reasonable living but I tell you what, we graft our arses off and we
do a lot of hours, absolutely.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
“I earn too much money basically, more than I would earn in another job…
…Okay and how about the rest of you?...
…The same…
…Same…
…The average job - the average wage is, what, £250.00 take home and I mean
in fishing, normally if the fishing is good and the prices are right, you are
guaranteed to take home more than that.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
The rewards also need to be set in the context of the costs. Some of them had large
outstanding borrowings which they had taken out to finance the purchase of new/newer
vessels and more up to date and/or different gear; some were operating boats and/or
gear that was much older and/or second hand. Their boats and gear needed to be kept
in a good state of repair. Many of them could not afford to pay other people to carry out
this work and all the time they were working on their boats, they were not at sea, so
they considered this to be ‘unpaid’ work.
“There’s a lot of unpaid work that goes behind the scenes that people don’t
realise and whether it be trawling or whatever - where they’re making up their
nets on the quays where they’ve just caught big boulders - or in our case, we get
stung by a big gale, we could get a good percentage of the gear all roughed up
which has to be all stripped down. It’s all unpaid work which we have to do
because we know how to do it because if we ask someone else to do it for us -
for example a pot now made up by a professional would cost £55. So if these
pots get damaged or whatever, it’s unpaid work but yet we’re saving more
money by doing it ourselves than having to pay other people to make our gear
up. ” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham)
The cost of fuel was a major factor for those operating larger vessels but was not
usually a significant expense for many of the Inshore fleet. This situation was different
for much of 2008 when fuel prices reached an all time high; some of the smaller vessels
were only going to sea on days when they were assured of good weather and they
might have only taken on board enough diesel for one day’s fishing. They also had to
pay a variety of other costs, such as lighthouse duties (as a contribution to the upkeep
of lighthouses).
“Some of the bigger boats have to weigh it up, whether it’s worth going to spend
the diesel against how much you’re going to make, especially if you’ve got to
chuck 90% over the side and just keep a few fish.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Hastings)
51
“Light duties for the lighthouses and buoys and things like that, all the over 10
[metre] boats have to pay this light duties business.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile;
skippers; Leigh on sea)
Irrespective of their overall level of earnings, the very nature of fishing means that they
feel under constant financial pressure:
• a number of them had outstanding bank loans and overdrafts and they
needed to keep earning enough to keep up with repayments; more than one
fisherman in our sample had been forced to give up a boat because they could
not meet the terms of a loan
“You don’t have any fall back money whereas maintenance wise, if anything
needed replacing you’d do it now, you tend to wait a bit longer, [make the] gear
do a bit longer. To change the vehicle this year, we borrowed money which we
never used to do, we’d have enough money in the bank. Basically what we do is
work through the summer, chuck the money up and we write off generally
February, quite often March, just ticking over. If you earn anything then for us it
was always a bonus. But now there is no money left, we’re treating it hand to
mouth and now we’re back at the bank, if an engine went then we’d have to get a
loan, which is something we never had before.” (Inshore/Non-sector; mix of
mobile & passive; skippers; Portsmouth)
“What does push more boats to go to sea more often is what the actual skipper
or the owner has got in the bank. If he’s got a big loan in the bank he cannot
afford to leave that boat against the quay, he’s got to go and look, no matter
what and that’s it. A boat that’s already paid for, fair enough if you are happy not
to earn nothing the owner will turn round and say, ‘well, I bought and pay for her
I’ve got nothing to lose’.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
• earnings are completely unpredictable and it is often the case of ‘feast or
famine’. Seasonal factors and prolonged spells of bad weather restrict how
much they earn and even in good weather, there is no guarantee they will have a
successful trip. The costs of a fishing trip are usually shared out among the
skipper and any crew; this includes fuel, food, bait and so on. Each fisherman’s
share of the expenses is deducted from the value of the catch and after a poor
trip the crew may not have earned enough to cover their share of the costs
“You haven’t got a set wage every week, for two weeks, three weeks you may
have nothing then and you may go out for a day and all of a sudden you think
you’re rich again.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“Well, you get a share of the gross then, so if you go out and you have bought
fuel, grub, ice which has come to £5000 for instance and you gross £3500, the
next trip you’ve got £1500 to make before you start.” (Sector; mix of passive;
crew; Newlyn)
52
• those whose fishing is limited to certain seasons have to earn enough in that
window of opportunity to tie them over the periods when they are not earning
anything
“It’s the days when you don’t go to sea, that’s where you lose your money. If you
could go to sea all the time, it wouldn’t be a problem. It’s just we have three
weeks off at Christmas, January I think, so that’s three weeks money you’ve lost,
you’ve got to catch up, haven’t you? You earn good money but then you just
watch it go out because you ain’t earning.” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers
& crew; Portsmouth)
• they have almost no control over the prices that they are paid for their catch
and these can fluctuate widely, sometimes on a daily basis. Fishermen resent
the fact that they are being dictated to by buyers and that ‘middlemen’ and the
supermarkets are making lots of money ‘at their expense’. They also feel they
are being undermined by imports of cheap fish. In some cases, we were told that
the cost of renting quota was higher than the price they were being quoted for
the stocks in question. Fishermen targeting ‘luxury’ species such as crab and
lobster feel they are being especially hit by the recession as consumers opt for
cheaper fish. The larger vessels may have some choice over which ports they go
into and can look to see what prices are being paid in different ports before
deciding where to land their catch but smaller vessels generally do not have this
option.
“Well you don’t know what you’re going to make for a start because the buyers
are a bunch of *******. One day you could have an absolute fortune for fish, the
next day you could be absolutely robbed blind so basically, you pick your dock.
At the end of the week, you never know really what you’re going to have.”
(Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
“In the supermarket it was £1 for four single prawns, the small prawns, now here
we’re getting £1 for about a stone of prawns.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N
Shields)
“We catch mostly Dover sole and people are not going to buy Dover sole
because they are dear in the shops.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
“The price of scallops has collapsed, we’re getting about £21 a bag now for 10
dozen bags and to cover the costs you’ve got to catch at least 150 bags a week,
I think that’s about £3,000. By the time you take at least £1,000-1,500 fuel out of
that and then obviously crew costs, gear costs, the bellies now are about £150
then you’ve got £15-20 each for each tooth bar and stuff like that, it all adds up.”
(Inshore/Non-sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Portsmouth)
“I phoned a buyer to find out the price of hook and line mackerel and he said ‘I’m
not interested, we’re having it in from Spain cheaper than we can buy if off of
you’.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
53
• the decline in the industry means that many of them fear they will not be able to
realise the value of their investment when they reach retirement age
“I’m too far into it, too much money wrapped up in it; you can’t sell a boat for
toffee.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
We were told on numerous occasions that because of these various pressures, the only
way they could be sure of making a living was to work much harder (e.g. doing the
same work with fewer crew) for much longer hours. This was felt to be one of the main
causes of accidents at sea (see 3.8.)
“We just work single handed, on our own…

…Knock the crew off…
…We’ve got one less crew than I always used to have. I used to have three on
there but I can’t afford it.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
A number of fishermen also spoke about the fact they found themselves in something of
a dilemma. In order to try and maximise their earnings potential, they needed to be able
to diversify but the cost of new gear can be prohibitive particularly if new restrictions are
then introduced which mean they cannot realise the potential. A number of them spoke
about having expensive gear sitting on the quayside which they could not use because
of quotas and other restrictions.
Some of the skippers complained about the difficulty of holding on to good crew
because of the long hours, hard work and lack of guaranteed earnings.
“It’s a problem now just hanging onto crew members and mine’s gone, mine’s
going. I’ve just lost my lad now who’s been with me, he’s just told me today, he’s
got a job offer away from fishing that gives him a regular wage into the future.”
Some of the fishermen in our sample reported that they were only able to keep their
heads above water by having other forms of income to supplement their earnings from
fishing. In nearly all cases, this was through necessity rather than choice. Examples
included carrying out odd jobs or applying a trade, such as plumbing or carpentry,
during periods when they are not at sea, investing in an alternative business (one
fisherman and his wife ran a B&B and another couple owned and ran a rest home);
several of them had wives and partners who were working either on a full or part-time
basis; some were fishing for part of the year and then using their boats in other ways,
such as running angling trips or working for North Sea oil or aggregate dredging
companies. We also noted an informal system of bartering whereby one fisherman with
54
one set of skills would help out another fisherman with a different skill set who would
then be expected to reciprocate.
“You’ve got your wife earning money for you…

…I would never have been able to stay fishing if my wife hadn’t been working…
…That goes for me.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
“We need the oil companies to keep us afloat…
…It’s about half and half. But that last half what’s coming from the oil company
makes it viable to have the boat, otherwise it wouldn’t be viable to have it.”
(Sector; seine; skippers; Grimsby)
“I’ve been working for the last two or three weeks plastering a ceiling, combing,
laying a floor, fitting a kitchen up, all for nothing…
…So this is your own place you’re doing up?...
…No, this is for a friend of mine. He does a bit of electronics on the boat for me
so I do work for him for nothing.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
3.10 Why They Stay in the Industry
We explored with the fishermen why they had chosen to stay in fishing given the
acknowledged decline of the industry and the financial pressures they found themselves
under. The single biggest barrier to change was a complete lack of desire to do
anything else; they simply were not willing to consider giving up the lifestyle they all
loved so much. This was despite the fact that some of them had come under pressure
from their partners to switch to a job that offered a more regular, predictable income.
For many of them, fishing is the only way of life they know, it is part of their identity and
it defines who they are (see sections 3.2 and 3.6.1.)
“Because it’s our way of life…

…You have never known anything different…
…It’s our vocation.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
“My wife is forever putting things in front of me about retraining at college and
things and I’m like what…
…She would rather you gave up fishing?...
…She is quite keen on the quiet I think…
…I think all wives are like that.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
“My Mrs has turned round to me many a time and said, ‘for god’s sake get rid of
it all’…
…So when your Mrs said that to you M, what was your response?...
…I couldn’t do 9 to 5 - within a couple of months I’d pack up, end of.” (Inshore;
hooks; skippers; St Ives)
55
This is not to say that some have not tried alternative ways of earning a living, only to
find they could not hold down a more regular job and had quickly returned to what they
really wanted to be doing.
“I did try it for a little while on some boats in the River Humber but you had to get
up at 7 o’clock in the morning, go to work, come home again, and see the
woman everyday and that’s not me” (Sector; seine; skippers; Grimsby)
Some of the older fishermen felt they were now too old to change their ways. Many of
them, irrespective of their age, felt their lack of academic qualifications and/or
transferable skills would be a major barrier and given how they felt about education they
did not fancy the idea of going back to college or being retrained. Moreover, many of
them came from areas with high levels of local unemployment and limited forms of
alternative employment.
“What else can we do? Go and stack shelves? You can’t get in for immigrants.”
(Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“Well, where do you go, if they stop us fishing, where does anyone go and get a
job now? Where’s your crewman who has fished all his life, for example, go and
find a job? There’s no jobs, the north east of England has got highest
percentage of unemployment in the whole country, where else do we go?...
…No local jobs. I’ve got more friends on the dole at the moment than what I
have working…
…You’ve been 20 - 25 years fishing, whether you’ve served your time as a
bricklayer, a joiner or whatever, you don’t go back into industry like that, because
nobody has you. You end up pushing trolleys in Asda or stacking shelves.”
Despite this, a few were considering leaving especially if they had other skills or trades
they felt they could fall back on, including some who are the end of a long line of
fishermen, and who would only do so with a heavy heart. One young man in the North
East has a baby son and despite being extremely proud of the fact that fishing goes
back several generations, feels that he has to leave the industry in order to secure his
son’s long term future. These were the exceptions however.
“I want to work for the RNLI. If a job came up, I’d leave fishing because of the
simple fact I don’t want to be borrowing £100 grand to go fishing. If I can go and
work in the RNLI for £28, £30 grand, why do I want all that crap?” (Non-sector;
mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
“I’m already qualified in Sage accountants, but I don’t want to go back into
accountancy, I want to go onto the payroll, so I’ve actually started a home-based
course now for Sage payroll, and once I do that, then I shall be applying (for
jobs).” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
56
3.11 What the Future Holds
As a way of exploring their views on the future of fishing, we invited respondents to
imagine they had a son or grandson who was approaching school leaving age and was
thinking about becoming a fisherman. We asked them what advice they would offer. In
fact, a number of them had been in this situation and were able to answer based on
what they actually said, as opposed to what they might have said. Almost without
exception, none of our fishermen would encourage a son or grandson to follow in their
footsteps even if, as in some cases, this means breaking a family tradition going back
several generations.
“I’ve had to tell my own son, after I put him through skipper school and
everything and he loves fishing, [ ] ‘I want to fish dad’, but I said ‘kid, there’s not a
living to be made now. You’ve got two young kids, three and you just can’t do it’
and he got mad because I kicked him out, physically kicked him off the fishing
boat.” (Sector; seine; skippers; Grimsby)
“My boy left school last year and he was half interested in coming and I wouldn’t
let him anyway…
…My boy is 32, 33. He was going to come straight into it, and at that time when
he left school, I could see where it was going and I told him ‘no, don’t’…
…Get a job in a factory!” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
The main reason for offering this advice was because the future of the industry looks
very bleak and this is laid firmly at the door of Defra, the UK Government and the EU.
The fishermen felt that quotas and restrictions are preventing fishermen from making a
decent living despite the fact that, according to them, there are ‘plenty of fish to be
caught’ (their views on quotas and stock levels are explored in greater detail in section
Error: Reference source not found).
“Financially uncertain times are upon us and until the Government sorts out the
absolute shambles of what has happened to the Under 10 metres sector, I don’t
think we have a future.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“When I first started, you were king for the weekend. We used to go out to sea
for 21 days and when we came in you were king, you were loaded – you never
thought you’d be poor again. It’s the quotas now – it’s the death of us.” (Inshore;
Fishermen also bemoaned the fact that, in contrast to when they first started fishing,
today there are significant entry barriers to anyone thinking of becoming a fisherman.
This includes the costs involved in buying a boat, licence and gear and the fact that
everyone must pass a number of exams and have certificates before they can go to
sea. You have to be at least 16 or possibly 18 before you can take some of these
57
exams11 and this means that ‘youngsters’ are no longer able to ‘learn at their father’s
knee’ in the way that many of them had done.
“Well, I paid £195,000 for my boat in ‘96 and I also had £70,000 worth of quota
on it. We also have £100,000 worth of gear in the water as well, in pots.” (Sector;
mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington)
“You have to have lots of money behind you to start off with. Don’t matter what
kind of fisherman you are, now unless you’ve got the money to buy a vessel and
that - before you can have a boat to earn a living, but now, to buy a licence and
acquire a boat is the same as buying a luxury bungalow.” (Inshore; mix of
mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“The other difference is my boy he started when he was five and he used to
come to sea with me when he was five and he was allowed to and he grew into it
and he went fishing. He’s out of it now. But you can’t do that no more, I can’t
take anyone, I couldn’t take you unless you’ve got courses. You can go if you
take the safety awareness course and then you’re allowed to go for so many
weeks, but then the skipper normally has then got to pay for him to take the other
three courses which are anything from £150 each, something like that. And then
he could be with you for two or three weeks [before] going onto a bigger boat
and you’ve lost the courses. Skippers aren’t prepared to pay that and the person
whose starting ain’t got the money to pay for his courses, so you’re not getting
people coming into the trade anyway. And you ain’t going to get your kids
coming in either because they would have to start at 18.” (Inshore; mix of mobile;
skippers; Plymouth)
These restrictions, coupled with the long hours of hard physical labour with no
guaranteed wage at the end of it, mean that there is no longer a fertile recruiting ground
for new, younger fishermen. A number of the skippers spoke about the difficulty of
recruiting and retaining new crew.
“It’s guaranteeing them something at the end of the week. If you say to a 16 or
17 year old school leaver, [become] an apprentice and do five or six days at sea
and in them five or six days you’ve only earned enough to pay the expenses and
say to that lad, ‘I’m really sorry, there’s nothing for you at the end of the week,
the same as what I’m getting’, nothing from working five days.” (Sector; trawls;
“Nobody is coming into the industry; you’ve got no kids coming in now. Unless
you go out and physically drag them off the street…
…You’ve got nobody coming in, there is no new blood, nobody is really
interested anymore because of the money aspect of it…
…If you say to a 16 year old [ ] we’re going to do five days at sea but you might
be lucky to earn £25 a day, who is going to want to do that then? They’d sooner
go up the road and go and work on a building site.” (Inshore/Non-sector; mix of
mobile & passive; skippers; Portsmouth)
A small number of fishermen took a less pessimistic view and, although they would
encourage their son to get a trade and/or qualifications first in order to have something
11
Different fishermen reported different age requirements.
58
to fall back on, nevertheless they would not try to discourage their sons from trying their
hand at fishing. Although it is difficult to say for sure, our impression was that this
somewhat more positive group of skippers were the ones who were more business
oriented and were more able to make a reasonable living from fishing. The first quote
below is from an owner skipper whose son crews for him.
“Well, contrary to what these say, I earn a living out of fishing. It is harder and
Defra is the big stumbling block because that’s a massive industry now and I
think Defra have lost the plot. There’s more Defra men than there are fishermen
now, so that’s the balance and it’s just stupid, what’s going on.” (Sector; trawls;
“My boy actually wants to do it. I told him he can but I’d like him to get a trade
and all for when things are sort of bad or - it’s something to fall back on. We don't
know what’s going to happen in the future.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers;
Kings Lynn)
“My son has been coming to sea since he was about four or five and he’s still
doing it. [ ] He used to come and I’ve always encouraged him. I’ve had a bloody
good living out of fishing, good time so if it doesn’t work out, he can try
something else. ” (Inshore/Non-sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers;
Portsmouth)
Despite this largely gloomy view about the future of their industry, we did have a handful
of young men in our sample: ten were aged between 16 and 24 and a further 13 were
aged under 36. Some of these, including some of the youngest, were already skippering
their own under 10 metre boats, and in many respects, came across as being very
much like the older generation of fishermen. Some were crew members working on
larger vessels and their attitudes were more mixed. For example, one of them described
fishing as ‘just a job’ and, if it does not work out, he feels there are lots of other semi-
skilled jobs he could be doing.
“I don’t really bother myself about it, to be quite honest with you, I just come
down and do my job really. If my fishing job doesn’t last, I can do loads of stuff,
joinery, plastering – fishing is just a job for me now, isn’t it?” (Inshore; trawls;
crew; N Shields)
In contrast, another young crew member came from a long line of fishermen; he has a
baby son and feels he is going to have to leave the industry in order to secure his young
family’s long term future. He said he would do so with a very heavy heart.
“Within two years I’ll be on land. If someone comes up and says there’s a solid
job on land, I’m going to have to take it. I’ve got a seven month old child and I’ve
got to look out for his best interests. He’s not going anywhere near the fishing.
As much as it will hurt, generations of my family have worked on the sea from
the north of Scotland down to Newcastle down to Grimsby – I’m the last one. I
59
feel disappointed about it, there’s something about the sea, once you’ve got salt
in your blood.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
So, while we found evidence that some young men were still becoming fishermen, the
numbers appear to be relatively small and a proportion of them may decide to leave
over the coming months.
60
4 Community Status
4.1 Introduction
We explored with the fishermen their views on how they are perceived by their local
community and by the wider public, and we asked them what they felt the future held for
their local community.
4.2 Status Within their Local Community

Fishermen’s views on how they are perceived locally varied depending on whether, in
their eyes, there is a recognised fishing community. In the south west, for example, we
were told that the local fishing communities are still well established. Indeed, in some of
the smaller harbours, such as Mevagissey, the fishing community was seen as
representing the core of the village. In contrast, fishermen based in some of the North
Sea ports, such as North Shields, Hartlepool and Grimsby, felt that the fishing
community had almost disappeared and that most local people would not even be
aware that there were locally based fishermen. It seemed to us that the fishing ports in
question often seemed to be physically isolated from the main town, and were more
industrial and less visually attractive.
“I don’t think a lot of them are aware of fishermen at all, because it’s amazing the
people I’ve talked to recently in the last two years, who live in this town, don’t
even know about the harbour or where it is or what happens down here.”
(Sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington)
One fisherman from North Shields described how wives used to be involved in the
fishing industry and contrasted this with his own wife’s lack of appreciation of what he
does.
“Years ago, even before my time, it was my grandfather and that yeah, that’s
when the women used to come down and they used to carry the men off the
boats, on their backs, so the men’s leather boots didn’t get wet, that was the
commitment for the wives then. And as I say, I’ve been fishing for like many,
many years, 39 years yeah. My wife doesn’t know what the fishing’s about, she
hasn’t got a clue, she doesn’t know when I go out there, she doesn’t know the
dangers.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
Where there was a recognised fishing community the fishermen typically made a
distinction between ‘locals’ – that is, people who were born and bred in the community –
and ‘incomers’. We were told that the chances are most ‘locals’ will have family and/or
friends who are fishermen or who have other connections with the sea. As such, they
61
would have a good understanding of the fishermen’s lot and would probably hold
fishermen in high regard and respect them for what they do.
“In the fishing community, I think reasonably high esteem yeah. I think you think
he’s doing alright, he’s got there through hard graft.” (Sector; mix of mobile &
“You’d be hard pushed to find a local that hasn’t got someone in the family with
something to do with the harbour as well…
…A true local…
…And the fishing industry is the life blood of the town really and people who are
not in the industry realise that, you know…
…So do you think they’d have a positive view?...
…Yes, I would have thought so…
…That they respect what you do?...
…Yes, I think 90 percent of the village has got to have, haven’t they, a positive
[image].” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
Although ‘incomers’ might have been attracted to the town in the first place because of
its harbour and boats, our fishermen felt they had little knowledge of the fishing industry
or their lifestyle, that they would often complain about the noise (especially early in the
morning) and the smells, and were perceived as having little respect for the local
fishermen. So, while they may have been attracted to the town by the romantic image of
a living fishing village, they were often put off by the reality.
“They wouldn’t know because they’re all outsiders…

