A London courtroom will hear today how decades of overfishing has led to the rapid depletion of vital species of mackerel, cod, and pollack across British waters in a challenge to the UK government’s recent decision to set fishing opportunities beyond the sustainable limits advised by scientists.

Joined by a cohort of inshore fishermen and representatives for the UK’s under ten metre fleet each taking a stand for sustainable fishing within UK waters, the Blue Marine Foundation will this week argue that the government’s unsustainable management of fish stocks is an “irresponsible” use of national assets.

Pointing to the severe declines in populations of mackerel, Celtic Sea cod, Channel pollack, and Irish Sea Whiting over the past decades, the Charity suggests that the UK’s current fishing quotas only consider short-term commerciality and act against the interests of the majority of fishermen who face an increasing risk of running out of fish to catch.

The case will challenge the December 2023 determination of fishing quotas for the year 2024, set by the previous government which resulted in a quota for 54% of fish stocks being allocated above scientific advice. 

Blue Marine Foundation has called the quota an “attempt to override sustainability concerns based on un-evidenced claims that this is balanced decision-making.”

In a lengthy correspondence, running at more than 700 pages, the court has already been told that the government’s approach should be viewed as unlawful for the lack of consideration given to the objective of the post-Brexit Fisheries Act 2020, adding that it “lacked the transparency that the law requires.”

The argument is likely to focus on whether it was lawful for the then Secretary of State for the Environment, Therese Coffey not to be given, or consider, any advice on how the levels of quota negotiated internationally, fitted with UK law and policy.

Charles Clover, co-founder of Blue Marine Foundation, said: “By continuing to allow exploitation above sustainable limits for so many species, the government is not only putting fish populations at risk, but everything that relies on them including marine ecosystems and the fishing industry itself.

“I’m not sure the public knows what has been going on. Year after year, one stock after another is being allowed to be caught above scientific advice to keep the fleet fishing, instead of taking appropriate measures to conserve the fish population that is overfished.

“That is inexorably wiping out wild fish species in our waters, and we cannot believe that is consistent with the law.”

Jerry Percy, the former director of the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association (NUTFA), an organisation established to support the UK’s fleet of fishing vessels measuring under ten metres has argued that UK and European fishing politics has, for too long, been dominated by the interests of the over ten-metre sector. He has argued that the UK’s inshore fleet today is finding “there is simply not enough catch to keep them in business”, pointing the finger squarely at poor fisheries management decisions made by the UK government.

“DEFRA is already kicking the can down the road in regard to their responsibilities under the post EU Exit Fisheries Act 2020 and they need holding account,” he said. “It is only the likes of the Blue Marine Foundation that have both the capacity and willingness to take the government to court. We hope this will result in decisions being taken on a more rational basis in future.”

For many among the inshore fishing community, today’s case is representative of a “last chance for equality” for the inshore fleet and a step towards ending overfishing. 

“I wish Blue Marine Foundation well and if the case is won, I hope to see a reset, with coastal fishing communities getting treated more fairly in the future.”

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