SCRAPTHEAPP COMMENCE LEGAL CHALLENGE AGAINST MMO

ScrapTheAPP commence legal challenge against MMO. ScrapTheAPP group and Plymouth Fishermen Brian Tapper have commenced the first step of a judicial review legal challenge against the Marine Management Organisation to stop them from enforcing new regulations that could see English fishermen, prosecuted, given an unlimited fine, and a criminal record for something it is impossible to comply with consistently.

A pre-action protocol letter has been sent by leading Fisheries Lawyer Andrew Oliver, partner at Andrew Jackson, Hull. Alan Maclean QC of Blackstone Chambers, has also been instructed.

The new rule via a fishing license condition requires fishermen to estimate within a margin of tolerance of 10% the weight of their catches when they land. Accurate fisheries data, of their catches, is already submitted to the MMO via the Buyers and Sellers Act which requires auction houses and fish merchants taking catches to provide this information after weighing the fish and within 48 hours.

It is impossible to consistently estimate and guess the weight of catches, accurately. Governments’ own data demonstrate that c.40% of estimated landing data for larger boats is outside the 10% margin of tolerance, and when it is wrong, it can be out by as much as 116%.

Despite being notified by fishermen, some landing stages and ports are still missing and fishermen are being advised to use a different port on the drop-down menu, which is a technical offence, now punishable via a prosecution with an unlimited fine. It is lamentable after a 2-year pause, this still has not been resolved.

The small-scale fleet is mostly owner/operators, microbusinesses with little or no savings and financial resilience. For 2 years these small boats have been trying to get the MMO and DEFRA Secretary of State Rt. Hon George Eustace, and Fisheries Minister Rt. Hon. Victoria Prentis, to listen to concerns.

ScrapTheAPP group and Plymouth Fishermen Brian Tapper have today (March 1st 2022) commenced the first step of a judicial review legal challenge against the Marine Management Organisation to stop them from enforcing new regulations that could see English fishermen, prosecuted, given an unlimited fine, and a criminal record for something it is impossible to comply with consistently.

A pre-action protocol letter has been sent by leading Fisheries Lawyer Andrew Oliver, partner at Andrew Jackson, Hull. Alan Maclean QC of Blackstone Chambers, has also been instructed.

The new rule via a fishing license condition requires fishermen to estimate within a margin of tolerance of 10% the weight of their catches when they land. Accurate fisheries data, of their catches, is already submitted to the MMO via the Buyers and Sellers Act which requires auction houses and fish merchants taking catches to provide this information after weighing the fish and within 48 hours.

It is impossible to consistently estimate and guess the weight of catches, accurately. Governments’ own data demonstrate that c.40% of estimated landing data for larger boats is outside the 10% margin of tolerance, and when it is wrong, it can be out by as much as 116%.

Despite being notified by fishermen, some landing stages and ports are still missing and fishermen are being advised to use a different port on the drop-down menu, which is a technical offence, now punishable via a prosecution with an unlimited fine. It is lamentable after a 2-year pause, this still has not been resolved.

The small-scale fleet is mostly owner/operators, microbusinesses with little or no savings and financial resilience. For 2 years these small boats have been trying to get the MMO and DEFRA Secretary of State Rt. Hon George Eustace, and Fisheries Minister Rt. Hon. Victoria Prentis, to listen to concerns.