…Out here, they wouldn’t have a very good opinion of us. The Brixham people
[would have a good opinion] but there are a lot of prats that come down here to
live and they think we’re the enemy, they think that we’re wiping it out…
…You are because their nice holiday homes - you’re making a noise at 2 o’ clock
in the morning.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham)
“I expect the only person you would find in there is someone who has got to
come down with a second home and they really hate us. They do not want us at
all…
…Why do they hate you?...
…Because the sight of the boats going in and out and they are a bit noisy…
…They don’t like us, making a noise at two or three o’clock in the morning when
we are landing fish, but they bought the house next to the market!” (Sector; mix
of passive; crew; Newlyn)
Some of the fishermen felt they had something of a reputation as ‘hardened drinkers’
although others said this has changed in recent years as their level of earnings has
decreased.
62
“That’s where they’d say there’s some good’uns and some bad’uns. The wider
public only ever seem to see the bad comments about certain individuals
because you get young lads who are possibly earning plenty of money, go on the
drink, and then they get their names in the paper and then it’s bad press to all
fishermen.” (Sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Bridlington)
“It’s dying, it’s dying big time fast. You just need to look at the pubs on the fish
quay. The Dolphin’s the only one left, you used to go along here and this used to
be full of them. But now it’s all the same, it’s all restaurants they’ve turned
themselves into and fishermen aren’t coming off the boats and spending their
money in the pubs.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
At a number of locations we noted particular tensions relating to the development of
marinas. We were told that such developments had resulted in ‘outsiders’ buying up
expensive, harbour-side apartments which were often empty for much of the year, that
yacht owners resent having to share the harbour with the fishermen while the fishermen
feel that the needs of the yacht owners seem to take priority over their needs. They felt
that such developments attracted lots of money whereas there was never any money
available to provide resources and support for the fishing industry.
“We’re taking up space with our boats where they want to have ‘yachties’ and
cabin cruisers and everything’s getting around to the leisure theme where they
can charge [for moorings]. We’ve got historical rights in a small port like this
where its fishing boats [were] here before there was ever any cargo ships
coming in this harbour and that’s what the port grew up on. So we’ve got
historical rights and the majority of us have got moorings which we don’t pay for
and we’re taking up space in the water…
…If you talked to anyone from the harbour or Trinity House, they would say ‘can’t
you get them [the fishermen] to go away?’” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers;
Harwich)
“Poole has been taken over by sun seeker yachts, who have booted the
fishermen out of everywhere so they can build sun seeker yachts…
…the boats used to be all along Poole quay, two or three deep and now they are
all bunched up in one little corner down the bottom of the high street.” (Inshore;
nets; skippers; Poole)
“That’s where the port started off as a fishing port and now you’ve got a bigger
marina instead of a harbour that’s taken over. You’ve got loads of new flats, high
rises, £200,000-£300,000 apartments, which are mainly owned by Londoners
and people from alike and they come down and they put their Princess in the
moorings and they don’t want the fishermen here. So if you ask some of them
from London they would say, they smell, very early morning noise when the
boats are starting up…
…They want the quaintness of the harbour…
…And they want the fresh fish in the restaurants…
…But for the older side of the Barbican, then you’d get a good response. They
want the fishermen here because it’s part and parcel of the port.” (Inshore; hooks
& nets; skippers; Plymouth)
63
4.3 Status Among the Wider Public
Although most of the fishermen did not know how much the public knew about their
industry or what their attitude towards fishermen would be, many of them assumed that
the general public have little, if any, idea of what their lives are like and probably have
very little interest.
“Most people have no idea about fishing and I don’t think they know anything
about the job.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
A number of fishermen commented that fish seems to have little value in the public’s
mind; that they are only interested in battered cod and chips and are not concerned
about the provenance of the fish or how it has been caught. The decline of the wet
fishmonger was seen to reflect this lack of perceived value. We were told that, despite
its importance as a fishing port, Brixham apparently has just one wet fish shop.
“A lot of people don’t even realise where fish come from. Inland, they think cod
and chips comes in batter.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
Several fishermen acknowledged that there has been greater media coverage of the
fishing industry recently with TV programmes such as Trawler Men and The Deadliest
Catch, and they felt that this may have had a positive impact on public perceptions.
“The programmes that have been on telly they’ve seen like Trawler Men and now
people are more aware of what we actually do, sort of thing, so then they’ve got
more respect for us.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“I mean, some of the TV programmes you see about fishermen are not totally
one-sided but they could do better for the fishermen, as it were. You know,
people have sympathy with us ‘cause they see the boats going out in extremely
rough weather and working in foul conditions when it’s freezing cold, and the
nets are all ripped to shreds and they’ve got to work long hours.” (Non-sector;
In contrast, some fishermen felt that any member of the public who was a supporter of
green issues would hold very negative opinions about fishermen due to what they
perceived to be biased reporting in the media and the impact of environmental pressure
groups.
“The Green Party don’t like the fishing industry, does it? So if you asked a
greenie along the road they’d say we are horrible, nasty people that kill fish.”
(Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
“If they’re green, they think we rape and pillage.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St
Ives)
64
4.4 The Future of their Community
Given the fishermen’s views about their own future prospects (see 3.11), it was not
surprising that they also had largely pessimistic views about the future of their
communities – they had all seen fleet sizes severely depleted in recent years.
Having said this, their views about what the future holds varied according to both the
size and the nature of their local port. Larger and/or more important ports still had
reasonably large fleets even if these were much reduced in size. For example, we were
told that Brixham used to have over 40 ‘beamers’12 but now there are just 18. Fishermen
from Newlyn and Brixham claimed that the local economy was still highly dependent on
fishermen both in terms of jobs and employment (e.g. in the market, marine engineers,
auctioneers, etc.), and their spending power.
“Okay, to what extent do you think Brixham, as a town, depends upon its
fishermen?...
…Quite a lot…
…Jobs are related to it I think…
…All the shops…
…Obviously the shopkeepers’ wives don’t get a new hat if we don’t go in and
spend our money. But I don’t think there are any businesses that solely rely on
us apart from like the engineers, the fishing engineers, [ ] they don’t totally rely
on us…
…Not totally but I’d say quite a lot.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
“If the fishermen don’t earn, Newlyn don’t earn and Penzance don’t earn really…
…The shops are shut…
…Half of your money is spent in Penzance and Newlyn …
…So would you say if the fishing industry was to disappear from Newlyn,
what impact would it have on the town?...
…Oh, a big impact…
…Close it down…
…A ghost town…
… [ ] I mean, I think of all your small industry, definitely all your shops in
Penzance, they would feel the knock-on effect of it.” (Sector; mix of passive;
crew; Newlyn)
In contrast, smaller ports were seen to be really struggling. For example, a couple of
fishermen based in Port Looe said that the infrastructure of the harbour was beginning
to crumble and that the local authorities lacked the money needed to carry out the
12
Beam Trawlers; apparently beam trawling was first developed by fishermen from Brixham.
65
necessary maintenance. They claimed that the port was only surviving on the income
generated from car parking fees. There was some evidence that boats that used to be
based in the smaller harbours have transferred to the larger ports and this is putting the
smaller harbours under even more pressure.
“What fishing does for the town is give it a soul. All you’ve got to do is look at
some of the old Cornish fishing villages. Port Isaac - was it two boats tied up?
It’s a cockles and mussels store, it’s lots of very expensive pubs and lots of
middle class people from London buying or letting very expensive cottages but
the fishing has gone. So there’s millions of those in Cornwall. The heart of the
town - there’s nothing left, it’s just a holiday resort.” (Inshore; mix of passive;
skippers; Brixham)
In Mevagissey, the fishermen were discussing their town sign which turned out to be a
telling metaphor. Some of the fishermen cited the sign that welcomes visitors as
evidence that fishing is still at the core of the village – this was said to proclaim that
Mevagissey is a working fishing village. However, other fishermen pointed out that the
sign in question had been taken down some time ago!
“There was a sign up the road that said ‘Mevagissey - a working fishing village’,
is that still there?...
…No….
…Not for a couple of years now.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
In North Shields we were told that the fishing community has shrunk so much that even
most locals are ignorant of its existence. This was in marked contrast to earlier times.
“A lot of people understood what the fishermen were like because the whole
community were related to somebody in the fishing community, the whole town
would have had somebody related in the fishing industry. So if you went out and
asked somebody, they’d say, ‘we know what they’re like, they’re all workers’.
They’d say, ‘they’re hard workers, we understand that they work hard and
sometimes they come home with no money at all’…
…At one time, there’d be over 100 boats out...
…Local…
…Every stall, there were stalls all over, there were all fishing stalls up there and
the whole place existed on fish.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
It was suggested that no more than 100 jobs in the area are now dependent on fishing;
one of the reasons cited for this decline was because most of the catch is now exported.
“It’s lost its power because everything goes for export that you catch, the
prawns.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
In Hartlepool, the fishermen were concerned that their fleet had got to the point whereby
it was only just sustainable and any further reductions would have a disastrous effects.
66
“The boats that are left in Hartlepool, we need that amount of boats obviously to
keep the structure of the fish quay, to pay the boats all day for the upkeep of the
quay, the services down there. If [ ] there’s less boats there and all that
infrastructure falls away, well the industry, well it would just be gone. So we need
what’s left now – the fleet’s reduced to its minimum, it needs to be kept at a
minimum of the size it is now.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
Skippers in Grimsby felt there was almost nothing left of what was once a proud fishing
community.
“They would say, ‘what fishermen? There ain’t any left’…

…They are proud of their past history in the fishing industry but they are very,
very, very sad to see it go. It killed half the town, just killed off because of the
fishing…
…Yeah, Freeman Street and all the surrounding areas, it was all fishing. Now
they are around but they’re not doing anything. Not only fishermen because they
say, for each fisherman, they employ seven people in the industry – a lot of it’s
gone, yeah.” (Sector; seine; skippers; Grimsby)
In Harwich, there was a general sense of doom which was partly driven by a perception
that the local council is more interested in helping yacht owners and is unwilling to
support the local fishermen. There is currently a dispute over the location of a fuel
station which is seen to be symptomatic of this state of affairs.
“We’ve got a fuel tank just outside here and we’re fighting to keep it…
…From the yachties’ [perspective], it’s in everybody’s way…
…If they take that tank, we’ve had it…
…It’s such a big thing to us…
…Nobody at the council would bat an eyelid; in fact, they’d try and do away with
it.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
A number of fishing ports, especially those in the south west, are highly dependent on
tourism and fishermen see themselves as a major draw.
“I think the majority of people realise if it wasn’t for the fishing fleet in Hastings
there would be no tourism…
…It’s a very big tourist attraction…
…If you talk to the tourists - ‘what brought you down here?’ The chance to go
near the boats, that is what brings them down here, the other stuff is extra…
…The thing is, it’s virtually the last place in this country now where a member of
the public can walk amongst the boats and talk to the fishermen. Most fishing
ports now have closed.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
“Muddiford, it’s like a little Cornish village, a tiny little place with a little narrow
entrance and we go salmon netting. One woman came up to us and said, ‘are
you paid as a tourist attraction?’” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
67
We were told by fishermen in Mevagissey that the presence of fishing boats in the
harbour means the town can get EU funding and this was a further reason for
supporting the industry. In other words, even if fishing by itself was not contributing very
much directly to the local economy, its importance to the tourism industry meant it was
still seen as having a key role to play. This was in marked contrast to, say, North
Shields, where fishermen felt that their industry contributed very little to the local
community.
“It wouldn’t make almost a blind bit of difference now if fishing were to disappear
from North Shields and yet North Shields was built on the fish quay.” (Inshore;
68
5 Environmental Issues
5.1 Introduction
Fishermen’s views about, and attitudes towards, environmental issues were explored in
a number of ways. They were shown a range of recent headlines which covered both
general issues, such as climate change and rises in sea level, as well as issues which
relate directly to fishing, such as the decline in fishing stocks and the impact of fishing
on the environment. They were invited to comment on the headline stories and this was
then used to explore the issues in greater depth.
We also shared with them a number of imaginary scenarios about methods of fishing
and used these to explore further the extent to which environmental concerns
influenced the way they fish.
5.2 Overview of Fishermen’s Response

The fishermen were often reluctant to fully engage in any debate on environmental
issues. At one level, they seemed disinterested. This is broadly consistent with other
research we have carried out in this area which suggests that, for many people from
socio-economic grades DE and lower income groups, environmental issues do not
necessarily figure high on their list of priorities. In this respect, the fishermen are
probably no different. A few were willing to accept that there are issues that they should
be concerned about but they feel they face a dilemma – they need to earn a living and
this is already very difficult without worrying about any environmental impact their
activities might have.
However, it was clear that their reluctance to discuss the topic reflects a much deeper
set of concerns. On seeing the headlines, many of them were immediately defensive; in
some cases, this was demonstrated by a fairly aggressive and hostile response. They
often assumed that fishermen were ‘being blamed’, not just in terms of any decline in
fish stocks (something they hotly disputed) but also for the wider environmental
problems, such as global warming. Rather than agreeing that these were important
issues that needed consideration, they either denied there was a problem or tried to
deflect the arguments away from fishing.
69
Their views on environmental issues are in marked contrast to their avowed love of
nature which is one of the things they enjoy about what they do (see 3.6.1) They feel
that they are largely portrayed as villains and, although they see themselves at odds
with the green/environmental lobby, they would see themselves as ‘custodians of the
sea’, harvesting a valuable food resource and believe that they have a far greater
knowledge and appreciation of the marine environment than anyone else.
5.3 Response to Environmental Issues

Six headlines selected from the BBC website were shown to the fishermen who were
invited to comment (see Figure 2). The most common response to these was a mixture
of hostility – are you trying to suggest fishermen are responsible for all of this?, denial –
these things are simply not true, and deflection – such as finding reasons why an issue
may be less relevant to them.
Figure 2: Headlines on Environmental Topics

Some recent headlines from the BBC
Global warming 'underestimated'

The severity of global warming over the next century will be much worse than previously
believed, a leading climate scientist has warned.
Marine rubbish 'costs millions'

Marine pollution is not just ugly - clearing it up is extremely expensive, and it can even put
lives at risk.
Fear and hope over fishing report

Global fish stocks could be almost eliminated within 50 years if current trends continue,
says a major scientific study.
Lundy marine life booms after fishing ban

The creation of a no fishing zone east of Lundy Island is being hailed as a great success.
The experiment, introduced 18 months ago, aims give marine life around England's only
marine nature reserve the chance to thrive.
Sea level rise 'under-estimated'

Current sea level rise projections could be under-estimating the impact of human-induced
climate change on the world's oceans, scientists suggest.
Albatross could be extinct in 25 years

One of the world's biggest birds - the albatross - could become extinct because of fishing.
More than a hundred thousand are getting caught in fishing nets each year and drowning.
70
They clearly felt that their industry largely received negative press coverage and that
‘good news’ stories either did not get reported or other people were given the credit.
“You never get coverage of what the fishermen are trying to do independently of
anybody else, in terms of conserving the fish stocks and trying to protect these
stupid birds that keep eating their bait, because that’s not real news, is it? …
…We put in escape hatches in all our pots voluntary so smaller lobsters can get
out. You don’t hear any of that in the news do you, that we’re doing stuff like
that?” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
They also resented the fact that people with ‘green credentials’ were having an impact
on their ability to earn a living; for example:
• seal and dolphin predation can be a major issue for some fishermen; in their
view, seal and dolphin populations are booming and need to be culled but
conservation groups always seem to ‘win the argument’
“Seals…
…We want them - not eradicated - but we want them culled…
…‘see, here we are, little doe eyed little creatures’…
…They [environmentalists] wouldn’t like it if they were digging big holes in their
bank account every month and they’re losing money over it, would they?…
…Bloody right, we don’t want to see seals wiped out [but] they’re a prime
predator in the sea.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
• environmental pressure groups and NGOs are felt to promote negative stories
about the fishing industry
“And normally it’s like Greenpeace or somebody whose got loads of money to
put it over and drum it into people while the fishermen ourselves, we can’t
answer this, we haven’t got the money to get on telly and do the same thing.
Saying all the dolphins have gone - you’re seeing them out there, and porpoises,
all the blooming time. I mean you have a few get stranded but they’re all playing
up and we see them all the time out there.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers;
Plymouth)
“The top woman in Natural England was at a conference [ ] and she as much as
said we were the killers of the ocean. Now as a leader of an environmental
group, I think it’s a bit harsh.” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew;
Portsmouth)
• TV chefs are telling the public to boycott certain products while supermarkets
criticise fishermen
“Well, my biggest worry is the other green issues. I think that they’ve managed
somehow to catch the public’s ear in all sorts of sneaky ways…
…Chefs…
71
…Yeah, chefs on television telling everyone don’t touch dredged scallops only
touch the diver caught scallops…
…And the supermarkets…
…Telling kids little fishy stories about mummy fish and daddy fish and the
fishermen that murders their parents and all that sort of shit. So, from that point
of view, I think that’s going to be a serious issue for the future.” (Inshore; mix of
“Now you’ve got the supermarkets joining in. They’re slating the fishermen
because of the endangered species list, and what fishermen catch and the way
they catch it.” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
5.3.1 Global warming, rising sea levels and marine pollution
A number of fishermen denied that climate change was an issue and that anyone who
tried to challenge the idea was immediately labelled a ‘non-believer’.
“Well they are on about global warming…

…I think the planet is 25 million years old and what happens happens and before
25 million years ago it was probably a steaming rock pool but life went on and
when I’m dead and gone and human beings are dead and gone, the planet will
be exactly the same.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
“I’ve just had my blood pressure done, now that was normal. When I read that, it
goes through the roof because so much of this is lies. If we’ve got sea levels
rising, why isn’t the whole town flooded? You get a storm as you always have,
you get high tide, it’s evidence of sea level rising, but it did that in 1946, and in
1963, these things have all happened before. Why are we seeing lots of new
marsh everywhere, no one keeps mentioning it, it’s always marsh land is
eroding, disappearing. You’ve only got to look outside the back of the sheds
here and all the new marshes going, you go up to the Rochford River, all their
marshes going. So that doesn’t point to sea level rises, that actually points to
either siltation or the actual level of the sea is dropping because it will only grow
down to certain level.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
“It’s all down to religion isn’t it and you can now be accused of being a global
warmer unbeliever like you can a holocaust unbeliever. I find it a bit odd. Bit
uncomfortable all that.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
Some questioned the importance of biodiversity especially when this relates to life
under the sea that ‘no one sees’:
“The only people who see our marine life are people with like aqua-lungs like,
you know, I’m not saying I don’t care about it but they tried it out here with the,
was it fan coral? They banned a lot of boats from a big area, but I mean who
sees this fan coral anyway? I’m not saying I want to see it gone but I’m never
going to see it unless I go out and catch it…
…Okay…
…It’s not something that we really need on the planet is it, fan coral, it’s the
same as albatrosses.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
72
Others acknowledged that they were beginning to notice the impact of climate change.
A number of them spoke about coming across new species, such as red mullet, and
assumed this was a consequence of changes in sea temperature. In some case, these
changes present fishermen with new opportunities although other negative effects had
also been noticed, such as increased weed growing on gear left in the water which then
needed cleaning.
“The different fishes you now pick up, you get more and more mullet. The cod,
haddock type stuff is moving further north to the colder waters…
…The warmer the water gets, the more the prawns are producing, it’s good for
them but not the fish.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“This global warming, we are catching more red mullet than we ever, we are
catching them all year round whereas that was unheard of years ago, wasn’t it?
…
…And from your point of view is that a positive?...
…It’s a good thing, yeah...
…We’ve caught more bass in the last few years than we’ve ever done. I mean I
started off as a kid, I used to do a lot of snorkelling and I used to study it and
there was a decline in one period and then they come back to, I would say, more
than ever.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
“The global warming over the last few years I’ve noticed, I expect everyone has,
the amount of weed growing on the ropes between the dams and in the winter in
the coldest times it never used to be so abundant but now, if you don’t check
your gear within a month or so, you’re already see your downs when the tide is -
because there’s so much weed growing…
…What are the downs?...
…What we mark our pots with. I mean I’ve noticed that where stuff wouldn’t
grow so much weed in the winter when it was cold and things like that whereas
now, I don’t know how many times you scrub your downs but it’s almost by the
bloody day now. That’s a sign of warmer water. Now certain things that are
coming, we’re starting to see weird things, we see trigger fish, blood suckers…
…They even caught a barracuda…
…And the sun also, when I’m out [ ] it’s a different heat now and definitely a
different heat out there.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham)
In a similar vein, they felt that marine pollution was not due to the fishing industry
although, on reflection, one group of fishermen acknowledged that they used to be
far less careful about what got dumped over the side.
“That there is a load of crap, I think it’s a load of shite, ‘marine pollution costs
millions’. We don’t dump rubbish at sea. If we’ve got it, we fetch it ashore with us
and put it ashore in the skips…
…15 to 20 years ago, we used to throw it over the side but not now, it’s more
responsible now, which is good because we make our living out of the sea…
73
…Years ago, there were a lot of times when I used to see, when they were
changing oil, running it into the sea, now I’ve never done that for years, all the
oils and that get properly disposed of…
…We could still do it if we wanted to, nobody would know, we just don’t do
because we think it’s wrong to dump stuff at sea. Years ago it was different, we
were younger. I don’t know but it pollutes the sea, it’s going to affect our
livelihood if we were to carry on doing it. The oils, they affect the birds and
everything too.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
5.3.2 No fishing zones
Although some denied that no fishing zones have any impact,
“That’s a load of shit, that! Look at C… Island [undecipherable], they closed C…

