Fishing rules continue to wreck traditional Yorkshire net fishermen's livelihoods months after Brexit

A small band of Yorkshire fishermen who voted for Brexit to get their fishing rights back fear they may have to wait years before EU rules preventing them from working are changed.
Fishermen, from left, Andrew Sanderson, Frank Powell and Shaun Wingham, pictured at Bridlington harbour. Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeFishermen, from left, Andrew Sanderson, Frank Powell and Shaun Wingham, pictured at Bridlington harbour. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
Fishermen, from left, Andrew Sanderson, Frank Powell and Shaun Wingham, pictured at Bridlington harbour. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Frank Powell, Andrew Sanderson and Shaun Wingham have 125 years experience between them. For years the trio reaped a good living fishing off the Holderness beaches using nets - an age-old practice dating back millennia.

One of their key target species is sea bass - a fishery awarded coveted Marine Stewardship Council status in 2007 for ticking all the right environmental boxes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However in 2018 North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (Ifca) stopped issuing intertidal licences, following a "precautionary" EU ban on shore fishing for sea bass.

Shaun Wingham fishing from the shore with nets a few years ago at TunstallShaun Wingham fishing from the shore with nets a few years ago at Tunstall
Shaun Wingham fishing from the shore with nets a few years ago at Tunstall

The fishermen had been hoping to get their fishery back up and going in 2021, but EU fisheries legislation was carried over into UK law following Brexit, meaning the ban still stands.

To add to their woes their salmon and sea trout licences from the Environment Agency, which run from March to August, make them stay by their nets 23 hours a day and prohibit them from leaving nets in the water overnight, making the job “unworkable”.

Mr Powell has to sell Icelandic fish from his shop in Bridlington, as he can't catch his own. He draws a line on selling farmed sea bass from Greece or Turkey on principle.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Meanwhile, he says local inshore boats are allowed to catch sea bass as a percentage of their catch and anglers can land two of the fish a day.

Andrew Sanderson fishing from the shoreAndrew Sanderson fishing from the shore
Andrew Sanderson fishing from the shore

Mr Powell said: "When Boris was campaigning he said we were going to get back our coastal fisheries back up and going. But it is now worse than ever.

"We are now told that EU regulations will continue as ‘business as usual’ for a further five-year consultation period.

"We feel that no one is listening and that because we are a small group of fishermen working traditional methods no one is bothered if we just disappear."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a letter to their MP Sir Greg Knight, Mr Powell and Mr Sanderson accused the authorities of being unaccountable and "heavy-handed", sending four officers at a time to check up on just one man.

Frank Powell outside his wet fish shop in Bridlington - which sells Icelandic fish as he is not allowed to catch his own sea bass from the beach  Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeFrank Powell outside his wet fish shop in Bridlington - which sells Icelandic fish as he is not allowed to catch his own sea bass from the beach  Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
Frank Powell outside his wet fish shop in Bridlington - which sells Icelandic fish as he is not allowed to catch his own sea bass from the beach Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

The trio have had fish and nets confiscated and on several occasions been threatened with prosecution after being accused of breaking the law. But the cases have been dropped before getting to court.

Mr Powell said they'd asked be taken to court so the matter could be heard once and for all, adding: "The main thing is that these authorities aren't accountable. They are making unworkable rules for us and there is nowhere you can take them to."

Mr Sanderson said he didn't vote for Brexit to stop other nations fishing in UK waters - having fished alongside the Dutch and the Belgians for years - but "so we could fish as well".

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It's the time of year when he has to decide whether to take up his sea trout licence, but says he is frightened to, as he knows his nets will be "full of sea bass".

He said: "There's nothing worse than having Ifca standing next to you - they did it one year - took a catch of dozens of sea bass and took them to landfill."

In 2019 the Ifca's chief fisheries officer David McCandless described the sea bass ban as an "absolutely classic example of how the Common Fisheries Policy doesn’t work".

Earlier this week he said since the measures had been introduced, the status of the species had been "improving" year on year, according to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However the Ifca's position would remain unchanged "until such time as the UK Government develops its UK-centric legislation" replacing EU legislation.

He said he'd lobbied hard for movement on the fishery, adding: "Defra have made it clear that they view it as a priority. There's still a decent chance for October 2021, if not maybe another six months following that."

And he insisted they hadn't been overzealous, adding: "The bottom line remains that as a statutory body we can't permit an illegal activity."

Defra said it had raised the issue in current annual negotiations with the EU.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They said any complaints not resolved by the IFCA should be raised with the sponsoring body in the relevant local authority, and if they remained unsatisfied with the Local Government Ombudsman.

The name Sanderson has resonated in fishing communities up and down the East Coast for hundreds of years.

In normal times Andrew Sanderson fishes the stretch at Barmston which was the scene of a tragedy involving his great-great grandfather at the end of the 19th century.

On October 16, 1885, Ralph Sanderson, his brother Abel and a third man, George Creaser, were out fishing for herring near Barmston in an open coble. They were heavy with fish and nets and overturned.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With no chance of rescue they were lost in the mounting seas.

Mr Sanderson said: "Just north of Barmston there's a low bit of land - that's where they took their bodies up. They were doing just the same job as us with fishing with nets.

"The only thing that has changed is they were fishing for herring. Now it's sea bass - but we are not allowed to keep them.

"We had a shop and market stall but that's gone tits up because we can't sell our own catch. People would say they don't want haddock or cod from Iceland.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"You can buy farmed sea bass from Greece and Turkey, but on your doorstep you have to throw it away - what's that about?"

Once a rarity, sea bass has become prolific in local waters. "Now you can't do the job without getting lots of them, there's so much of it about," he added.

In his years as a fishermen Mr Sanderson has had plenty of ups and downs.

In 2000 he sold the family trawler against a backdrop of declining white fish stocks and frustration with petty bureaucracy, and went into netting from the shore instead - only to run into more problems.

"It has bought me a good living, but it has slowly come to a grinding halt because we can't do anything - it's like having a car with no wheels."

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.