Green Investment

Could Britain’s fishing industry find its financial saviour amongst Boris Johnson’s ‘Green Agenda’ ?

So, whilst the Johnson government wish us to believe that all is well and the UK has recovered full control over her waters, EEZ and fishing grounds the reality is quite different.

Boris Johnson heralded the Brexit deal gave Britain’s fishermen a 25% uplift in quota over five and a half years but, in reality, when the numbers are crunched, they actually only equate to a 16% rise in the UK share of quota in its own waters, with certain stocks of no interest to much of the British fleet.

Although the government have recognised that investment would be needed to revive and rebuild Britain’s struggling fishing fleet, to meet a perceived increase in catches normally taken by EU vessels, the £100 million pledged by the government has been met with scorn by industry leaders who say the proposed £100 million may sound like a “big number” but will not go far enough to support an industry that has been “let down by government”.

Victoria Prentis MP, parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food, yes, she who admitted on camera she hadn’t read the fishing deal because she was too busy organising her children’s nativity, stated the £100 million investment was to support coastal communities.

So, you can see any funding will be thinly spread out and nowhere near enough the amount of investment required to “kick start” the industry.

Therefore, I ask the question, could Britain’s fishing industry find its financial saviour amongst Boris Johnson’s ‘Green Agenda’.

In November 2020 Boris Johnson announced plans for the government’s self-styled ‘Green Industrial Revolution’. The PM laid out a ‘Ten Point Plan’ with measures to scale up the nation’s climate change objectives His policy proposals and funding packages aim to promote a ‘Green recovery’ from the Covid-19 and help the UK achieve its net-zero emissions target by 2050.

With an aging fleet, and the need to reboot the industry to meet this heralded increase in catch quota, should we not take full advantage of the government’s ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ and the funds being made available to deliver. Although the maritime sector is mentioned in the PM’s ten-point plan only £20m has been committed to this sector, I believe we must appeal to the private sector to access available funding for Green Projects.

The fishing industry of the future will require help and support to access Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Management in tomorrow’s low carbon Zero Emission, Zero Waste world. Cheap renewable power will be required for Shipyards & landing facilities and processing factories. Fishing vessels will be required to operate on Green diesel or synthetic fuel emitting zero net carbon. Vessels constructed for the next generation of fishers will be state- of- the-art, constructed from steel sourced from ‘carbon neutral’ steel producers using hydrogen from renewable energy sources, instead of traditional methods such as coal, (globally steel is responsible for nearly 10% of all direct emissions from fossil fuels). Fishermen will require help and advice to access available funding.

The Humber area and ports have been targeted by the government as a renewable energy hub and the centre for Wind turbine blade manufacture why shouldn’t it be the re-genesis of the UK fishing industry? This would bring major benefits to the area, like green investment in shipbuilding, not only fishing vessels but also vessels to protect the power lines laying on the seabed crewed with maintenance teams for the wind turbines. The future industry will also require colleges providing training in skills in seamanship, an upgrade in the ports of Hull, Grimsby to facilitate in landing and processing of fish.

This would, I hope, be the Phoenix of a resurging UK fishing industry and replicated in ports around the coastline of the United Kingdom, allowing the industry to become environmentally sustainable giving social benefit to coastal communities who have struggled for many years, suffering high unemployment and the societal problems that creates.

After nearly fifty years of feelings of abandonment and the ongoing belief Johnson’s Brexit Deal sacrificed, in favour of the city, the UK fishing industry, we are now looking to the government to control access to our waters and invest in the future of United Kingdom’s fishing industry.

The world is moving towards a ‘Green future’ we can fight it, ignore it or accept it and access the green funds available.