Island for 25 years and it’s never recovered. They closed the cod fisheries down
there over 20 years ago now and it’s never come back.” (Sector; trawls; skippers;
N Shields)
“You mentioned Lundy, that’s nonsense as well. I know many fishermen who fish
the North Devon coast and they actually believe that Lundy has become
stagnant, the fishery around Lundy.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh
on sea)
others accepted that if an area is closed to fishing, such as the Lundy Island no fishing
zone, there will be more fish. However, the idea of such a zone being introduced more
locally elicited a ‘not in my backyard’ response.
“I was opposed to it because I fished there in that box for years but obviously the
North Coast boys are probably, it’s worse for them, isn’t it, because it’s just off
their doorstep.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
In a similar vein, one fisherman suggested that trials into the effectiveness of such
zones should be conducted in other parts of the world rather than in the UK
“Well, my personal view on it is there are places around the world where marine
protect areas, no take zones, and all this sort of thing are going on. Therefore, if
that was the case we need to get in there and talk to the people who are running
them and get a view on what is happening, how it’s affecting the fish stocks, how
it’s affected the fishing industry, how it’s affected the economy and has it created
what they’re looking for ultimately. We don’t have to do it here and suck it and
see. What we need to do is to go to the people who are doing it and find out
whether it works, and if it works, then we can look at it and work out a system
whereby we’re going to bring it into our waters.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers;
Newlyn)
There was a concern that by closing certain areas this would only serve to put more
pressure on other fisheries as the fishermen who would otherwise have fished in the
exclusion zone would be forced to move on to other, nearby fisheries. Moreover,
fishermen were concerned that once a no fishing zone had been introduced, it would be
74
there to stay whereas what they wanted was for fishing to be allowed to resume once
stocks had begun to recover.
A number of concerns were raised in relation to the new marine bill and, in particular,
the possibility of marine protection zones being introduced. This was a particular
concern for the Inshore fleet as they feel they are already limited in where they can fish.
“We did have a meeting with someone who was saying that if we don’t put a
stake out there ourselves, we could lose all the water. You can have someone
having a wind farm there or you could have someone else taking another bit of
land for something else and then you’d get the conservationists shutting your
[fisheries] - and we’ll end up with nothing, even though we’ve been there for all
these years and don’t count for nothing. So there ain’t any positives left...
…Yeah we had a meeting about that. They said if you agree with it, it will be
taken anyway, if you don’t.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
In a number of locations, fishermen also raised concerns about the introduction of
offshore wind farms which were seen as a further encroachment on traditional fishing
grounds.
“The creation of these wind farms, they’re no go zones to us now. We’re

licensed to fish that area, they come along and plonk all these windmills there
and put an exclusion zone around it. That’s part of our licensed fishing area
taken away from us, no compensation…
…We’ve got an area, area 4C is our area of the sea, they’re coming along and
taking parts of our area away…
… If they’re making that a non-fishing zone, they’re creating a marine protected
habitat, ain’t they? …
…They can’t give us another area [to replace it].” (Inshore; mix of mobile;
skippers; Harwich)
In contrast, there was considerable support for having closed areas during the
spawning season – something a number of fishermen suggested spontaneously during
the discussions. For example, we were told of an area between Newquay and Trevose,
on the north Cornwall coast, that has been closed during the spawning season for the
past two or three years. Apparently, this scheme has been introduced voluntarily by
local fishermen. This approach was felt to make far more sense as a conservation
measure compared to the quota system.
“They’ll have designated areas where you can’t fish, where there is a spawning
stock or something. [ ] Hypothetically you’ll have a spawning area where all the
vulnerable fish are, you have to say, well, it’s closed for that certain time.
Because it’s no good saying, ‘well we won’t go there’ because there’s always
somebody who will go there, that’s human nature…
75
…So do you think that’s a better system than the quota system if you have
areas that were closed?...
…Yeah. Quotas do not work. Defra has got to understand that.” (Inshore; mix of
The fact that fishermen continue to fish during the spawning season was likened by one
fisherman to taking a trawler through the maternity wing of the local hospital.
“That, to my mind, it’s like if you towed a trawl through Dereford Hospital
maternity ward - the survival of your species - it wouldn’t happen. [ ] There was
a netter in Looe. He came out on the radio the other year and he said, ‘oh I can’t
understand it’, he says, ‘I bought three strings of cod nets for three fish’. Well
hold on a minute, when there was a lot of cod there you landed the cod and you
landed the boxes of roe, well that’s your future. That is your future fishery…
…You need set down times…
…The boats need to be compensated - if they going to leave fisheries alone for
say a couple of months, but I think this is going to happen in time.” (Inshore;
We were told that some other governments pay their fishermen to tie up during
spawning periods and such a scheme would be welcomed by fishermen in this country.
“They have to tie the boats up when they’re breeding…

…Do you think fishermen would agree to that?...
…Damn right, yeah…
…If you say to the fishermen, ‘you’ve got a month to tie up. Here you are, get all
your work done’ [ ]....
…Wouldn’t it have to be different months for each species? You couldn’t
just have one month for all species?...
…Well yeah, but most areas, I mean like, most areas have got its own species
hasn’t it? The North Sea is the haddock and down here I suppose you’d say it is
more multipurpose so you’d have to look at the cod because they are a targeted
species. So you say, ‘right, that month you don’t catch nothing and we’ll pay you
to tie the boat up’ and that don’t matter whether you target them or not, if you are
paid to tie the boat up so that’s it, no boats go to sea in that month…
…They do it in Norway as well, don’t they? The Canadian government has got a
different view on it. Norway - they take their nets up from the entrances of fjords
when they know it’s time for the salmon to go up, they get paid for doing that.
The Canadian fishermen, I don’t know if they still do get paid for not going to sea
during the cod spawning season? So there are quite a few countries that…
…It isn’t a new thing.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
5.3.3 The decline in fishing stocks
In earlier parts of the discussion, when talking about fishing in general, some fishermen
had readily acknowledged that some fishing stocks have become depleted; for
example:
76
“Oh yeah, there are less fish…
…Less fish, so you’ve got to put out all the time…
…We’ve still got a lemon [sole] season at the moment for trawling; you might
catch two baskets in one haul. When I first went it was nine or ten, maybe
twelve, baskets of lemons at a time. So obviously, the fish has decreased over
the years, which is still the way.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
However, in the context of the discussion about environmental issues, and in response
to the headline about the possible terminal decline of fishing stocks, we recorded a very
different response. Time and time again, in relation to quota stocks, we were told by
fishermen that ‘there are more fish in the sea than there has been for years’.
“They just announced on the radio, dwindling stocks, who said they are
dwindling? The whole of the North Sea is full of fish at the moment, everything is
on the up. The Irish Sea is on the up and it doesn’t add up, so someone further
up the tree is lying and that puts you under pressure everyday.” (Non-sector; mix
of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
“The Government always come up with the same thing, ‘there’s no fish in the
sea, it’s all going’. We have just stated with cod alone, there’s more cod out there
now than when I started thirty years ago; far, far more. Our sole stocks are as
strong as they’ve ever been and that is from their own surveys that they do.
Plaice is on the increase again, it did have a dip but it’s on the increase again,
there are a lot of young plaice about.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
Some of the fishermen, who were more open to the idea that fishing does have some
negative impact on stocks, nevertheless argued that it would be impossible to
completely eliminate the stocks if, for no other reason, because fishing would become
economically nonviable first.
“You’ll never catch the last fish in the sea, I wouldn’t think. It would be very
difficult.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
Others felt that changes in stocks were a consequence of global warming rather than
over-fishing.
“The North Sea has been warming up a bit. That is why cod, they move north.
It’s not because of over fishing, it’s because it’s got a little bit warmer and they
stay out in deep water.” (Sector; seine; skippers; Grimsby)
“I mean I’m not 100% sure, but I was once told that cod need a certain water
temperature to spawn successfully and that temperature, you aren’t achieving it,
because the water temperature has gone up. So, in effect, the cod aren’t
spawning as effectively as they used to do and I think that’s a fair assumption.”
Some argue that stock levels follow natural cycles and any variations are likely to reflect
these rather than the impact of fishing.
77
“Personally, I would only put it down to a natural cycle.” (Inshore; trawls &
“I just think it’s a cycle. I mean last year, I mean all these guys will know what I’m
talking about, E went out and caught Christ knows how many tons of anchovy,
never been seen here before and this year - not a fish…
…So is that a one off blip?...
…It happens in a four year cycle, apparently.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew;
Brixham)
One fisherman argued that no one really knows what fish stocks exist in the deeper
oceans, so how can they claim stocks are under serious threat?
“You can’t say, you can’t tell me or any of us, what is there at the bottom of the
ocean, no one knows, you know, do they, you know…
…I don’t know, I guess scientists might claim that they know…
…It’s a small area though, isn’t it? It’s a small area that the scientists cover and
the data is not always right. I mean one year you might be, as you know
yourself, up to your neck in cuttle and the next year, you know…
…You won’t see it but it doesn’t mean…
…You get half of what you get…
…That doesn’t mean that you’re never going to see another cuttle again because
then the year after that, they turn up again.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew;
Brixham)
Yet another argument used to deflect the issue away from fishermen was to claim that
the last thing any fisherman wanted to do was have a long term negative impact on
stock levels as this was not in their interests.
“The last thing I want to do as a fisherman is take everything ‘cause I want to fish
it for the next 20-odd years…
…Why would we want to fish the stocks up? Yeah, but the logic is why would we
want to wipe the seas clean if we want our families to go into it like we’ve done?”
(Non-sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
And even on occasions where fisherman openly acknowledged that over-fishing had
resulted in the collapse of fisheries, such as the queenie scallop13 fishery off Plymouth
and the mackerel fishery off the south west coast, they laid the blame firmly at the feet
of Defra rather then the fishermen. In the case of the scallop fishery, Defra was blamed
for not imposing any quotas or restrictions while in the case of the mackerel fishery,
they were blamed because they opened it up to the Scottish fleet on the grounds that it
was sustainable, only for it to be completely out fished in a very short period.
13
A smaller but prolific scallop.
78
“Yeah it [the Queenie fishery] collapsed, the same old thing, these huge great
beamers came in, an absolute classic example of an inshore fishery, and wiped
it out. You know we’re talking about huge great vessels, you know…
…And it’s only a very small area…
…And it was only a very small area. But at the time we tried to get some
restriction on it and they [referring to Defra] said, ‘no, this is going to last forever’.
You know, ‘we’ve had surveys and we’ve worked out that there’s a fucking
queen every half a metre’ and it was an absolute joke we could see that it was
gradually dying…
…Yeah well, they had out the Scottish mackerel fleet and they decimated the
fishing here and it’s never recovered. You had in every port 20, 30, 40 boats
three or four handed, all making a good living. They allowed them to come down
here and within two seasons destroy it, [it] never ever recovered.” (Inshore; mix
of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“The most important milestone here in the South West for all the fishermen here
in this room, has got to be how Defra finished us catching mackerel in the late
seventies, early eighties. [ ] Everybody was catching mackerel and catching a lot
of mackerel. Defra in their wisdom allowed the Scottish big water boats to come
and wipe out the mackerel in the South West and the mackerel was wiped out.
Their scientists said it was sustainable right for them to come down and wipe out
the mackerel [ironically] and they did.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
5.3.4 The impact of fishing methods
Headlines, such as the impact of fishing on albatross populations, were easy to deflect
given that this relates to a different part of the world. Moreover, some felt that claims
about wildlife, such as albatrosses and dolphins, being killed by fishermen’s nets are
exaggerated.
“Very rarely, it’s not very often…

…No, it’s grossly exaggerated…
…In 20 years I might have had a couple of dolphins, three dolphins, in 20 years.
We’ve had all those nets and we’ve had dolphins into the boat, I mean a lot of
dolphins…
…Dolphins all around you, handsome sight.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers;
Newlyn)
“Driftnet fishery, everybody slakes it off but up our end of the woods, if you get
the mesh size right you don’t get them [dolphins caught in the nets]. It is a very
selective method of fishing but as soon as people talk driftnet, it’s the end of the
world.” (Inshore/Non-sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Portsmouth)
Once again, we came across a small number of fishermen who were prepared to admit
there are problems. For example, a fisherman in Plymouth acknowledged that
whenever he leaves harbour he sees ‘an abundance of dead seabirds’ which he said
had been killed by inshore red mullet and bass nets.
79
When it came to the impact of their own fishing methods, most of them claimed that
they fish in a sustainable way that has little, if any, long term impact.
“Most of the modern machinery on the decks for shrimp fishing, the same for
mussel fishing and cockle fishing, as soon as it goes through the grader, all the
juveniles go straight into the water supply and straight back into the sea.” (Non-
sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“I think people most probably get the wrong idea about fishermen not being
conservation minded anyway…
…[ ] I mean we are gill netters, we’re not trawlers so we don’t chuck any fish
back at all. Everything we catch is of landable size because of the mesh we work
to. We are not working small mesh, you obviously catch all the small stuff [if you
do use small mesh], so [what we do] it’s pretty efficient…
…We could work with a lot smaller mesh and then we’d catch a lot more fish
probably.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
A number of them spoke about how they had invested in a particular type of gear, such
as nets of a particular mesh size or type. Although this was often in response to new
rules, they sometimes claimed they had already adopted such measures.
“What you should really know is about five, six or seven years ago, the
Government brought out a bale net which we all have to, by law, use now. That’s
a net within a net and all the big fish goes out the top of the net where the
smaller fish, like the shrimps, go through the bale and the big fish...
…Bale nets, the Government didn't even know what they were, they didn't bring
it out. We were already using it and they brought it out as law and that we’ve got
to have it and we were already using it.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers;
Kings Lynn)
“We are one of the most environmentally friendly fisheries there is…
…We wouldn’t get the MSC unless we were environmentally friendly, would we?
…
…Our smallest mesh is bigger than what the minimum we are allowed to use
under EEC [sic] law…
…We have even asked the Government to allow us last winter to use big mesh
nets so that we could go out there and catch cod…
…All the little ones would have gone through. Now if that weren’t being
environmentally friendly, then nothing is, but we were still turned round and told
‘no’.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
Some spoke about the fact that they had voluntarily stopped using methods which they
considered to have a detrimental effect on the environment.
“About 15 years ago, it was when twin rigging first came out and what that is,
instead of trawling with one net, you trawl with two and when that very first came
out we, the Hartlepool men, it was just the Hartlepool men, we could see the
damage that would do to the bottom, and we put a voluntary ban on it, on twin
80
rigging, and Defra will back us up on that, we put a voluntary ban on it. That’s still
in place now.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
Some even felt that their method of fishing had a positive impact. For example, some
cockle dredgers claimed that the effect of their gear was similar to a farmer ploughing
the land and that this encouraged worms.
“It can’t dig its way into it, like, and spawn. It [the dredge] obviously churns up
and eats its way into it. It might not happen like next year, just say for instance,
they went cockling last year - in four years time, the worms are going to be there,
but you wouldn’t notice them for four years. But it happens all the time, all the
time. Each time they keep doing it, keep doing it, it regenerates the ground.”
(Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
Members of the Inshore fleet were especially vociferous in their view that they had no
long term impact on fisheries or the environment. They claimed this was due to a
combination of sustainable fishing methods and a natural break on how much time they
could spend fishing due to inclement weather. They felt they were being unfairly tarred
with the same brush as the Over 10 metre fleet and, in particular, the large trawlers,
who they considered to be the main culprits.
“Inshore, we’re sustainable. The inshore fleet is a very sustainable fishing

