Future of fishing authority in spotlight

Members of the local fishing industry are being invited to have their say at the event being held at the Humber Seafood Institute on Wednesday, October 19, from 1pm.

The talks have been prompted by the four UK fisheries administrations and follow a ruling by the Supreme Court in June which confirmed the legal basis for Seafish’s ongoing funding via a levy from industry.

The meeting will help shape the future direction of Seafish, a pan-industry body set up in 1981 to support all sectors of the seafood industry.

Topics to be covered will include the core role and strategic objectives of Seafish; proposed models for the organisation’s future structure; and funding and governance arrangements between Seafish, its Government sponsors and industry.

Seafish Chief Executive Dr Paul Williams said: “We welcome the fact that the fisheries administrations have initiated this discussion, which offers an excellent opportunity for industry to get involved in shaping the future of Seafish. This process should ensure that Seafish continues to evolve and meet the needs of the modern seafood industry.

“Despite being severely hampered by the recent court case, we made real progress in our key themed areas of work in the last year, providing an estimated £4m of value to industry.

“With the court case now firmly behind us, we are focused on continuing to provide industry with tangible and real benefit for its investment in Seafish. We have recently announced £1.7m worth of funding through our Industry Project Fund, which will support various projects across the spectrum of industry.”

Dr Williams said 60 per cent of the organisation’s income over the next three years would be spent on “communications activities”.