partner. It goes back, before all these big boats were all built and worked 24/7,
[before] nomadic fishing was ever invented, inshore was the only way of fishing
and our fishing methods at the minute don’t harm anybody…
…There’s only a small amount of boats fishing an area off here and that’s doing
very low impact. Our boats are so small, the gear we work is all, compared to the
seabed, it’s all light, we’re not doing any damage.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps;
skippers; Hartlepool)
“We all know there’s got to be conservation. All fishermen, we all want a
sustainable living but then they’re still allowing super trawlers to be built, catching
millions of tons of fish and where is that sustainable? They don’t want the small
boats which are sustainable, that’s what I think is dead wrong. You know you’ve
got the scallopers, 20 dredges doing 10 tons of - what damage is that doing?
They should ban them before they start talking about the smaller inshore boat
who will never affect the fishing. I know we’ll fish them but the weather will still
dictate [i.e. small vessels can only go out in fine weather], but those boats are
out 24/7, they do not stop for weather.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers;
Plymouth)
“Beamers are catching it, it don’t seem fair…
…And they’re catching tons. I mean, if you added all the quotas of all the boats
in Cornwall, they wouldn’t match one of those beamer’s quotas. Those beamers
are allowed to catch more than the whole harbour.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Mevagissey)
In their turn, the Over 10 metre fishermen felt that the Inshore fleet enjoyed fewer
restrictions and, rather than seeing themselves to be the cause of the problem, often
suggested it was the very large factory fishing ships that were to blame.
81
“The Under 10’s, although they’ve got a few snags, have actually got a better
fishery than the Over 10’s. They started off on three tons of cod a month which
is great, but as D has pointed out, if you put on an 80mm gear for dover sole, all
this bloody cod that’s not there, that we keep washing back over the side, is
wasted. So we’ve got to catch more dover sole. Yesterday, I threw back
probably three or four baskets of cod because you couldn’t land it and it’s crazy. I
can’t put notices on my nets to say, ‘please no cod’. We’ve tried it on the doors, it
doesn’t work!” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
“Everyone knows that’s got half a pea brain that the food starts from the shrimp,
the prawn, the crews and all that, everyone knows that that’s the stuff that’s got
to be a little bit aware of. So when they allow industrial trawlers to catch that by
millions and millions of tons and most of it goes on the bloody field as fertiliser,
then it don’t need much brain to know why that particular problem is arising. I
wouldn’t say that’s hard to diagnose at all.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers;
Brixham)
The main arguments put forward by fishermen as to why other fishermen operating
larger vessels were causing most of the problems included the following:
• Not only does their gear (especially the beam trawls) cause environmental
damage, there are too many vessels working the same fisheries
“The last few winters in Brixham, the Brixham boats are always bigger than the
boats from Plymouth and from Looe, and they charge up the ground [ ] it’s just
absolutely decimated the last couple of years.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers;
Plymouth)
“It’s just getting hammered to death to be honest. I see them up there every
night, all weathers. We can only go to sea a certain amount of days of the year
and it’s being left alone by the small boat pretty much and you’ve got big
beamers up there day in, day out, night in, night out, it’s just wrong…
…Dutch. They’re not English beamers, not British beamers…
…You see [for] five or six miles, right, [boats] going up and down like a
motorway…
…That bottom must be, well I wouldn’t like to say what it’s like…
…I bet there’s not even a rock down there.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
• Over 10 metre vessels are said to be increasingly coming into the fisheries
worked by the Inshore fleet which causes enormous resentment as the smaller
vessels cannot reciprocate
“It’s the trawlers that are taking the soles again. We are restricted to this sole
and you’ve got over 10’s as well going up and down the six mile limit, taking
what, how much can they take, tons, and they are fishing in the same waters as
we are and we’re not allowed, well it’s not worth doing.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Mevagissey)
• Larger vessels are much less weather dependent and can work in conditions
where smaller boats have to stay in port. Moreover, many of them can afford to
82
invest in all the latest equipment, such as sonar and sophisticated satellite
navigation, which helps them track down the fish
“We’ve got strong feelings of why being so small and not being able to do any
harm to these fish stocks, we’re all environmentally [friendly], our small crabs go
back, our lobsters go back, all alive, we are not part of what’s destroying. What
you’ve got to be looking at is the bigger issue, the bigger greedy - the technology
- now satellite navigation can put a man, trawler or whatever within a metre, now
200 miles away could be within a metre of where he wants to be...
…You’ve got sonar…
…Technology, sonar these are the things that the fish haven’t got the same
chance as they had with the old forefathers where areas were passed on and
things like that. There’s a lot of technology that’s causing a lot of the problems
because of the efficiency and most of that technology, most of it is on the big
boats…
…They call it technical creep and they reckon it’s 4 percent every year.”
(Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham)
• Trawling on the scale carried out by the larger vessels is said to result in very
high discard levels. We were told that larger vessels sometimes dump whole
catches not because the catch is out of quota but because the average size of a
haul was small and subsequent hauls yielded larger average sizes. Some
fishermen claimed they had even caught fish that had been gutted and then
discarded
“Well, there are fish under pressure and we’ll go back to the mackerel because
some of these bloody super boats are towing it, towing through a mark, winching
it up to the side, seeing it’s small mackerel and dumping it, hundreds of tons,
thousand of tons, dead on the sea bed and that ain’t being regulated.” (Inshore;
• They also claim some vessels catch very small, undersize fish to be processed
for fish meal
“The industrial fishing boats - they just go out there and all they are doing is
pumping the fish straight into the holds and it’s going as fish meal and it’s been
proven - a lot of it is Scandinavian boats - and they turn round and say 95% of
their catch is immature cod, haddock. Now cod and haddock are two of the
species that are supposed to be under threat.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Hastings)
To put things into context, we were told that one large trawler can catch in one haul as
much fish as half a dozen Inshore fishermen could catch in a life time.
“We think that the over-fishing is coming from the huge, huge trawlers like the
mackerel boats up in the North Sea. What we catch in this room, just for the five
of us, you know, we could fish for the rest of our lives…
83
…And not touch it…
…And we wouldn’t even catch half of what they catch [in one] night.” (Inshore;
Given their views on the methods adopted by larger vessels, Inshore fishermen could
not understand how some of the larger boats had achieved Marine Stewardship
Certification.
“Marine stewardship certification - I don’t know if it’s a Defra thing or not but a
250ft trawler catching maybe three, four thousand ton of fish a day, has got the
certification the same as a 19 or 20ft cove boat which really isn’t right. It’s all
supposed to be sustainable fishing isn’t it so how can a cove boat be
sustainable, or how can a 250ft trawler be sustainable alongside the cove boat?”
There was also resentment that fishing at the scale carried out by the larger vessels
was perceived to be in the hands of a small number of ‘big players’ who were perceived
to have enormous political influence, to the extent that ‘the Government turns a blind
eye to their practices’.
Foreign fishermen, mainly those from other EU states, were also perceived to be major
culprits. We heard stories of foreign vessels using very small net mesh sizes and of
dolphins that had been caught in nets being cut up with chain saws to destroy the
evidence. Respondents were unsure if these foreign fishermen were operating under
the same rules as UK fishermen (in which case, they were said to be ‘cheating’) or
whether a different set of rules applied to them. In either event, fishermen felt it was
unfair.
“Now the French chop them up with chainsaws so they don’t wash up on the
beach. Now I know through a friend of mine who did a trip, they caught 36
dolphins in one day and every one was chopped up with a chainsaw. So you
don’t see that dolphin washed up now because it’s in bits. It’s terrible. None of
us want to see it but it does happen.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers;
Brixham)
“Some of their [Spanish fishermen’s] gill nets are shocking…
…It’s like a hair net…
…They are very small…
…They are scab nets, that’s what they call them, acres of by-catch.” (Sector; mix
of passive; crew; Newlyn)
“They got it [quota] per landing and they got it by the ton per landing so when
they’re going out for a ten day trip when they go back to France from a dozen
mile off this coast they go back and land and as soon as they land they go back
and their quota starts all over again. It’s not per month, it’s per landing…
84
…Right, so does that mean that they don’t have the same problems with
discards and so on?...
…They don’t discard anything. I’ve worked on a Spanish trawler mate, it’s
obscene what they…
…Tell him how they - from the headline right down to the chord end, nothing gets
out…
…You tell them how it really is that’s the truth and they are all like that…
…Everything that comes aboard that boat, stays aboard that boat. I was there
because they had to have a British quota of crew for the boat to be landed into
Britain from Fleetwood where it ran from and it was obscene. I mean we landed
into Spain and we just couldn’t believe it really how the other half live, they don’t
throw anything back…
…[They have] an inch blinder [?] inside the actual trawl because if they get
boarded they just chip it away and get another one…
…If they get what?...
…If they get boarded by the Navy they don’t get caught, they just shoot it away
and put another one on…
…So they are doing it illegally?...
…Yeah, of course they are.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
Buyers also came in for some blame; we were told that buyers can dictate what size of
fish they want and these could sometimes reflect unsustainable practices.
“The buyer was dictating to the fishermen what size of squid he wanted. He
wanted something like 18-22 to the kilo. Well, that’s like that [using hands to
demonstrate the size]. Well, that’s wrong to my mind because those squid
haven’t bred, but if you get one like that size, you ain’t going to have a fishery in
years to come.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth)
Finally, a number of fishermen felt that, while they got lots of bad publicity over their
fishing practices and the Government was putting them under pressure to adopt
different methods, at the same time, the Government was encouraging marine
aggregate dredging on an industrial scale which they felt had a far more serious long
term detrimental impact on the environment. This was felt to be an example of the
Government having ‘double standards’.
“As for the destruction we cause, compared to aggregate locally off the South
East coast here, the extraction of aggregate is horrendous…
…Where’s all the concrete going to come from to build the Olympic stadiums and
the Olympic stuff? Where are they going to get all the concrete from? …
…The Thames estuary is a huge breeding area for dover sole, what are they
going to do? Are they going to dredge it all the way to the summit, which is
straight off here, that’s all the way up the Thames? They’re going to take all that
top soil.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
85
“I looked on Natural England’s website yesterday, and top of the list of offenders
for ruining the seabed are fishermen, and yet, in this area, we’ve got a massive
aggregate industry going on, which is destroying habitat…
…Dredgers are paid by the Government if I’m not mistaken, and the
Government, who are like crown estates, earn money from selling the seabed,
the very habitat that Natural England are supposed to be protecting, and the only
people they can protect it against are the fishermen…
…The French don’t let them dredge. 30 percent of our aggregate goes into
France, so what does that tell you?” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers &
crew; Portsmouth)
5.4 Response to Scenarios
Fishermen were asked to respond to a number of scenarios describing mainly
hypothetical situations which were designed to explore the extent to which
environmental considerations influenced their decision making. Although most
fishermen took the scenarios at face value and offered an opinion, some of them felt
that a number of the scenarios were unrealistic and that this confirmed their suspicion
that Defra is completely out of touch with fishing and how the industry works.
“What that looks like to me is as though someone’s written these questions who
really hasn’t got one little iota of fishing…
…That’s where these questions are already a mile away…
…We’re not in the real world here.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers;
Hartlepool)
What this exercise clearly demonstrated is that, almost without exception, the
fishermen’s decision making was motivated by their need to earn a living and the desire
to do this in the least labour intensive way. The impact of fishing methods on either the
environment or on the longer term sustainability of fishing was rarely a factor in their
response to the scenarios.
5.4.1 Scenario 1
What is more important to you when deciding on the type of fishing to undertake:
available quota
catching efficiency
fuel efficiency
tradition
cost of equipment
environmental impact
how ‘clean’ your catch is (i.e. low discards)
86
There was a clear hierarchy of importance. Available quota was invariably the most
important factor,
“If there isn’t available quota, then you can’t go to sea at all.” (Inshore; trawls &
“It’s no good going out for something that you haven’t got quota for.” (Non-sector;
followed by catching efficiency and cost of equipment since these relate to their level
of earnings.
“Catching efficiency, make sure your gear’s right to catch. It’s got to be now
because if it’s not, you’re burning fuel for nothing. You’ve got to make sure you’re
on top of your game.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“The next one’s got to be ‘catching efficiency’ because then you’ve got to think of
your costs – we’re trying to make a living.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“It’s catching enough to earn enough, isn't it?” (Non-sector; mix of passive;
skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
The importance of fuel efficiency depended on the size of vessel. Those operating on
larger, more powerful vessels put it on a par with catching efficiency whereas those on
smaller, less powerful boats felt it was much less important.
“It’s the price of fuel, steaming 20 miles has cost you £100 and if you haven’t
caught anything, what’s the point?” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“We were starting to watch what we were putting in the boats and started to think
about it but now fuel prices have come down again, not to what they were, you
know, in a small boat, you wouldn’t even worry about the fuel. You wouldn’t even
think about it, you would just pay the bill at the end of the month.” (Inshore; nets;
skippers; Mevagissey)
Tradition was never mentioned by any of the fishermen as a factor that influenced their
fishing behaviour. At various points throughout the discussions, we were told that no
fisherman wants to see discards. In the context of the current exercise relatively few
comments were made about how clean your catch is but when it was discussed, it
was in the context of the loss of potential earnings and the extra work involved, rather
than any negative impact on stock levels.
“What we catch is what we want to keep and you don’t want to throw good
valuable fish back…
…There’s only me and another crewman, it’s only in our interest, with two men
aboard a boat, to have a clean catch. We don’t want to catch anything else, it’s
more work to catch something and have to throw it away.” (Inshore; trawls &
87
In a similar vein, environmental impact was either not mentioned or was considered a
low priority.
“We always fish for the highest value fish there is to catch, that you are allowed
to catch…
…Environmental impact would be at the bottom of the list.” (Inshore; nets;
skippers; Poole)
“I think the environmental impact is probably the last thing you think of…
…I don’t think you think about it at all….
…Not really, no…
…We should…
…I’m not in any way trying to suggest there’s any judgement that I’m
making…
…I think we should but we tend not to and I think most people in life are like
that.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
There were some exceptions to this but they tended to be in the minority. For example,
one fisherman had gone over to hand lining for mackerel and bass because
“I was sick and tired of shovelling fish over the side.” (Inshore; hooks & nets;
skippers; Plymouth)
His emphasis is on lower volumes but higher value; for example, he has signed up to a
scheme whereby every fish he catches is tagged and is traceable, for which he earns
an additional £0.30-0.40 per kilo of fish. One of his colleagues spoke about the Marine
Stewardship Council scheme and said that the local handline association has an
accreditation due to the sustainable nature of the fishery for pollock, bass and mackerel.
Another fishermen was willing to acknowledge that even with passive nets, they can
have an impact such as having dolphins getting caught up in them. His response would
be to move to another area,
“It’s just difficult to assess the environment element, it’s very difficult to assess. I
mean, if you’ve got dolphins in Lyme Bay and you have caught one in your nets,
then it’s best to leave the area and go somewhere else maybe. It’s just far
reaching and very difficult to quantify, isn’t it?” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Mevagissey)
but his view was not shared by everyone.
“Environmental impact [is less important], because if you are catching fish you
will catch fish regardless. It’s probably the wrong thing to say but…
…No, it isn’t, because that’s what you’re out there for, isn’t it, to catch fish? If
you’ve got the quota to catch it, you’ve got to catch it…
88
…If you’ve got a monk fish coming and there are also a lot of dolphins, I think
you’d disregard the dolphins and catch the fish.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew;
Newlyn)
5.4.2 Scenario 2
Assuming you grossed the same value - what would you consider a successful days
fishing and why:
a large quantity of catch?
a smaller catch of a better quality?
This was a ‘no brainer’ as a smaller catch means less work and of course they would
prefer to earn the same amount for less effort.
“Smaller catch with better quality…

…You get a better price for them. The better the quality of fish, the better the
price…
…It’s a lot less work as well!” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
“Well, in the ideal world, we’d like a smaller catch, less work, better quality and
better prices - that would be the ideal.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers;
Hartlepool)
There was some suggestion that those targeting shellfish such as cockles and whelks
took a different view but this might reflect the fact that they have a daily quota and they
have less control over the quality of their catch.
“We tend to, at the moment, just whelk right the way through the year, so ours is
more quantity rather than quality…
…They pay me, they can have the rubbish I give them.” (Non-sector; mix of
In contrast, those targeting other stocks demonstrated a sense of pride in the quality of
their catch and no one wanted to get a reputation for landing poor quality fish.
“Well, if you can keep it good quality like all the scales and everything on them,
people are going to pay more money for it and whoever buys it off them is going
to want to eat it because it looks good.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
“You don’t want a bad name on the market…
…Mud sticks doesn’t it?...
…The buyers know…
…My granddad used to say, ‘if you look after the fish, then the fish will look after
you’.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
This scenario was felt to represent a ‘win, win’ situation. Fishermen were willing to
acknowledge the environmental benefits of this scenario because they would also be
benefiting themselves.
89
“Smaller catch, better quality…
…it’s worth more…
…Because you’ve got less work to do…
…Plus you are leaving the small stock.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
However, the scenario implies that fishermen have a much greater control over the
nature of their catch than is in fact the case, and this led some of them to question how
realistic the desired outcome might be. Some also felt that, in reality, if you caught a
certain amount of good quality fish during the first half of the day, the temptation would
be to continue fishing in the hope you would end up with a larger quantity of good
quality fish.
“At the end of the day though, in the amount of days we get in a year, the 12
months, it’s going back to the same thing - an inshore boat’s catch is what
comes to us, we don’t go to it. So whatever’s there in the days you do get in a
year, if it’s a large quantity of whiting and if that’s all whiting you catch, well, you
obviously want to bring in, because if there’s nothing else there but whiting you
want to bring them in. If it’s a smaller catch of say cod or a higher value fish,
well, it’s the same, you still want to catch it and bring it in.” (Inshore; trawls &
5.4.3 Scenario 3
If faced with the following choice, where would you fish and why
Area A where you knew you were going to catch a vulnerable species that you
had no quota for, but you would also catch significantly more of a species that
you did have quota for
Area B where you knew you are very unlikely to catch any vulnerable species
that you had no quota for, but where you couldn’t be sure how much quota stock
you would catch
This was another scenario that some fishermen felt was unrealistic because you never
know in advance exactly what you are going to find even when fishing on familiar
ground. One reason for this was because fish are constantly moving so what was Area
B on one occasion may become Area A next time you fish there.
Across our sample, there was a fairly even split between those who claimed that they
would go to Area A and those who said they would go to Area B. Those opting for Area
B were motivated by the desire for lower discards.
“The vulnerable species tend to make more money (but) you can’t catch them…
…You wouldn’t go to a bit where it’s full of cod would you and there’s no quota
for it? You’d pull out of it, you’d get away from the stuff.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Poole)
90
However, their behaviour would be driven by the need to take home a reasonable catch
and if Area B proved unproductive, they would move on to Area A.
“But you see, if there is no fish there what you want then you would have to
move in there [Area A]. You can’t go home with nothing because then you’ve still
got all the expenses. You will still make the utmost effort to not catch them. I
mean, if they’re small fish, you’ll put big mesh gear on.” (Sector; seine; skippers;
Grimsby)
Others took the view that in these tough times you have to make an income and they
would always choose Area A over Area B.
“Aye, you’ve got to catch for your crew, you’re not just there fishing for yourself,
you’ve got to try and earn a living for your crew. You can’t afford to go to B on
spec because you might not get anything.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“Because I want to go home at the end of the trip with a wage in my pocket!”
Some justified the choice of Area A by arguing that they could take steps to minimise
the discards whereas others acknowledged that most fish they throw back do not
survive.
“I don’t see that catching a vulnerable species means it’s going to die, so it can
be returned - the emphasis is on reducing discards…
…If you’re behaving in a fairly responsible manner you can make the discards
live, but that would be a consideration when making the choice. We have a
situation with juvenile bass, and we’ve developed a way of getting over 90% of
them back alive, which I think is acceptable, so that would be a factor in
consideration and I chose A.” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew;
Portsmouth)
“But I don’t think there’s anybody in the room, or any fisherman who really wants
to go out and catch fish to dump but you are allowed to do that. You know,
you’ve got this quota, so you are allowed to go out and catch that fish, land your
quota and then you can still go back to those areas and catch the odds and
sods, but dump loads of dead fish and Defra have said that is perfectly legal.
That ain’t preserving.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
5.4.4 Scenario 4
If you had the opportunity to use a new type of fishing gear that caught less of your
target species, but also caught less of the fish you would discard:
Would you feel that this is a sufficient sacrifice to make?
What if the target species then fetched a higher price?
One fisherman had read about the Eliminator Trawl that reduces the quantity of cod that
is caught but he was the exception; most struggled to think what new type of gear could
have this effect.
91
“Yeah it’s been in the Fishing News a few times, it’s called the Eliminator Trawl
and it doesn’t catch cod and people are using it.” (Sector; mix of passive; crew;
Newlyn)
Some fishermen claimed they were already achieving very low discard levels so this
scenario did not apply to them. For example, potters in Hartlepool were part of a pilot
project where they are being monitored by marine scientists and they told us the
scientists had complimented them on how few discards they have.
“We’re already discarding very little and what we’re catching is our target, so
what do they want us to do? Take the stuff that we’re catching now and throw
that out, like stop us catching that? Well, we might as well not go. We might as
well not work.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
In a similar vein, Sector crew members in Brixham said they were using larger mesh
sizes in order that smaller size soles were not being caught.
However, most fishermen did not consider the sacrifice worth making; from their
perspective, any environmental benefits did not offset the potential loss of earnings due
partly to smaller catch sizes and also because of the need to invest in new gear.
“It’s just ridiculous. Why would you go to sea knowing you’re having to dump that
fish back anyway, or catch less of that and catch less than what you want to be
catching? You want to catch as much possible, that’s how you make money.”
“Basically, that’s just saying you’ve brought a trawler with a hole in it and you
catch less…
…It ain’t going to work, is it?” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
Concerns were also expressed that subsequent rule changes or future changes in stock
levels could mean any new investment is wasted.
“There is legislation now which determines your equipment, and when they
change that, the bigger boats, you could be talking about £20k or £30k worth of
gear, which on the whim of someone who lives in Brussels, who’s living very
nicely thank you, has just destroyed your living, but you’ve got to do it otherwise
you’re out of the game.” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew;
Portsmouth)
“Once you go down that road of selective fishing then I’m afraid you’re going to
get stuck with it and that’s what we’re up against now with these licences…
…If you catch the wrong species…
…You can get stuck and if that fish takes off you’re in trouble, your target fishing
disappears, you know.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
For the scenario to be attractive, the new gear would either need to guarantee a higher
value catch or fishermen would need to be allocated a larger quota.
92
“We’ll use the new type of gear if you get a bigger price for what we’re
catching…
…What if we can’t afford to buy new gear?...
…Well it would be good if we had a guarantee that we’ll get more for our fish.”
(Sector; seine; skippers; Grimsby)
“So what you're saying is then, for argument’s sake, you use bigger mesh nets,
catch less but get more for it, well, that would make sense…
…We don’t get a lot for small soles and I'm a little bit of an environmentalist
myself, small plaice, small skate, and I’d sooner chuck them over and give them
a chance. I’ve done it over about a two month period where we only took large
soles because they were getting so much at the right price we could afford to
chuck the rest back and get our target. If I catch 500 kilos of sole like that
[indicating a larger size], they're worth more than 500 of sole like that [indicating
a smaller size]…
…Everybody is always focusing on cod. If they said to the people, ‘go up to a
larger mesh net but because of the larger mesh net, you’d actually catch a bigger
fish’, people would go for that. If they said to them, ‘you could have an extra ton
a month but you can only use that size’, they’d go for it, wouldn’t they, because
the value would be up, the larger cod makes more money.” (Inshore/Non-sector;
mix of mobile & passive; skippers; Portsmouth)
5.4.5 Scenario 5
If you could only go fishing half the time you currently do, but catch and land the same
quantity of fish (and bigger fish), would you consider that to be a better way of fishing or
would you prefer to be out at sea more?
Taken at face value, this scenario was also considered a ‘no brainer’,
“I’d love that, going out half the time.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“If you work not as hard, and make more money, everybody wants that in an
ideal world, don’t they?” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
but it was also perceived to be completely unrealistic – fishing simply does not work that
way – and open to being exploited by anyone wanting to earn more.
“You see, it’s a bit nonsensical isn’t it? Of course, we’d ideally, I’d like to go for
one haul and earn a £1000 as opposed to going on for two hauls and earning a
£1000, that’s obvious, but it is not the real world.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps;
“I’d love to go out just eight hours a day and catch the same amount of fish. It
would be nice, I mean, it would never happen…
…So it’s just pie in the sky?...
…It’s a pie in the sky because if you made more money for the same gear there
will always be somebody there that will make twice as much because there’s
twice as much money in it.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
93
Moreover, they were suspicious of the motive behind this concept as they thought it was
a further indication that Defra trying to cut down on their available amount of fishing
time.
“It’s a double edged sword here. If there’s somebody official listening to this and
I said ‘yes, I’d rather go less time’, they say ‘right, we’ll bring days at sea in’. Now
the trouble with days at sea is the fact that with the weather you can’t pick and
choose really when you go…
…Theory good but practicality is no…
…It’s a good question and the obvious answer is staring you in the face but we
all know that if they put it down to days at sea that would be the end of the
fishing industry.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
“Why would they want us to do this, are Defra trying to cut our hours fishing
down, that’s what they’re on it for?...
…They are giving boats around here now ‘days at sea’. When we last fished a
place called the graveyard, it’s that far to steam we usually lie up at night and
stop the engine and make it a two day trip. But those hours we’re lying up are
counted as fishing time and we’re not fishing, so we’re having to steam back in
the one day to prove that we’re not fishing.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
The Inshore fleet currently is not regulated in terms of ‘days at sea’. The fishermen feel
the weather provides a natural break on how often they can go fishing so any ‘days at
sea’ scheme that might be introduced would need to take this in to account, for
example, by being based on an annual rather than a monthly or weekly restriction.
“It wouldn’t work on our boats if they were to put a daily thing on – say, so many
days a month. It would have to be so many days a year because you could be
laid up here for a complete month and not get to sea and still only have ten days
[left]…
…If there’s 200 days at sea, they say it’s got to be 200 days in that year, full
stop, not so many a month, it’s got to be throughout the year, so you can go
when it suits you.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
Being at sea less often would reduce some of their overheads although it could also
create problems in terms of retaining crew.
“Your expenses would be halved…

…[Less] wear and tear on the boat…
…You might pay your crew less but you wouldn’t keep them on, because if
they’re earning even less than what they are now, they definitely wouldn’t stay.”
(Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
5.4.6 Scenario 6
How does your faith (or lack of it) in fisheries science, and the often recommended cuts
in quota influence the way you fish?
94
if you do not believe the science reflects what you are seeing on the ground,
would you be less likely to be concerned by discarding fish for market reasons
what do you feel would give you more faith in management decisions that are
based on the scientific advice?
Fisheries science is seen by fishermen as underpinning the quota system and therefore
‘lies at the root of the problem’. Although a small number of fishermen felt that marine
scientists had a role to play, no one we spoke to had any faith in the science itself.
“You need the scientists to do their thing. We don’t know how to do that, you
need the labs, you need all this stuff but the actual fishing side of it is where you
need the fishermen.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“They haven’t got a clue, half of them have never like been to sea on a boat in
their life, they’ve never stepped aboard a boat, they’re just sitting in their little
white jackets talking bollocks to each other.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“I don’t think they’ve got a ******* clue myself…
…They are talking bullshit…
…How do they know?...
…They go to one little ******* area about the size of this room, ‘oh look, there’s
no soles here’…
…Yeah and then close it.” (Sector; mix of mobile; crew; Brixham)
The fishermen believe that there is a mismatch between what the scientists are saying –
that there are shortages of many stocks and that if we want a sustainable fishery there
need to be restrictions in the quantities of these stocks being caught - and their own
daily experiences in terms of the amount of fish they catch and, in many instances, are
forced to discard.
“So tell me why you don’t have faith in fishery science?...

…Because they don’t know what they are talking about themselves…
…How do you know they don’t?…
…Well how do they know they’re right, it’s as simple as that. I’m right, they’re
right…
…We sort of know about it, we do it all our lives and they just do specific
things…
…We are the ones throwing it away…
…When it started, they were telling everybody that this stock has gone and that
stock has gone and when you listen to other fishermen and when you actually
see the film of fish being dumped and they tell you there ain’t a fish in that area –
who is right? When it’s on film and it’s being shown being dumped from the
trawler and they’ve already stated that there are no fish in that area.” (Sector;
mix of passive; crew; Newlyn)
95
The crux of the problem is that fishermen simply do not believe that there are such
shortages (see 5.3.3.)
When discussing how the marine scientists go about their research, it was clear that
most fishermen had a limited understanding of what they do and why they do things the
way they do. For example, they often criticised the scientists for using gear and/or
techniques that did not always correspond to what commercial fishermen might use or
for not choosing the best locations in which to fish. They tended to assume that the
scientists’ goals were exactly the same as their own, namely to fish in such a way as to
maximise their catch for the minimum effort. There was no appreciation, for example,
that in order to record trends in data, scientists would try and control a number of
variables.
“The scientists have a boat that goes around, they’re towing the same gear as
they towed 25 years ago…
…They’re towing the wrong gear, they’re not putting the right net on to target the
species, to see whether it’s there or not.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“Let me tell you a story about scientific advice. When they started, what they’ll
do, they’ll have their own net and they’ll go in an area and they’ll haul up and if
there’s nothing they’ll go through and suddenly say, ‘Oh, by the way there’s no
fish here’. Them scientists at times have not got a clue how to rig. They’ve learnt
from it now, but they haven’t had a clue how to rig a net properly to catch fish.”
“These experiments what they do, they’ve got to be conducted in a different way,
they’ve got to use modern gear and modern effort. They’ve got big modern ships
but they still use the old gear…
…There’s been many fishermen on these boats, they’ve got a fishing skipper
and a navigation skipper and all sorts of things, but the way they have conducted
things as they look there with fishermen’s eyes on it. It’s what the hell is going on
there?...
…They [the fishermen on these science boats] are getting the impression that
[the scientists] don’t want to know. The fishermen say that the scientists won’t
take the advice from the fishermen that’s on board the boat, they say ‘no, do so
and so with your gear and fish that way’, they won’t do it. That’s the way they
should do it - they don’t want to know.” (Sector; seine; skippers; Grimsby)
They also assumed that the scientists adopt a simplistic model based on a small
number of samplings and that they (the scientists) even fail to take into account the fact
that fish swim and follow natural cycles!
“They might go to sea on a boat for a week in 52 weeks, how can they decide?”
(Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
“I’m convinced they sit around the table and just say, ‘well that will do’…
96
…Because you can come up here and look for cod in August and you won’t find
any. You come here in January and February, you might find a few, wouldn’t
you? [ ] They don’t necessarily know when the seasons are to catch a cod. If
they come here looking in the middle of December they ain’t going to find any but
they never ask us for our…
…I mean people catch different types of fish all around the coast at different
times of year and all sorts.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
“Like the scientists say about the cod and that, ‘there ain’t much cod around’,
and all of a sudden it’s turned up, like loads of it from the last few years…
…If you apply human behaviour to animals, it’s rarely correct. Fish like to have
sex, swim around and eat…
…It was just a natural fluctuation…
…For years there was no fish there. Even when there was no fish it can’t be
because there’s fishing, because there isn't any. So the fishermen aren’t to
blame. All of a sudden they turn up, which they have a habit of doing. You read
publications on the internet and the press from certain people in this country who
say that stocks of certain fish have disappeared. Well, they might have
disappeared from their backyard but they’re probably in somebody else’s
backyard.” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
Some of the fishermen assumed that the scientists base their data on what is landed
rather than what is caught and, since this is driven by quotas and does not take into
account discards, it is not surprising that catches have fallen.
“They’re not biased against fishermen but as I just said, the science is wrong
because there isn't a true picture, because as soon as he’s caught his quota,
that boat has got to stop fishing so there’s no track record of him anymore, so
they’re using that track record as catches going down but it ain’t the catch that’s
going down, the fisherman is not allowed to go and catch it.” (Non-sector; mix of
“They don’t know what you throw back in. They put a quota on and they don’t
know what you throw back, all they know is what you bring in.” (Inshore; mix of
Some feel there is a long time lag between the data collection and the subsequent
quotas and it is perhaps for this reason that there are more fish available than the
quotas would suggest.
“The scientific doesn’t move fast. There’s been haddocks here for two and a half
years and masses of it, never been seen in 30 or 40 years lifetime of anybody
fishing can remember. But the scientists don’t alter the quota system, therefore
the amount of fish being dumped off here is massive.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers;
St Ives)
Not only do they believe that the scientists lack the detailed knowledge and experience
of the fishing community but that they are unwilling to tap into this. A number of
fishermen expressed the desire and willingness to work more closely with the scientists,
97
presumably in the hope that this would result in the scientists coming to rather different
conclusions about stock levels.
“If you want to suss out how many fish, you employ a fisherman to do it and he
will tell you.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“I think we’d believe it more if they took into account what the fishermen told
them. I mean, if they took, for example, the feedback that we get, you know, we
know when we’re catching fish, we know when we’re on fish and we know when
we’re not. You know, it’s ridiculous having to say the fish has had it when we’re
catching it. It’s ridiculous, and you know from year to year the quantities you
catch, you know whether it’s starting to fade or whether it’s starting to improve
because you’re on the ground doing it everyday, you know, everyday.” (Inshore;
mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
“But the scientists don’t come and speak to us. I’ve been fishing 40 odd years.
I’ve got to be experienced at something because I’m successful but they’ve
never come and asked me a question about it and there’s guys in there that have
spent 280 days a year at sea working beamers in all winds and weather and the
scientists don’t even come and ask them. There’s a total lack of, they’re the
people that dictate to all of us what we’re allowed to catch but they all say we tell
lies, we don’t tell the truth, well, hang on a minute.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St
Ives)
98
6 Communication with Fishermen
6.1 Introduction
We discussed with the fishermen how they keep themselves informed and up to date
with what is happening in their industry and the sources of information they trust the
most. We also explored the various forms of communication they receive from and have
with Defra, their views on these and their reaction to a number of proposed new
methods of communication. Fishermen spontaneously offered their opinions about
consultations Defra carries out. In a number of sessions the recently introduced licence
capping scheme was raised and was briefly explored. The key findings are set out here.
6.2 Keeping Themselves Informed

The main method of communication used by fishermen is word of mouth – on the
quayside, in the pubs and tea bars and over their VHF radios. Word spreads very
quickly as we discovered while recruiting fishermen for the research. For example,
some of our recruiters were contacted by fishermen who had heard about the research
from colleagues. Given the literacy issues, it is not surprising that many fishermen are
not keen on the written word.
“You find out more talking on the quayside, amongst yourselves, than what you
do from Defra.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“Well, that’s just word of mouth, there is a lot of talk, a lot of gossip, yeah within
our own port…
…Well over the VHF, type of thing, all the time.” (Sector; mix of mobile &
“To be perfectly honest, things spread like wild fire in this game so within a day
everybody knows about it.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
The next two most important sources of information were Fishing News and Defra.
Fishing News is the only industry paper known to all fishermen and read by some at
least occasionally. Defra was also an important source of information because
fishermen need to receive their monthly licence variations in order to go fishing.
Other sources of information used by fewer fishermen included the following:
• fish producer organisations (POs) were key sources of information for Sector
fishermen in terms of keeping up to date with their quotas; the Cornish Fish
99
Producer Organisation allows Under 10 metre vessels to join and a few of the
inshore fishermen in Cornwall had done so
“We’re planning to go to Scotland in the next couple of days; I need to know

where I can catch and what I can catch. I can’t ask the MFA because they don’t
know now that you’ve got a separate MFA in Scotland and there are another set
of rules so I’ll contact my PO and they will find out exactly what I need to know.”
(Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
• those who were PC literate and had access to the internet used various fishing
related websites for weather reports, tracking fish prices, looking for boats and
gear and ideas and tips about fishing methods; examples of such sites included
www.xcweather.co.uk, http://www.windguru.com/int/, www.findafishingboat.com,
and www.youtube.com
“You can go look at any prawn factory [on the internet] and it will tell you the
exact prices they are paying out for prawns.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
• TV programmes about fishing and fishermen were watched by some of our
fishermen who cited them as information sources; examples included Trawler
Men and Deadliest Catch
• Various representative bodies were sometimes mentioned including local

fishermen’s associations and national bodies such as NUTFA:
“[NUTFA is] our last hope of really getting any sense out of the industry…
…It’s getting stronger…
…NUFTA’s started to push the NFFO and everyone else to go to Government
and start fighting our case…
…You have got a membership now that spans right the way around the coast of
England now, Wales. So there are more and more Under 10 metre fishermen
joining because they are suddenly realising that if they don’t join and make a
stand, they are finished.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Hastings)
and NFFO:
“[NFFO is] a type of union, you have to pay to be a member, it’s a voice for the
fishermen…
…They’re the people who have meetings with Defra when quota are organised
and decisions are made.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
Membership of these organisations was patchy within our sample (see 2.5.3)
100
• Local sea fisheries committees and their officers, and local MFA officers, were
further sources of information, both through formal contacts (such as an
inspection) and, for some, informally (such as conversations on the quayside)
‘They’re the regulator. Each area around the coast has got a fisheries, they’ve
got a committee with different by-laws. They always let us know if there is a
change to anything.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“He comes aboard to measure your scallops, check your paperwork but while
he’s doing it, he’s talking to you to find out what you think of the industry and you
can ask him questions [about] what’s happening.” (Inshore; mix of mobile;
skippers; Plymouth)
The main focus of interest of most fishermen was knowing what affects them at a local
level. They tended to have less interest in the bigger national or European picture
unless this affected them directly.
“What’s happening in Hartlepool is not affecting us here in Harwich, is it?…

…It’s no good listening to other people’s news, is it?” (Inshore; mix of mobile;
skippers; Harwich)
There were some exceptions, for example, the fishermen in Kings Lynn were mainly
employed by a company that was a key supplier on the international market, and to
Holland in particular, and they were sometimes using Dutch websites (such as
www.hulpinnood.nl) and reading newspapers with a more international scope.
“Fishing Today is more international. We sell on the international markets and we

get word back from what they’re doing in this country or that country. [ ] We’re
doing the same things or trying to do the same things.” (Non-sector; mix of
6.2.1 Trusted sources
Although the fishermen were tapping into various sources of information, when we
asked them who they trusted to provide the most accurate information, the most
common response was ‘no one’ – to a large extent, they feel that there is no one in
whom they can have complete confidence.
Although Defra is considered the only authoritative source of information when it comes
to quotas and rules and regulations, the fishermen did not trust Defra.
“Who would you say is your most trusted source of information? If you
wanted to know what the latest rules and regulations, where?...
…You wouldn’t go to Defra, would you?...
…I don’t know…
101
…No you wouldn’t, well I wouldn’t anyway because they told me a pack of lies [in
relation to having his licence capped]…
…So who would you trust to give you the most accurate up to date
information?...
…Accurate? You never get accurate information, never…
…Unless it’s a - they give you a form saying ‘that’s your quota’ and that’s it…
…There’s a sort of cold war going on between the industry and Defra so it’s
difficult to, you know - you don’t trust them, they don’t trust us and we don’t trust
them, so.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Plymouth)
Fishing News was recognised as having a commercial imperative and some of the
fishermen were less than positive about their representative bodies.
“They're [NFFO] not doing a bad job, they’re not doing a good job or a bad -
they’re just okay.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Kings Lynn)
“We’re one of the NUFTAs, we belong to them but I don’t think we get an awful
lot. We can’t even get on the website. They give us all the things that we had to
get on to their website and we can’t even get on to it.” (Non-sector; mix of
They had no interest in becoming members of a trade union – we were told that at least
one union had tried to get fishermen to enrol some years ago and had failed. They are
keenly aware that they lack any collective representation and that they have no one
‘fighting their corner’ but to a large extent, it boils down to the fact they are such fiercely
independent individuals who feel they are under attack from all sides (see 3.1) and
therefore they trust no one.
“We’re in the middle of a recession and there’s no one to actually speak to,
because Defra will just tell you to piss off. The Government will tell you to piss
off, so what can we do?” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“Everyone here is slightly different probably so it’s very difficult and a lot of the
fishermen are independent so generally don’t like meetings, don’t like
committees, don’t like other people representing their views because the view is
that they’ll just be thinking about themselves. And that is the problem, ain’t it?”
(Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham)
6.3 Communications with and from Defra
6.3.1 Licence variations
As we mentioned above, the most important communications from Defra were the
monthly licence variations. These are essential because without them, fishermen cannot
fish. However, fishermen were extremely critical of the way this information is
communicated to them. Every owner/skipper is sent the complete set of licence
102
variations covering all of the fishing grounds and all of the target species. Even if only
one element of this changes, we were told that the complete document is re-issued.
From the fishermen’s point of view, this means they have to trawl through lots of
‘irrelevant detail’ to try and find the parts that are relevant and they may need to rely on
other people to help them interpret the information.
“The format it’s put in, I don’t know, I just can’t understand it. Every week you get
a letter saying you can’t catch something or other in Norway!...
…It’s got relevant stuff in it, you’ve got to understand it and the quotas but there
is so much of it and it’s hard to find what you need to know. Normally, what you
do is phone your PO up and say ‘what’s going on, what are we allowed to
catch?’” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
“Yeah, they change the rules every month, different quotas. We get snowed
under with stuff.” (Sector; trawls; skippers; N Shields)
We were told time and again that what they wanted was a more tailored approach
whereby they only received information relevant to them and their area.
“Defra send out 200 pounds of paperwork that have no relevance, telling us
boats what’s happening in the North Sea. When there’s a closure in the North
Sea, they notify us. Well, it’s of no bloody interest to me what’s happening in the
North Sea or Iceland or anywhere else and it’s just paperwork. I don’t see why
they send so much bloody paperwork out whereas people only need to know
what’s relevant to their doorstep. Like all of us now that are here, we don’t fish
more than a few miles away from the port of where we are, at this moment. I
was different, I needed more information when I was in bigger boats, fair enough.
But we get reams of paper telling us there’s a closure of this here, there’s a
closure of that there and it’s reams of paper, four or five sheets of paper,
whereas all we need is what is actually restricting us here. I’m not interested in
reading about whether I can catch halibut.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
Moreover, although this information is referred to as ‘monthly’ variations, in reality, they
can be receiving variations on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis.
“At the back end of the year, you can’t keep up with them, you know, they are
two, three times a week, aren’t they? That is because the quota is coming to a
close at the back end of the year.” (Sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers;
Bridlington)
Changes in quotas were sometimes announced with little, if any, lead time. We heard
variations on the following scenario in several of the sessions.
“You do get a Defra notice come out when the stocks are closing or opening,
usually about a day before or when you’ve got home, it’s on the mat…
…You can’t plan ahead…
…They are changing the goalposts so quickly that, you know, rather than give
you a month’s notice - which is reasonable - you’re literally talking about days…
103
…Say, you’ve been out and have got 500 kilo of sole, you’ll get back home
teatime and there’s a thing, ‘oh sole stopped midnight the day before’ and you’ve
got a van full. We had that with the cod and we were getting done for it.”
(Inshore; nets; skippers; Poole)
The fact that they are sent lots of information they feel is irrelevant and the frequency
with which it can arrive, creates a strong impression of a huge waste of both paper and
money, something which is not consistent with the messages about the environment
and sustainability that Defra is trying to promote.
The content of the information was also criticised for being overly technical – for
example, the use of scientific names of all the species and the method used to label the
fisheries (e.g. IVb).
“You’ve got to study it…

…Because they just - it’s all this regulation from so and so to number so and so
and, you know, you’re…
...And you’ve got to refer to your licence because it’s amendment to this
paragraph, that paragraph and you’ve got to refer to the licence to see how does
that affect me?...
…They can’t communicate in a way you can understand. I don’t think it’s
possible. They can’t do that, they can’t speak in normal language, can they? You
more or less need a lawyer to understand them.” (Sector; seine; skippers;
Grimsby)
It was clear from their comments that those fishermen with poor literacy skills struggled
to keep abreast of all the information contained in the licence variations.
“I left school dyslexic, [I] can hardly read and write and I still get, well, we all get
them, why have they got to write things in Latin and they are written in Latin, all
Latin names…
…All the fish species are in Latin names…
…What the ******* hell do we want it all written in Latin for?…
…Is that the only way they are written?...
…No, they are written [in English] as well…
…But why do they waste all that paper and printing? Who knows the Latin name
of any fish, it’s crazy and Roman numerals, I don’t know nothing about Roman
numerals, why have we got Roman numerals?” (Non-sector; mix of mobile;
skippers; Leigh on sea)
“But I’ll be honest, sometimes when it comes through even I can’t make head nor
tail of it, well not sensibly.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
The following exchange sums up much of what we were told about licence variations.
“Defra send us that many letters…
104
…It would be good if they could filter out all the rubbish that doesn’t apply to your
licence…
…It would save them millions if they only sent us the bits of paper that we
need…
…They send you that much that you can’t understand, that’s in scientific
language, and you get it day after day or month after month…
…You just bin it, throw it away…
…You can’t fathom it out…
…You’ll get a page saying you can fish in Norway for lobsters so it goes in the
bin because it doesn’t apply to you. Then there’ll be one page that applies to you
and then they’ll say, ‘we let you know’ and, ‘you didn’t do this’, and then you lose
that entitlement for that species…
…You often get a new regulation coming in [about] what happened last week…
…‘Cause you’re a registered fishing boat and you’ve got a sea fishing licence
they send the same information to us as they do a 25 metre white fish boat in
Aberdeen.” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive; skippers; Boston)
6.3.2 Fishing Focus
Fishing Focus, the joint Defra/MFA quarterly newsletter, was widely recognised but also
criticised. It is not received by non-owner skippers and crew while owners of more than
one boat may receive multiple copies. Although many of our fishermen said that they
sometimes read it, there was almost no recall of any specific content. Moreover, a
number took the view that it lacked any relevance to them as fishermen and that it was
mainly Defra ‘propaganda’ – a vehicle for promoting the things Defra wanted to talk
about rather than dealing with the fishermen’s concerns or interests.
“Fishing Focus - I describe it as they’re going to tell us what our future is going to
be, they don’t want to listen basically to us.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps;
“There is nothing in it for us. There’s a four page copy about saving, closing
marine areas down, it all seems to be against us even though it’s from Defra.”
“The little Fishing In Focus booklet they send you! Takes you about 30 seconds
to read it, then you file it with everything else in the bin, don't you?” (Non-sector;
The fact it only comes out every three months suggested that it was never going to
contain up to the minute new information.
“That’s often old news. To be honest with you, if you don’t know what’s in that
already then you probably haven’t got your ear to the ground enough. Pretty
much everything that’s in there, if it’s a bit on decommissioning the under 10 fleet
and this is the way that you’ve got to go about it. Pretty much if you don’t know it
already, it’s after the fact, really.” (Inshore; mix of passive; skippers; Brixham)
105
6.3.3 Defra website
The Defra website had only been visited by a small number of our fishermen and
usually on a one off basis; certainly, no one we spoke to was using it on a regular basis.
Those who had tried to use it reported that it was not very user friendly – if they had
gone on it to find something specific they often had to spend a long time trying to find
what they were after. It was described as lacking any content aimed specifically at
fishermen.
“I wouldn’t bother going on a Defra site or anything like that.” (Inshore; trawls;
crew; N Shields)
“Appalling, a dreadful website, any information you want is buried right deep
inside, generally it comes out as a consultation paper in the library somewhere,
it’s terrible. It’s difficult to navigate and generally you just have to look for a key
word or something or other and then you’ll get back something like 10,000 pages
on some kind of discussion that’s been had somewhere in a committee meeting
somewhere along the line and you have to filter through those ones and find out
what you want to know.” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
“I find stuff on the Defra website and that if they’ve got anything going on I find it
on there and have a look through it. [ ] Some of it is very hard to find…
…So how often do you go to the website?...
…Oh not very often, only if there’s something controversial going on.” (Inshore;
6.3.4 Face-to-face and telephone communication
Face-to-face and telephone contact were often the preferred methods of

communication, largely delivered via local MFA offices and inspectors. There were
mixed views on the effectiveness of this form of communication, depending on the
nature of the personal relationships in question.
“If you have any queries, basically you can go into your local MFA office and ask
or phone them up.” (Inshore; trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“We get a lot of face to face contact with them every night because they’re there
looking, counting everything you make and it’s very heavy handed.” (Sector;
trawls; skippers; N Shields)
We were told on several occasions of examples where fishermen had tried phoning
either their local MFA office or Defra itself to seek clarification or guidance, only to be
told, ‘we don’t know’. This has created the impression that the rules are so complicated
and/or change so often that even the people who work for Defra are unable to keep up
with the changes. This further undermines their credibility.
106
“I agree with P, they keep sending me all this paperwork through the door and I
haven’t got a clue what half of it means. Quite a few times I’ve actually phoned
Lowestoft and asked them, can they explain that, and they cannot explain it…
…No, that’s absolutely right…
…This is the head fishery office, they can’t explain what they’ve just sent, so how
am I supposed to understand it?...
…Fair point…
…The people they are employing as fishery officers are not up to the job. At a
Kent and Essex meeting in Maidstone six or seven weeks ago, two of the MFA
officers came up from Hastings. They were asked five or six simple questions
and they could not answer. Our own local fishery officer was in the yard two
weeks ago - I went through the same routine of questions, all that he should
know, all about local management, all about the paperwork that he’s set up and
he did not give me one answer. So how can we comply with regulation when the
people enforcing those regulations don’t even know what they are doing
themselves?” (Non-sector; mix of mobile; skippers; Leigh on sea)
“You’ll phone up about legislation, and it’s come through the system so fast they
don’t know what you’re talking about. When you phone up a local fishery office
and say, ‘look, what does this mean?’ - ‘Well I don’t know because we haven’t
had it yet’. So communication could be a struggle under those terms, couldn’t
it?” (Non-sector; mix of passive; skippers & crew; Portsmouth)
This lack of confidence in people who should be authoritative combined with the
fishermen’s desire for local information, meant that they were not interested in having a
call centre that they could contact in the event of an enquiry.
6.3.5 Electronic communication
We came across very few instances of fishermen using fax or email to receive or
communicate with Defra/MFA. A handful of fishermen had signed up to receive licence
variations and quota updates by email.
We explored their interest in the greater use of electronic communication, for example,
text messaging, emails, e-licences and so on. This was of some interest to just a
handful of fishermen.
“We see things electronically that are going to make our life better that are going
to earn us more money. The paperwork side of things, that possibly takes a back
seat.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
Many of them lacked the skills and/or the hardware necessary (and would be reluctant
to acquire these).
“If you haven’t got it, how are you going to get [communications]?…
…Everybody’s got a post box!” (Non-sector/Inshore; mix of mobile/passive;
skippers; Boston)
107
“If they could dis-invent the bloody mobile phone and computer, everything
would be alright. Literally, everything would be fine…
…Do away with computers, mobile phones and Defra.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Mevagissey)
Those who were already using email were reluctant to provide Defra with their email
address and there was a concern that if important information was sent by email or text
messaging, it was more open to abuse – fishermen could claim not to have received a
text, for example. Although the same is true of letters sent through the post, the fact that
this was a more tangible form of communication seemed to give it greater weight in the
fishermen’s eyes. Several fishermen commented that a move to a greater reliance on
electronic media would mainly be of benefit to Defra rather than to themselves.
“I think it’s a definite when it’s there, you’ve got an envelope to open, you know
what I mean, you don’t necessarily go to the computer all the time.” (Inshore;
trawls & pots/traps; skippers; Hartlepool)
“You have got your own copy so if there’s any come back from it, you’ve got your
copy you retain, a hard copy, whereas if it’s all gone electronically, where’s the
proof of what you’ve sent - they hold you to task over getting the date wrong, or
the hour that you left the quay…
…We don’t trust them to - there’s no leeway…
…Better off with what we’ve got.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
There was a noticeable difference between the attitudes of skippers, who need to keep
themselves up to date on any industry developments and licence variations that might
affect them, and crew, who tended to rely on their skippers to keep them up to date and
had no interest in receiving communications from Defra.
“I think what N is trying to say is that he doesn’t need to know the rules and
regulations, that is the skipper’s job, it’s nothing to do with us at all.” (Sector; mix
of mobile; crew; Brixham)
“It wouldn’t have done no good Defra speaking to the crews, because at the end
of the day, the onus is on the skipper. They have to abide by the Defra rules and
he tells his crew, ‘Right, we’ll keep this, we can’t keep this’, and it’s the skipper
that - so there’s no communicating with the crews, there’s no point...
…Is there any way that you want Defra to communicate with you as crew
members?...
…Well, every time they do, they’re just saying something we cannot do, so I’d
rather them just not speak to us.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
6.3.6 Consultations
Fishermen often spoke spontaneously about consultations carried out by Defra. The
overriding impression they had was that while Defra was keen on running consultations,
these represent little more than ‘paying lip service’. What was also clear was that while
108
some fishermen were aware of, and in some cases, had taken part in, consultations,
others seemed unaware of them. Yet a further group may be aware that there is a
consultation taking place but, because they feel cynical about Defra’s intentions, they
had no interest in getting involved. The universal view was that the fishermen’s opinions
are simply ignored and Defra goes ahead and does what it is already planning to do.
“They’ll have a meeting with the fishermen, skippers or owners. They only invite
people to that meeting to tell you what they’ve already sorted out, so you can’t
say anything more. It’s all they tell you for.” (Inshore; trawls; crew; N Shields)
“I think they could listen to you a bit more, you know, when they have these
consultation documents and you do respond to them. You know, I think they
could take it on board and act a bit, respond a bit more to your suggestions, the
fishermen’s suggestions…
…The thing is that they often have these consultation documents that they sent
out, and I don’t think they are as much as a consultation document as an
information document, telling you what they are going to do. Although they say
it’s a consultation document.” (Sector; mix of mobile & passive; skippers;
Bridlington)
“Being told that you can’t catch this and you can’t catch that and consultation
periods and all this crap basically. They give you a consultation period and the
next minute, it’s there on your doorstep. You know, they give you a piece of
paper saying, ‘this may come in’ and you’ve got to say. In six months time down
the road, you’ve got a piece of paper saying,’ yes, definite that’s it’. It’s done,
signed and sealed.” (Inshore; hooks; skippers; St Ives)
It was clear from the discussions about consultations that fishermen are crying out to
have a voice – but they want to feel their voice is not just heard but acted on. They want
to feel they have some degree of ownership over, and control of, their industry since
this is how they make their livelihood.
“Quite often they meet us but that’s not to talk to us, that’s just to tell us…
… [Not to] listen to us…
… [Not to] just work with us, ask for our knowledge…
…They’re a dictatorship…
…There’s no leeway or give and take or friendliness or whatever. It’s us and
them - we’re the enemy.” (Inshore; mix of mobile; skippers; Harwich)
“I don’t feel that I’ve got any avenue to get my views across to Defra, I don’t
know if any larger boat fishermen do feel any better. So I think I’d like Defra, if
we have to put up with them, when they sit down around the table to discuss
issues, to pay at least as much attention to the existing fishermen as they do to
the scientists.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
109
6.4 Licence Capping – an Example of Communication Failure?
The fieldwork was conducted shortly after the licence capping scheme was introduced
in England14. Although the topic was not raised by the researchers, it was mentioned
spontaneously in a number of the sessions, mainly among fishermen from the South
West. A number of them had been capped themselves while most knew of other
fishermen who had been. Those who had been capped claimed it had come as a shock,
and that it had the potential to seriously impact on their future livelihood by reducing
their ability to adapt and diversify to a range of different stocks and by reducing the
value of their investment – a capped licence would attract a lower value. For example,
one fisherman said the value of his licence had fallen by some £20,000 as a result of it
being capped.
From the ensuing discussions, we recorded very mixed views in terms of who seemed
to know what and when they found out. Poor literacy had clearly paid a part in some
cases.
Several fishermen claimed that the scheme was introduced without any warning. Others
said it was only announced after the qualification period was over. Some knew that the
qualification period had been extended while others claimed not to be aware of this.
“The fishermen weren’t told about it at all. They just brought this in and said, ‘this
is it, this is what’s happening’. Never gave anybody a chance to catch the 300
kilos in the allotted time, they just railroaded way over the top of the fishermen
and didn’t give them the chance.” (Inshore; hooks & nets; skippers; Plymouth)
“The reference period was finished before that letter came. You had to have
done it before the end of 2007…
…But I thought you were warned before…
…No, if we’d had a warning we would have all done it…
…They’ve carried that period on another six months from when they originally
said that they would have.” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
Some had been aware of the consultation and had taken part but, as we have already
reported, they had little faith that their views would be listened to; something which they
felt was borne out by subsequent events.
14
Following a consultation, a licence is now automatically capped if the catch for a quota stock has been
below 300 kilos p.a. The original reference period was the best consecutive 12 month period between
07/06 and 01/08; this was later extended to 08/08. Where a quota has not been fished, effort is capped at
no more than 300kg of quota stocks. Some 1500 capped licences have been issued while 1000 remain
full licences. It is estimated that c.500 of the capped licences are dormant i.e. no catch has been
recorded against them.
110
“There was an under 10 consultation last year on a load of topics [ ], one of
them was decommissioning, licence capping and stuff [ ]. They asked for a
response and we responded as an organisation down here and some people
wrote in as individuals as well, and they took no notice at all of the consultation,
they just introduced what they were going to. They consulted twice on it,
changed nothing and then introduced it, so that’s why people are very frustrated
with the MFA and Defra.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
In terms of how they first heard about the scheme, some said they had read about it in
Fishing Focus, but others had not. Some said that the formal notification had been sent
to them through the post but that it was ‘buried in amongst all the other information’
(and as we have reported above, many of them struggle to make sense of the licence
variations they receive).
“I feel the way that they’ve dealt with this capping and the licence is
underhanded. Did anybody get it?...
…No I can’t remember it…
…I can’t remember it and from what I’ve been told, it came in a glossy magazine
[Fishing Focus]. Basically, that’s what K said…
…I’m not sure that’s altogether true. I’ll tell you what it came in, we get from the
Government quota because, as a fisherman, we got our licences and they give
us stuff all the time to tell us how many variations we’ve got and it’s coming
through nearly, sometimes everyday, in the summer. Probably twice a week,
very often. And these things, to be honest, is a waste of trees…
…It doesn’t even apply to us half of it…
…No it’s an absolute waste of time and money but the point is we have to have it
come through because it supplies our licence. This letter came through with
exactly the same. Now for a fisherman who sees these things coming in all the
time, he almost…
…But this letter for 10 metre boats, that was urgent. Those that didn’t catch the
300 kilo needed to catch it within the period of two years.” (Inshore; pots/traps;
skippers; Newlyn)
Others who said they had not noticed it felt it was far too important an issue to be
communicated in this way.
“Can I just check with you on that particular issue, when did you find out
that your licence could be capped if you didn’t catch a certain amount of
stock?...
…Well, I don’t really know, that’s something else as well…
…Last August…
…It wasn’t put on a piece of paper ‘Urgent’. It was in a glossy magazine from
what I’ve been told because I don’t even remember it coming through the door…
…They don’t make a point of it, do they? It’s a very important thing and it caught
us all off[guard].” (Inshore; pots/traps; skippers; Newlyn)
111
Even allowing for the fact that some of the fishermen may have been exaggerating or
over-stating their position, there were enough fishermen saying similar things to indicate
that the communication relating to licence capping, both with respect to the consultation
and the subsequent introduction of the scheme, had not been effective.
Some fishermen said that they had contacted Defra to try and seek clarification about
the scheme, without any success.
“They wouldn’t tell us. I have asked numerous times because I was going
through the process of having a second boat and they wouldn’t tell me. They
said, ‘oh if it does, if it does, if it does’, well that’s all very well but people have
got to get on with their lives.” (Inshore; nets; skippers; Mevagissey)
At least one young fisherman had bought a boat and a licence after the reference
period came to an end without realising what was happening.
“I bought my licence and I got the boat after and I didn’t know anything about it
so I couldn’t do anything about it and now I’m in the shit basically.” (Inshore;
Most of those fishermen who had been capped claimed that they either had already re-
registered, or they planned to re-register, in Wales or Scotland. Moreover, the fact that
they were able to do so was seen as a loophole which served to underline their
perception of Defra as ‘incompetent’ and their view of the scheme as a ‘futile exercise’.
“It just proves with that capping scheme - absolute chaos, that. They’ve capped
a lot of licences, mine included, to 300 kilos per fish stock per year. I’ve just had
to go through the expense of re-registering my boat in Wales which is a way
around it because the Welsh Assembly hasn’t accepted it. Neither have
Northern Ireland or Scotland. It’s just England. So it’s just a paper exercise and
it’s cost me money and time and it’s just ludicrous, to be honest.” (Inshore; hooks
& nets; skippers; Plymouth)
112
7 Fisherman Typologies
7.1 Introduction
One of the aims of the research was to arrive at a segmentation of fishermen by
identifying a number of ‘typologies’ based on their needs, motivations, values and
beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Typologies can provide a useful guide for developing
communications both in terms of defining different target groups and by understanding
how each of these differs.
We have identified three main types and seven additional sub-types. These are based
very much on a synthesis and interpretation of the findings by the research team. They
are qualitative, broad brush descriptions or pen portraits; the descriptions of the various
‘types’ are not based on individual fishermen but should be seen as amalgams of
characteristics. As such, they should be treated very much as working hypotheses –
ways of thinking about fishermen as a group without necessarily providing a precise
description of any one fisherman. Indeed, the three main typologies are probably best
thought of in terms of three points on a continuum, rather than as three discrete, non-
overlapping categories.
7.2 ‘Leaders’, ‘Lieutenants’ and ‘Followers’

It was clear from our analysis of the 21 discussion sessions that fishermen form a series
of tightly knit local communities that have many shared values and similar attitudes. At
the same time, however, they are a highly fragmented group both in terms of what and
how they fish and the very strong sense of individualism they exhibit. They are highly
protective of their own local fishing areas and practices. This is true not only in terms of
non-fishermen who they see as impinging upon and threatening their livelihood; they
are also suspicious of other fishermen. This particularly applies to the Inshore fleet’s
attitudes towards the Over 10 metre fleet; moreover, both of these are resentful about
the perceived impact of the very large ‘factory’ fishing vessels.
Taken together, this makes the identification of typologies problematic because, at one
level, all the fishermen were very similar while at another level, they are all very
different. While it is possible to segment fishermen along traditional lines based on
vessel size, management of quotas and types of gear used, in our view, this is not likely
to be especially helpful for the reasons already given. For example, attitudes, beliefs
113
and values about the environmental impact of fishing and the state of fish stocks did not
vary in any obvious way across these categories. Fishing gear can broadly be grouped
under two headings: mobile and passive. Some fishermen in our sample tended to use
either mobile or passive gear; moreover, within this, some were using a limited range of
gear types (some might just be trawling, some might only use dredging gear) while
others would switch between different gears at different times of year; this was
especially true of the Inshore fleet. Thus, any classification based on type of gear will be
difficult to apply since a fisherman might fall into several different ‘boxes’ over the
course of the year.
The majority of the fishermen we spoke to were pessimistic about their future prospects
because of the imposition of quotas and other restrictions on what they are allowed to
do. At the same time, many of them believe that fishing has the potential to be a viable
industry. This is based on the perception that there are sufficient supplies of fish and
they could be making a reasonable living if only they were allowed to do so. Leaving to
one side the rights or wrongs of their arguments, one of the things which seemed to
differentiate between the fishermen, and which provides a basis for developing
typologies, is the way they are approaching and dealing with the uncertain future. We
have identified three typologies based on this, namely:
• ‘Leaders’
• ‘Lieutenants’
• ‘Followers’.
7.2.1 ‘Leaders’
It seemed to us that a small number of fishermen were adopting a more strategic,

business focused approach to their situation. While they shared their fellow
fishermen’s anger and concern about their circumstances, they came across as less
hot-headed and as more articulate, reasonable and measured in their response. They
appeared to be more focused on looking for solutions to their problems and, as part
of this, were possibly more willing to acknowledge that there are different perspectives
that have to be considered. They were trying to be proactive and this may mean they
are able to adopt compromises. There is a possibility that they would privately
114
acknowledge, at least to themselves,15 that there are problems both in relation to stock
levels and that fishermen can have a negative impact on the environment more
generally. Nevertheless, like all other fishermen, they hate the quota system, not only
because it limits what they can do and earn, but also because of the high discards it
gives rise to. They would not consider the quota system to be an effective conservation
measure.
They have probably being fishing for a good many years but they still have the energy
and enthusiasm to rise to the challenge. They have made a good living out of fishing
over the years – and the chances are they are among some of the higher earners in
today’s market. This has come about through a combination of hard work, keeping
abreast of what is going on in the industry and keeping their boat and gear up to date.
They are probably more likely to:
• be owner skippers rather than non-owner skippers; they are extremely unlikely to
be found among crew (other than someone starting out who has the potential to
own their own boat in the future)
• have owned several boats over the course of their career and, possibly, currently
own more than one boat
• have invested in a ‘Super Under 10’ boat in order to maximise the benefits this
gives rise to
• be computer literate and receptive to the idea of greater use of electronic

communications as they will see this as benefitting themselves and their work.
They may well be actively involved in their local fisherman’s association or other similar
groups, they like to keep themselves up to date with what is happening and they have
almost certainly responded to previous consultations. They may have also tried to enlist
the support of their local MP. Although small in number, they are the ones who are best
placed to lead their community’s response to the issues. They are prepared to listen to
what others have to say and they also want to be heard. As such, they can be thought
of as natural leaders who represent an excellent connection point when trying to
communicate with local fishing communities.
15
Possibly only to themselves and certainly not to other fishermen unless they were convinced they held
similar views.
115
7.2.2 ‘Lieutenants’
This typology is made up of fishermen, mainly skippers, who have highly developed
fishing skills but who do not have the same degree of business acumen or focus as
‘leaders’. As a group, they are likely to have lower levels of literacy and are less
articulate. This can make it harder for them to express themselves which, in turn, can
result in frustration, resentment and anger. Whereas ‘leaders’ keep themselves up to
date with developments across the wider industry, ‘lieutenants’ are more focused on
keeping themselves informed in terms of what directly affects themselves and
their local fishing community. They recognise that something needs to be done about
the state of the fishing industry but they are less able to view this from a more detached
perspective and less able to approach it strategically. For this reason, they tend to
react to the latest events.
They are likely to be well respected within their community for their fishing skills and
ability, and they are likely to be listened to by their peers, but their inward focus means
they are less well placed to take the lead in tackling the problems confronting their
industry. In this regard, they are very able ‘lieutenants’ but they require a leader to set
the direction in which they will be able to capably follow.
They were, without doubt, the largest group in our sample and this means they are an
important segment to target along with ‘leaders’.
7.2.3 ‘Followers’
This typology is largely made up of crew and those skippers who have tried to carry on
doing what they have always been doing with little attempt to change with the times.
They love fishing as both a way of life and a way of making a living and they often come
across as ‘old sea dogs’ – rough, tough and extremely hard working. Although many
fishermen lack formal qualifications and have relatively poorly developed literacy skills,
this is particularly true among ‘followers’. They feel angry and resentful about their
situation and this gets expressed very loudly and forcefully. Crew members, in
particular, are self professed followers. They do not want the responsibility of being a
skipper, they just want to be told what to do and providing this steer comes from, and is
accepted by, ‘leaders’ and ‘lieutenants’, they will follow.
116
From a communication point of view, this segment is not a priority; instead, the aim
should be to use the ‘leaders’ and ‘lieutenants’ to influence ‘followers’.
7.3 Additional ‘Types’

In addition to the three main typologies just outlined, we also identified a number of sub-
types that provide other ways of thinking about fishermen. We briefly outline them
below.
7.3.1 ‘Diversifiers’ vs. ‘Specialists’
‘Diversifiers’ refers to those fishermen who are using a variety of gear types to target
different fish stocks throughout the year in order to maximise their potential returns. It is
likely that some have always approached their fishing in this way (which might put them
into the ‘lieutenant’ segment) however, it was also clear that some had started to
diversify in response to quota restrictions (and this suggests they may be ‘leaders’).
In contrast, ‘specialists’ focus on one type of fishery either through choice or because of
licence restrictions or because they are reluctant to diversify because they fear
circumstances might change which make it difficult to realise the value of any new gear
(all of which might suggest they are ‘lieutenants’) or because they have identified a
particular opportunity (which would suggest they are ‘leaders’).
Of the two segments, ‘specialists’ are more vulnerable in the future if the targeted
stocks come under pressure and/or additional restrictions are introduced.
7.3.2 ‘Looking forward to retirement’
This segment is made up of older fishermen who have just a few years to go before
they retire and are mainly ‘seeing out their time’. However, they have concerns that they
may not be able to realise the value of their investment and they may continue to fish
past the normal retirement age, albeit less often. This will be either through necessity or
enjoyment (given what we have learned about fishermen, they are not the sort of people
who could suddenly switch to a more sedentary lifestyle). They are likely to be found
mainly among ‘lieutenants’ and ‘followers’.
117
They represent an obvious group to target if there is a need to reduce the number of
fishermen. They may, however, require financial compensation; otherwise, they are
likely to carry on much as they are.
7.3.3 ‘Johnny come lately’
A number of people in our sample had turned to full-time fishing relatively late in life
after holding down a job and/or career elsewhere. They often had their roots in a fishing
community and despite having a different career, they managed to maintain their
interest in fishing (possibly as ‘weekenders’; see below). They are likely to have fewer
financial burdens as they will have earned enough from their earlier job(s) to put
themselves on a relatively firm financial footing. They are also more likely to be older
(indeed, they may well overlap with the previous segment) such that any children have
probably left home. They are fishing mainly for pleasure. We suspect they could be
found among both ‘leaders’ and ‘lieutenants’.
7.3.4 ‘Weekend/part-time fishermen’
This segment describes people who hold down a full or part-time job elsewhere and
who go fishing in their spare time. We did not have any of them in our sample, although
one or two of our fishermen said that their sons came into this category. They
sometimes felt this was the only way younger people could get involved in fishing under
the current conditions.
In contrast, some other fishermen were vocally opposed to what they saw as people,
who were earning a comfortable living from doing something else, ‘taking away the
livelihood’ of full-time fishermen. As such, they were often not accepted as part of the
wider community.
They have the potential to become ‘Johnny come lately’s’ at some point in the future.
7.3.5 ‘Ready to jump ship’
This was a small group made up mainly of younger crew members who feel there is
little future for them and that they would be better off doing something else. Members of
this segment are likely to leave the industry in the near future.
118
7.3.6 ‘Niche fishermen’
This is a small but interesting segment based mainly on just two respondents who were
deliberately adopting a quality positioning16.
One of these had chosen to focus on hand line caught fish which he was tagging so that
his catch was traceable back to him. His emphasis was on lower volumes but better
quality, higher value fishing.
The second respondent was an owner who did not fish himself but had gone into
partnership with a local skipper17. He had his roots in the local fishing community
although he was a middle class professional with qualifications in marine science. He
works full-time in Oxford and jointly owns a boat in the South West with the skipper. He
had decided to invest in the partnership because he had identified a niche opportunity
for fresh, high quality, hand caught, low food miles fish. He saw this as the future for the
Inshore fleet. Although of ‘leadership’ potential, he was clearly perceived by most of the
other fishermen in the session as ‘not one of us’. Indeed, they were suspicious of his
ideas and were unable to see the potential in his arguments, preferring instead to react
to what he had to say in a rather negative and defensive manner. As such, the other
fishermen in the group were conforming more to the ‘lieutenant’ and ‘follower’
typologies.
16
It is possible that one or two other fishermen would also have come into this category. They did not
provide any explicit evidence for this in terms of how they were fishing although some of their comments
or attitudes suggest they shared similar opinions. Whatever the case, this is still a very small group.
17
Non-fishing owners were supposed to be screened out of the sample. This individual was not recruited
but his partner – who skippers their jointly owned boat – was recruited. The skipper then invited his
partner to attend the group without checking if this was possible. As the partner had driven to Penzance
from Oxford in order to participate, he was allowed to join the session. As it happened, this provided
some useful insights.
119
8 Communicating with and Influencing Fishermen
8.1 Introduction
In this section of our report we review what we have learned about how to communicate
with fishermen. We begin by summarising why we believe Defra’s current
communication model is ‘not working’ and go on to consider a way forward for any
future communications.
8.2 Ineffectiveness of the Current Model

Based on what fishermen have told us, our conclusion about the current communication
model is that it is not working. There are at least two sets of reasons for this conclusion.
First of all, the relationship between Defra and fishermen is extremely fraught and,
judging from what we have heard from both Defra and the fishermen, it has been like
this for some considerable period of time. What this means is that the audience is
hostile, defensive and not open to persuasion. In this context, any method of
communication is going to struggle to succeed.
• The second reason is that, from the audience’s perspective, the

communication model has a number of serious flaws. It appears to be based on
what works best for Defra rather than the needs of the intended audience.
8.3 Future Communications: Is There a Way Forward?

8.3.1 Two way communication
If the industry is to move forward, in our view the current deadlock between Defra and
the fishermen needs to be broken and this can only happen if there is effective
communication between the two parties. Given the nature of the fishermen, it is unlikely
that the first move will come from them, in which case it will need to come from Defra.
Having said this, the formation of the new representative body, NUTFA, could be seen
as an attempt by some fishermen to organise themselves into a group that can
communicate with Defra and the UK Government on behalf of the industry.
Engaging fishermen in productive and effective dialogue is not going to be an easy task;
however our research has identified some of the possible ways forward.
120
In our view, the key to success lies in effective two-way communication. If fishermen are
to embrace any changes to the way they fish and earn their living, if they are to
embrace the long-term vision for sustainable fisheries, they must take ownership of, and
feel that they have a degree of control over, both the process and the outcomes. For
this to happen, they need to feel that their views, concerns and needs are taken into
account. They do not want just to be listened to (they feel this happens already with
consultations), they also want to be able to influence the outcomes.
8.3.2 A local community based model of communication
To all intents and purposes, their local fishing community defines who fishermen are; it
drives their interest and it will also drive their engagement with the issues. Although
there needs to be a resolution that is fair across the country, the fishermen in Cornwall
are not especially interested in what happens in the North Sea, unless, of course, the
fishermen in the North Sea are seen as getting a better deal!
In addition to thinking about fishermen in terms of typologies, we suggest that future

communications should be developed to take into account the importance of the
network of local fishing communities. A number of our fishermen commented that the
group discussion that they took part in was the first time they had been given the
opportunity to air their views in a forum where they were listened to. Some of them said
they would like to have a regular local forum for conveying their opinions to Defra.
Although Defra has a regional network of MFA offices and inspectors already in place,
this is not the best vehicle to use (at least in the beginning) for any community based
communications. This is because MFA inspectors are perceived to be the ‘enforcers’ –
the ‘police force’ of the industry. Moreover, as we have reported earlier, there was
evidence that MFA staff may find it difficult to keep themselves up to speed with all the
changes and this can result in a loss of credibility.
To be effective, a local communication model needs to seek out the ‘head men’ and the
‘village elders’ who will act as ‘gatekeepers’ to the wider fishing community. Some
fishing communities have a fishermen’s association in place or there may be active local
branches of some of the national bodies, such as NUTFA and these may represent one
way of establishing these lines of communication. However, these organisations may
not always represent all local fishermen and this will need to be looked at on a case by
121
case basis. There is also the danger that if the local branch of a national body acts as
the main conduit for one community, there will be an assumption by that body that it
should fulfil this role in every community, and this may not be appropriate.
It will be crucial that the model actively identifies, targets and engages with the ‘leaders’
in each community as their response is likely to influence how the ‘lieutenants’ and
‘followers’ will respond. Although across our sample there was a fair amount of
resistance to ‘e-comms’, we suspect that many ‘leaders’ will be more receptive and this
may help in identifying them in the first place and then reaching them. However, as all
fishermen are likely to be very busy earning their living, ‘leaders’ may struggle to find
the time needed to engage fully. One idea is to have a local fishermen’s ambassador
in place in every fishing community. This would be someone – or possibly a small team
– chosen by the fishermen to represent them and their views at local, regional and
national discussions. Such a scheme would almost certainly require a level of funding to
make it viable.
“The man who is going to do you, a spokesman, independent, who says, ‘look
this is what’s happening’, the fishermen won’t have a go at them if they know
he’s independent…
..He tells you what Defra’s ideas are…
…A middle man, you’ve got a thread between the two.” (Inshore; nets; skippers;
Poole)
8.3.3 Responding to literacy levels
There is a pressing need to develop methods of communication that rely less on the
written word. This is likely to include posters (visual) and audio messages (aural).In this
context, lessons can be applied from the field of viral marketing and advertising which
use existing social networks (in this case, local fishing communities) to spread the word
(via the tea room, pub and over their VHF radios, in the case of fishermen). One
possibility might involve the setting up of local ‘phone trees’ to ensure all fishermen hear
about key developments.
8.3.4 Some ‘quick fixes’
There are a number of things that Defra might be able to implement relatively quickly to
improve communications with fishing communities and thereby demonstrate its desire to
respond to some of their feedback. This might include:
122
• providing monthly licence variations on a more targeted basis, especially among
the Inshore fleet. For example, fishermen might be invited to nominate the sea
areas and the target stocks they are interested in and only receive information
that relate to these; they would need to have a means of accessing information
about other areas and/or stocks in case they decide to change where they
fish/what they fish for and they would also need to accept that it is their
responsibility to source this additional information before changing their fishing
practices
• a programme of regional and/or local forums to act as both a sounding board

and as a way of communicating and explaining policy
• a section of the Defra website, a microsite or a stand alone site, aimed

specifically at fishermen that does not just present policy information but also
news and examples of best practice from around the communities; one approach
might be for each community to be invited to submit its own material; another
possibility would be to use the site to provide feedback on the local forums –
both in terms of the issues raised and Defra’s response to them. In a similar vein,
the site could include an online discussion forum where fishermen can share
their ideas and opinions; the site should include lots of graphics, video and
sound clips so that all fishermen (with a computer) can access the site content.
123
9 Appendices
9.1 Recruitment Questionnaire
Fishermen
Circle the group being recruited


Location Description
G1 North Shields Sector vessels using trawls/dredges
G2 North Shields Under10 vessels using trawls
G3 Hartlepool/Redcar/Sunderland Under10 vessels using pots & traps
G4 Scarborough Sector vessels using passive methods (hooks & lines, pots & traps, nets)
G5 Scarborough Under10 vessels using pots and traps
G6 Kings Lynn Non-sector vessels using mobile methods (trawls, dredges, harvesting)
G7 Harwich/Felixstowe Under10 vessels using mobile methods (trawls, dredges, harvesting)
G8 Leigh on sea Non-sector vessels using mobile methods (trawls, dredges, harvesting)
G9 Hastings Under10 vessels using nets
G10 Portsmouth Non-sector vessels using passive methods (hooks & lines, pots & traps, nets)
G11 Portsmouth Under10 vessels using harvesting machines
G12 Poole Under10 vessels using nets
G13 Plymouth Under10 vessels using mobile methods (trawls, dredges, harvesting)
G14 Plymouth Under10 vessels using hooks
G15 Brixham Sector vessels using mobile methods (trawls, dredges, harvesting)
G16 Brixham Non-sector vessels using passive methods (hooks & lines, pots & traps, nets)
G17 Mevagissey Under10 vessels using nets
G18 Newlyn Sector vessels using passive methods (hooks & lines, pots & traps, nets)
G19 Newlyn Under10 vessels using pots & traps
G20 St Ives Under10 vessels using hooks
INTERVIEWER DECLARATION
I DECLARE THAT THIS IS A TRUE RECORD OF A FACE TO FACE INTERVIEW WITH THE NAMED RESPONDENT WHICH WAS
CONDUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS AND THE CODE OF CONDUCT.
SIGNATURE:_____________________________________________________________
PRINT NAME:____________________________________________________________ DATE:_____________________________
124
Record below details about the Respondent
R1. Fishing Activity: establish which of the following apply to respondent

Currently fishing and/or planning to fish in the next 12 months 1 Recruit to
Vessel due to be decommissioned 2 quota
– see
Fished last year but have no plans to fish in the next 12 months 3 instruc
Did not fish last year and has no plans to fish in the next 12 months 4 tions
R2. Role R5. Gender

Owner – non-fishing 1 CLOSE male 1
owner skipper 2 female 2
non-owner skipper 3
crew 4
R3. Age R6. Full/part time
16-24 1 Full-time fisherman (all year round) 1
25-34 2 Full-time (seasonal) 2
35-44 3 Part-time 3
45-54 4 R7. Nationality
55-64 5 British 1
65+ 6 Other – permanently residing in 2 Must have
UK fluent
Englis
h
R4. No of Years as a fisherman Other – not permanently residing
3 CLOSE
(write in) ________yrs in UK
R8. Membership (SHOW CARD A) Are you a member of any of the organisations listed here? If no, code under A
If yes, find out if
respondent attends meetings to find out what is happening and to express his own views (code under B)
respondent attends meetings as a representative of other fishermen (code under C)
respondent is a current or past committee member or officer holder or is actively involved in the organisation in
some other capacity (code under D)
A B C D
Fish Producer Organisation 1 2 3 4
Sea Fisheries Committee 1 2 3 4
National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) 1 2 3 4
New Under Tens Fishermen’s Association (NUTFA) 1 2 3 4
none of the above 1 CLOSE CLOSE
125
Record below details about the Vessel If necessary, explain to respondent that this information is only being
collected to ensure we recruit fishermen from a spread of vessels and fishing methods. It will not be shared with the
client.
V1. Write in Vessel Name and either the RSS or PLN number – if you use the vessel lists supplied with your pack,
you should confirm these details with the respondent
Name:
RSS:
PLN:
V2. Vessel type: confirm this with respondent and code below.
If recruiting Under10 also ask: Is your vessel what is sometimes referred to as a ‘super under10’? One way of
defining a ‘super under10’ is if it is over 9 metres in length and with an engine size of over 50kW. If
respondent classes the vessel as a ‘super under10’ code as 4 below, otherwise code all Under10s as 3
Sector 1
Vessel type must match the group
Non-sector 2 you are recruiting. If
recruiting Under10, try to
Under10 3 include any Super
under10s you come across
‘Super under10’ 4
V3. Types of fishing gear (SHOW CARD B). Record which types of fishing gear are used most (you can multicode if
2 or more used equally). Also code which other types of gear are used.
Used Most Also used
Trawls (including beam, otter, pairs, bottom, midwater, 1 1

nephrops, shrimp, seine and other trawls)
Dredges and harvesting machines 2 2

Types of gear must
Nets (drift, fixed, gill, entangling, lift, and other passive nets) 3 3
match the
group you are
Hooks and lines (including hand and pole, longlines, trolling 4 4 recruiting
lines)
Pots and traps 5 5
Other: write in 6 6
V4. Stocks fished V5. No. of crew including respondent
Quota stocks only 1 One 1
Non-quota stocks only 2 Two 2
Both quota and non-quota stocks 3 Three-Five 3
Six + 4
126
Data Protection
Give Respondent Letter 1 (groups not filmed) or Letter (groups filmed) and ask him to read
it and then sign to indicate his agreement for the research to be recorded. You must have a
signed copy of the letter from each respondent and these need to be given to the
moderator before the start of the group.
Read out:
Occasionally, once a project is completed we may need to re-contact people who take part in a
research study either to follow up something that has arisen or to invite them to participate in some
research on a related topic.
Would you be willing for us to contact you in the future, should the need arise?
Record contact details below
YES [ ]
Explain that you need to record the respondent's contact details so that they
NO [ ] can be contacted in the event of a change of plans (e.g. the moderator is ill)
and also for quality control procedures. Reassure respondents that th is
information will only be used for these purposes.
RESPONDENT DETAILS
REASSURE RESPONDENTS THAT NO PERSONAL DETAILS OR RESPONSES WILL BE PASSED ON TO ANYONE NOT DIRECTLY
CONCERNED WITH THE RESEARCH.
NAME:________________________________________________ ______________________
ADDRESS:___________________________________________________________________Postcode________________________________
PHONE NO: NO PHONE ( ) REFUSED NO ( )
127
SHOW CARD A
Fish Producer Organisation
Sea Fisheries Committee
National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO)
New Under Tens Fishermen’s Association (NUTFA)
128
SHOW CARD B
Trawls (including beam, otter, pairs, bottom, midwater,

nephrops, shrimp, seine and other trawls)
Dredges and harvesting machines
Nets (drift, fixed, gill, entangling, lift, and other passive nets)
Hooks and lines (including hand and pole, longlines, trolling
lines)
Pots and traps
Other
9.2 Recruiter Guidelines

Purpose
The research is on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
and involves talking to fishermen. The aim is to find out from the fishermen what their job and
life is like and it is their opportunity to share their views with Defra. The fishing industry is
currently experiencing difficulties due to shortages of a number of fish stocks. Defra is keen to
hear directly from fishermen about how their life is affected by this situation. Your information
pack includes copies of a letter from Defra which confirms they have commissioned the
research. You can either show or give a copy to the respondent if necessary.
You may find that some fishermen are not very positive about Defra. You should provide the
usual reassurances about confidentiality and anonymity and you should explain that this is their
opportunity to have their say. One thing you might mention to them is that while there are lots of
statistics about the fishing industry, to date very little research has been conducted directly
among fishermen in order to understand what their life is like and this project is intended to
change this.
The research is focusing on fishermen and fishing vessels registered in England only.
The research will take the form of mini-groups (5 respondents to attend) and full size groups (8
to attend). In some situations where there are only small numbers of vessels to recruit from, an
alternative approach would be to recruit 2 paired depths in place of the mini-groups. All groups
and depths will last 2 hours.
These guidelines are intended to help you recruit the right sorts of people. There are quite a lot
of technical terms to get to grips with and we have tried to explain what these mean –
129
respondents should know what they mean even if you are not sure yourself, so don’t worry! If
there is anything you are unsure about, please be sure to ask before you start work.
Additional Guidelines
Before you start recruiting, you should make contact with the following organisations (see your
contacts sheet which is part of your pack) as they should be able to give you advice about the
local conditions, and when and where to find the types of fishermen you need to recruit. Your
recruitment pack also includes a list of vessels that should fit the requirements of your particular
groups in terms of vessel type (V2) and type of gear used (V3). These contacts may be able to
update this list – either by suggesting additional vessels or by telling you if any of the vessels
are no longer fishing. The list also indicates each vessel’s home port – however, vessels do
move around and some of them may not actually be based at the stated ports – your contacts
may again be able to help you here.
They may also be able to provide you with contact details of fishermen – such as names and
possibly phone numbers. In addition, they may be able to suggest a suitable venue where the
groups can take place – please note, this should be a neutral venue – a room in a local pub, a
room in a seaman’s hostel etc. – please avoid holding the sessions in any venues that belong to
government offices etc.
• Marine and Fisheries Agency: this is a government agency that has staff based in local
port offices who will have good local knowledge. Your information pack will include
contact details. They have all been informed of the research and told that someone will
be in touch with them. You should approach this contact first, explain the types of
fishermen you want to find and seek their advice.
• Producer Organisations: this only applies if you are recruiting what are known as Sector
fishermen. Producer Organisations typically are co-operatives set up by fishermen to
manage their fishing quotas on behalf of their members. If you are recruiting a group of
Sector fishermen your information pack will contain contact details of the relevant
Producer Organisations who may be able to help you find respondents. Letters have
been sent to the relevant Producer Organisations explaining the research and asking for
their assistance if approached.
• Sea Fisheries Committees: these are local committees made up of representatives from
local government as well as representatives of local fishermen and they also might be
able to help you get in touch with the right types of fishermen. Contact details are
provided in your information pack. Letters have been sent to the relevant Producer
Organisations explaining the research and asking for their assistance if approached.
Please note: you should use these contacts to help you make contact with fishermen but we do
not want them to nominate particular individuals to take part. They can suggest to you who the
local opinion formers are – it will help you recruit your group(s) if you can win them over - but it
is important that we speak to a good cross-section of fishermen and not just those who are
more active in their local community.
Fishermen tend to live in tightly formed communities and most of them will know each other and
there is no restriction on recruiting respondents who know one another. Indeed, you can ask
those who agree to take part to suggest other fishermen – provided, of course, they fit your
particular quotas.
Where to Recruit
Your information pack contains a list of vessels for each group you need to recruit. These
vessels should all meet the requirements of that group. However, this is only a starting point as
some of the vessels may have been laid up or sold. Against each vessel a ‘home port’ will be
shown. Hopefully, most of the vessels will be working out of their home port – but again this is
not always the case so check with your contacts first. In some cases where there is a
reasonably large number of vessels based in the same home port, you may be able to recruit
130
the entire group from vessels based in the same home port. However, for several of the types of
respondents we want to recruit, you may need to recruit fishermen from 2-3 nearby ports. In this
case, you will need to decide on the most suitable location to use to hold the sessions. Again,
we have made some suggestions in your individual pack.
When to Arrange the Sessions
You will need to work out with your respondents when to schedule the sessions. Your contacts
may also be able to help here. This will depend very much on when respondents are at sea.
The sessions can be arranged for during the day or the evening and on weekdays or weekends.
We will aim to fit around the best times. If you are recruiting 2 sessions at the same location
please try to arrange them for the same day if at all possible. Only one researcher will be
visiting each location so the sessions will need to be scheduled to run one after the other.
Alternatively, if it is not possible to fit two sessions on the same day, please try and schedule
them for consecutive days.
Incentives and Taxis
Respondents will receive an incentive of £80 for taking part in the research.
In some locations you may need to recruit respondents from more than one port which will
mean some respondents may need to travel to the research venue. In these circumstances, you
may arrange a taxi. You should make the arrangements yourself in order to keep costs down –
for example, one taxi may be able to collect 2-3 respondents.
Who to Recruit
There are 3 key variables you should use to recruit your groups. These are described below.
1. Type of vessel (question V2 on the questionnaire): there are 3 different types of vessel and
fishermen in each group must all be from the same type
− Sector: these vessels are all 10m or more in length and they belong to a
Producer Organisation. The Producer Organisation manages the fishing quotas
on behalf of its members.
− Non-sector: these vessels are also all 10m or more in length and the only
difference is that they have chosen not to belong to a Producer Organisation –
they manage their own quotas
− Under10 (also known as the Inshore Fleet): these vessels are all under 10m in
length
2. Type of fishing gear (question V3 on the questionnaire): each vessel will be equipped with
and use one or more types of fishing gear depending on what they catch. These are
described below. You don’t need to understand what each of these refers to as the
fishermen will know what you are talking about but if you are interested you can find more
information at http://www.frs-scotland.gov.uk/Delivery/standalone.aspx?contentid=413 .
− Trawls (including beam, otter, pairs, bottom, midwater, nephrops, shrimp, seine
and other trawls)
− Dredges and harvesting machines (for catching scallops etc
− Nets (drift, fixed, gill, entangling, lift, and other passive nets)
− Hooks and lines (including hand and pole, longlines, trolling lines)
− Pots and traps
3. Role (question R2 on the questionnaire): the groups will involve a mix of owner skippers
(people who both own and skipper their vessel), non-owner skippers (fishermen who are
skippering a boat belonging to someone else) and crew members. Please note: we do not
131
want to include owners who do not also fish. When recruiting groups of crew members, you
can recruit 2 (but no more than 2) respondents from the same vessel.
The Recruitment Questionnaire
As with any recruitment, you may need to explain why we need to collect the information about
respondents and their vessels. You should explain that the information is only used to ensure
we recruit fishermen from a spread of vessels and who use a range of fishing methods. The
information is only used by the research agency and will not be passed on to any other party.
On the front page of the questionnaire there is a grid with all the groups listed. You should circle
the group that you are recruiting.
The second page (R1 to R8) is used to record details about the respondent.
• Fishing activity: please record whether the respondent is currently fishing using the
categories listed
− You should aim for the majority of each group to be currently fishing or who plan
to do so in the next 12 months (code 1 @ R1)
− A decommissioning scheme is currently underway and some of the fishermen
you contact may be about to have their vessels decommissioned – we would like
to include 1-2 in a group if you find them (code 2 @ R1)
− You should only include a total of 1 (mini-groups) or 2 (full size groups)
respondents with codes 3 or 4 @ R1.
• their role – see quota instructions for your groups (R2)
• their age (nb a lot of fishermen are going to be aged 45 and above but if you can find some
younger ones that would be great) – there are no quotas here but record the information
(R3)
• how long they have been a fisherman – there are no quotas here but record the information
(R4)
• their gender (we anticipate that nearly everyone will be male however there are a few
female fisher(wo)men and if you come across them please try and recruit them (R5)
• whether they work as a full-time fisherman all year round or full-time but on a seasonal basis
or part-time – please aim for at least half the group to be full-time fishermen (codes 1-2
@ R6)
• their nationality – please note any fisherman who is not a British national must be residing
permanently in the UK to be eligible to take part. They must also have good enough
English to take part in the discussion. IF IN DOUBT – CLOSE. (R7)
• You should check to see if the respondent is a member of any of the organisations listed on
Card A (R8). If no – code under column A in the grid. For each organisation they belong
to check whether they act as representatives (code under column C) or are committee
members or office holders (code under column D). If they have any codes 3 or 4 you
must CLOSE. If necessary, you should explain the research is focusing on individual
fishermen and we are not including those who represent the views of the wider
community.
On the third page (V1 to V5), you should record some details about the vessel the respondent
uses:
• Write in the name of the vessel and either its RSS or its PLN number; the lists in your pack
include these details but please confirm them with respondents (V1)
132
• Be sure to check that the vessel is of the right type. When recruiting Under10s, you should
also ask whether the vessel fits the definition of a ‘super Under10’; respondents should
know what this refers to but a possible definition is provided (see V2). If possible, when
recruiting Under10 groups, try and include some Super Under10s if you come across
them.
• Use Show Card B to record which types of fishing gear are used most (if two are used
equally, you can multi-code) and which types of fishing gear are also sometimes used.
Again, check the ‘used most’ gears match the group you are recruiting (V3)
• Which type of stocks are fished – again no quotas (V4)
• The total number of crew that man the vessel including the respondent – no quotas (V5)
Recording and Filming
You should explain that the research company would like to record the sessions to make sure
we fully capture the fishermen’s views.
All sessions will be audio-recorded to enable us to conduct a full analysis. We would like to film
some of the groups and use video clips to illustrate the findings. You must give every
respondent a letter to read which explains this and get their signed consent. There are two
version of the letter – one for the sessions that will be audio recorded and a different version for
the sessions that will be filmed – be sure to use the right one. You must hand these over to
the moderator before the group starts.
You should also find out if the respondent is willing to be re-contacted.
Quotas
A separate quota sheet has been prepared for each group and is included as part of your
pack.
9.3 Discussion Guide and Stimulus Material
JN 57820/03/093Introductions (10m)
• Moderator introduces the research:
− while there are lots of statistics about the fishing industry, not very much is known about
what it is like to be a fishermen and what role they play in their local community
− this research is a first step towards filling this gap

• Moderator explains the confidential, unattributed nature of the research – their personal details are
not shared with anyone else - and how the information will be used and explains the discussion will
be audio/video recorded
− this is being done to help the researchers so we have an accurate record of what people
say which we can go through later on in detail
− and to help us communicate our findings by using short unattributed quotes/video clips
• Moderator explains the format of the research:
− an informal discussion – not a Q&A session – with everyone having the chance to
express their views
− want to explore not only the things they agree about but also the things where they may
have different views – there are no right or wrong answers; each person’s opinion is as
valid as the next person – happy for them to disagree with one another but need to do
this is a respectful manner
• Respondents asked to turn off phones
133
• Respondents introduce each other:
− first name
− how long they have been fishing
− one thing they really enjoy about fishing.
Stimulus material highlighted in topic guide and provided at end of document.

NB we may need to adapt some of this if we find some respondents have literacy problems.
Approx timings shown in brackets for each section – it is currently running at least 10 minutes too long
and this doesn’t allow for any delays/longer discussions. We may find we can’t cover all topics in all
sessions and it would be useful to have a steer on some of the lower priority issues.
Motivations and Drivers (40m)
• Moderator explains we are going to start by briefly exploring their career to date as fishermen from
when they first started up to the present day. To help them do this moderator passes round copies of
‘biog template’ and gives respondents a few minutes to jot down any notes
• Respondents invited to share their biogs with one another and the moderator would explore with the
group the key factors influencing their decisions to become fishermen and the extent to which
they feel these apply to other fishermen they know.
− for example, were they keeping up a family tradition, did they feel they had little choice
unless they moved away from home, etc.
• A day in the life of - Moderator explains that we want to build up a picture of the typical day of a
fishermen and how this varies throughout the year. Moderator asks one or more respondents to
briefly describe what they did today/yesterday
− what time did they get up? Did they go fishing? If yes, what type of fish were they after
and what type of gear did they use? What time did they go to sea and what time did they
return? What happened while they were at sea? What did they do when they returned to
land (unloading catch etc)? What did they do with the rest of their day
− if they didn’t go fishing, why was this? How did they spend their day?
• Moderator explores to what extent this is typical of how they spend their days? In particular:
− to what extent it varies according to the season (eg winter, summer etc) and according to
the weather?
− to what extent it varies according to which fish/stock are available at different times of
year?
− to what extent it varies according to the type of gear they are deploying (eg are some
types of gear easier/harder to deploy)?
• How have things changed over the years – comparing what it is like being a fisherman today to when
they first started:
− what things have changed for the better?
− what things have got worse?
• Hooks and Barriers: the discussion moves on to explore both the positive and negative aspects of
being a fisherman today; moderator invite respondents to construct a ‘graffiti wall’ – they are each
given two different coloured sets of post-it notes and asked to write things they like about fishing on
one set and things they dislike on another. These are then ‘posted on a wall’ and the group discusses
what they have produced.
134
− NB if negatives focus on things such as fishing quotas etc, moderator to encourage
respondents to think about other aspects such as the hours they work, impact on the
quality of family life, how easy/difficult it is to make a living
− moderator tries top establish the most important hooks/drivers and the most important
barriers/negatives
• If not included in the graffiti wall, moderator introduces the financial side of the job (if it is included,
moderator will explore using the same prompts):
− how would respondents describe the financial rewards of being a fishermen; for example,
do they feel they are making a comfortable living, is it a struggle to make ends meet etc?
− if they are struggling to make a living, why is this eg cost of vessel/gear (bank loans,
running costs etc), size and value of catch (how has this changed over the years), quotas
and other restrictions?
− if they are struggling to make a living, have they thought about changing and doing
something else? why haven’t they changed to some other way of making a living?
− if they ever decided it was time to stop fishing, what would they do instead? How would
they earn their living?
• If not included on graffiti wall. moderator introduces the topic of safety – the fishing industry is the only
one in the UK that has not seen a fall in fatality rates over the last 10 years – it is a dangerous
industry to work in
− how do respondents feel about this?
− why doesn’t the risk put you off/make you go and do something else?
• Summing up so far: imaging you have a young son/grandson who is coming up to school leaving age.
He is thinking about becoming a fisherman and he asks you for your advice – what would you say to
him and why?
− if respondents would encourage their son/grandson to be a fisherman, what sorts of

things in the future/changes for the worse would make them decide not to encourage him
to become a fisherman?
− if respondents would not encourage their son/grandson to be a fisherman, what sorts of

things in the future/changes for the better would be required for them to encourage him to
become a fisherman?
Community Status & Public Perceptions (10m) – skip if short of time but cover in some sessions
• Moderator asks the group if he was to stop someone at random in the high street of their local
community and ask them what they think about the town’s fishermen, what might s/he say? Would
s/he have a favourable or an unfavourable opinion? Why is this?
• Moderator asks if this view would be held by most members of their community or whether there are
some parts of the local community that have different views, what these might be and where do they
come from.
• To what extent would they say that their local community is dependent on the fishing industry? What
makes them say this? What would be the impact locally if lots of fisherman decided to hang up their
nets and call it a day?
• Moderator asks about how the wider public feels about fishermen – are the public’s perceptions
similar to the views of their local community or different? If different, in what way? If they feel the
public has a more negative opinion, why is this?
Environmental Issues (15m) – priority topic - if short of time cover some but not all issues but
make sure you cover all issues across your groups
135
• Moderator displays environmental issues board which covers both generic topics, and issues of more
direct relevance to the fishing community. Moderator encourages a free-wheeling discussion around
the topic in order to allow respondents’ views and attitudes to emerge.
− moderator probes for the extent to which respondents think they can have an impact on
such issues – for example, are there ways of fishing that reduces their impact on the
environment?
− to what extent do respondents attempt to fish in a way that minimises the environmental
impact?
Communications (20m) – priority topic
• Moderator explores the main sources of information that respondents use to keep up to date with
what is happening in their industry including any newspapers, magazines or trade publications they
read (eg Fishing News), membership of various trade bodies, use of websites and so on.
− moderator to probe for: changes to rules and regulations, quotas
− which are the most trusted information sources
− are there any industry spokes people or organisations respondents take notice of?
− are there any industry spokes people or organisations that respondents ignore?
• Each individual asked to write down the three most important information sources he uses.
• Moderator explores the extent to which respondents feel they are well informed about such issues,
together with their desire to keep up to date
− at the local level
− at the national level
− at a European level
− at the international level

• Communications/interactions with Defra
[NB: this focuses mainly on Defra but respondents may not differentiate between Defra and Marine and
Fisheries Agency. Moderator will not introduce MFA but if respondents refer to it or services it provides
this will be included as part of the discussion. Moderator: see briefing notes below]
− Moderator displays board listing types of communication and probes the extent of any
communications and involvement they have with Defra
− which types of communication they receive and frequency
− the purpose/content and the perceived usefulness of any interactions

and communications
− Respondents encouraged to suggest how communications with Defra could be improved;

this would begin as a free-wheeling discussion to allow respondents the opportunity to
put forward any suggestions they feel would be appropriate
• Moderator to probe for views on whether there is a role for the following methods of communication
and, if so, how these could be made as effective as possible
− texting, the internet, call centres, face-to-face, letters, other written information
− greater use of electronic media eg for logging catches, e-sales notes, issuing of e-
licences, email/texts of monthly quota changes – moderator to explore attitudes to
these/hooks and barriers
136
• In a similar vein, respondents asked how Defra could improve the service it offers fishermen like
themselves – this might involve taking an existing service and improving it, or changing it in some
way, or it might involve a completely new service
In terms of service, Defra doesn’t provide direct services to the industry as this is done by the MFA as the
delivery agent. Defra is the policy making body and attempts to engage with industry to develop effective
policy, but we know this could be improved.
The MFA licences and enforces the industry, giving them guidance on how to conform to rules and
regulations. They also set quota limits, and manage fisheries, including initiating closures when
appropriate. They also deliver grant funding to the industry through the European Fisheries Fund.
Summing up (5m)
• Respondents asked to sum up their views about their own future as a fisherman and to list one
positive thing they think the future will bring, along with one concern they have about it.
Biog Template: My Career as a Fisherman
Briefly note below the key milestones in your career as a fishermen. We have included a few prompts to
help get you started.
Milestone 1: Leaving school
At what age did you leave school?
Milestone 2: First job as a fisherman

When did you first start working as a fisherman? What was your first job when you joined the industry?
Please add further Milestones below. This should be important events in your career as a fisherman e.g.
if you own your own vessel, when did you buy your first boat?
Graffiti Wall
Things I really love about fishing
Things I really do not enjoy about fishing
• Respondents add post-it notes under each heading
The 3 Most Important Sources of Information I use to keep up to date with what is
happening in the fishing industry are:
1.________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________
137
138
Some recent headlines from the BBC
Global warming 'underestimated'

The severity of global warming over the next century will be much worse than previously
believed, a leading climate scientist has warned.
Marine rubbish 'costs millions'

Marine pollution is not just ugly - clearing it up is extremely expensive, and it can even put
lives at risk.
Fear and hope over fishing report

Global fish stocks could be almost eliminated within 50 years if current trends continue,
says a major scientific study.
Lundy marine life booms after fishing ban

The creation of a no fishing zone east of Lundy Island is being hailed as a great success.
The experiment, introduced 18 months ago, aims give marine life around England's only
marine nature reserve the chance to thrive.
Sea level rise 'under-estimated'

Current sea level rise projections could be under-estimating the impact of human-induced
climate change on the world's oceans, scientists suggest.
Albatross could be extinct in 25 years

One of the world's biggest birds - the albatross - could become extinct because of fishing.
More than a hundred thousand are getting caught in fishing nets each year and drowning.
Environmental Trade off Scenarios

• What is more important to you when deciding on the type of fishing to undertake:
− available quota
− catching efficiency
− fuel efficiency
− tradition
− cost of equipment
− environmental impact
− how ‘clean’ your catch is (i.e. low discards)
• Assuming you grossed the same value - what would you consider a successful days fishing:
− a large quantity of catch
− a smaller catch of a better quality
139
• If faced with the following choice, where would you fish and why
− Area A where you know you were going to catch a vulnerable species that you had no
quota for, but you would also catch significantly more of a species that you did have quota
− Area B where you know you are very unlikely to catch any vulnerable species that you
had no quota for, but where you couldn’t be sure how much quota stocks you would catch
• If you had the opportunity to use a new type of fishing gear that caught less of your target species,
but also caught less of fish you would discard. Would you feel that a sufficient sacrifice to make?
What if the target species then fetched a higher price?
• If you could only go fishing half the time you currently do, but catch and land the same quantity of fish
(and bigger fish), would you consider that to be a better way of fishing or would you prefer to be out at
sea more
• How does your faith in fisheries science, and the often recommended cuts in quota influence the way
you fish?
− if you do not believe the science reflects what you are seeing on the ground, would you
be less likely to be concerned by discarding fish for market reasons
− what do you feel would give you more faith in management decisions that are based on
the scientific advice?
Types of Communication with Defra
• Fishing Focus newsletter (moderator will show a copy)

• Letters and correspondence
• Emails
• Faxes
• Telephone calls
• Face-to-face
• Defra website
• Defra adverts in the fishing press
• Posters
140

A Fisherman&#39;s Tale v5

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Fisherman&#39;s Tale v5

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in

COI Job No: 291928

COI, on behalf of their client, Defra

Creative Research Ltd Phone: 020 8567 6974 Email: creative@creativeresearch.co.uk

1.2 Attitudes, Motivations, Perceptions.....................................................................1

1.3 Fishermen Typologies.........................................................................................2

1.4 Communicating with and Influencing Fishermen................................................3

2.2 Aims and Objectives...........................................................................................4

2.4 Sample Structure.................................................................................................8

2.5 Sample Profile...................................................................................................12

2.7 Other Matters....................................................................................................15

3 MOTIVATIONS AND DRIVERS.......................................................................16

3.2 What Led Them to Become Fishermen............................................................17

3.3 The Fisherman’s CV.........................................................................................23

3.4 Owner Skippers, Non-owner Skippers and Crew.............................................24

3.5 Super Under 10s...............................................................................................24

3.6 The Positives and Negatives of a Fisherman’s Life..........................................26

3.7 A Day in the Life................................................................................................41

3.8 Safety at Sea.....................................................................................................44

3.9 Financial Aspects of Fishing.............................................................................48

3.10 Why They Stay in the Industry........................................................................55

3.11 What the Future Holds....................................................................................57

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

4.2 Status Within their Local Community................................................................61

4.3 Status Among the Wider Public........................................................................64

4.4 The Future of their Community.........................................................................65

5.2 Overview of Fishermen’s Response.................................................................69

5.3 Response to Environmental Issues..................................................................70

5.4 Response to Scenarios.....................................................................................86

6 COMMUNICATION WITH FISHERMEN..........................................................99

6.2 Keeping Themselves Informed.........................................................................99

6.3 Communications with and from Defra.............................................................102

6.4 Licence Capping – an Example of Communication Failure?..........................110

7.2 ‘Leaders’, ‘Lieutenants’ and ‘Followers’..........................................................113

7.3 Additional ‘Types’............................................................................................117

8 COMMUNICATING WITH AND INFLUENCING FISHERMEN......................120

8.2 Ineffectiveness of the Current Model..............................................................120

8.3 Future Communications: Is There a Way Forward?.......................................120

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

9.2 Recruiter Guidelines........................................................................................129

9.3 Discussion Guide and Stimulus Material........................................................133

TABLE 1: INTENDED SAMPLE STRUCTURE....................................................9

TABLE 2: PERCENTAGE OF VESSELS BY CATEGORY AND TYPE OF

TABLE 3: GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE INTENDED SAMPLE. .10

TABLE 4: ACHIEVED SAMPLE COMPARED TO INTENDED SAMPLE..........12

TABLE 5: SAMPLE AGE PROFILE....................................................................13

TABLE 6: AVERAGE VESSEL LENGTH, ENGINE POWER AND VCU...........14

FIGURE 1: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH LOCATIONS......................................11

FIGURE 2: HEADLINES ON ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS................................70

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

2.2 Aims and Objectives

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

− to provide a typology of attitudes and behaviours for fishermen based on

− to ‘profile’ the typologies according to other criteria such as demographic

− to explore how the typologies/segments currently interact with Defra, and

• Attitudes, motivations, perceptions: to explore

− their motivations for fishing and longer-term objectives

− their views on relevant environmental issues such as coastal erosion,

A Fisherman’s Tale: Being a Fisherman in England in 2009: Report of Research Findings

A Fisherman's Tale v5

A Fisherman's Tale v5