Small-Scale Fisheries Workshop, Whitby, 21-23 October
PLEASE NOTE, THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Newcastle University is running a three-day workshop looking at small-scale fisheries in Whitby from 21st to 23rd October. They are looking for representatives from the North West inshore fishing industry.
Commercial fishers who attend are able to apply for compensation for loss of income at a rate of £350 (£1,050 in total for attending the entire three-days). Travel expenses and accommodation at the Royal Hotel (where the workshop is being held) are also covered by the event organisers.
If no North West commercial fishers attend, other industry stakeholders would be able to take up the remaining places, but only with travel and accommodation covered (not the £350 per day compensation).
Official invite statement from Newcastle University:
“You are warmly invited to attend one, or both, of the above regional workshops which seek to understand, and identify plausible solutions to address, the decline in the UK inshore small-scale fishing fleet. Whilst the fishing industry as a whole is in decline, recent MMO data show that the decline is most rapid in the under 10m sector, who can also experience challenges in acute ways that are poorly understood.
These workshops seek to create a platform to share knowledge and document the multiple challenges facing the inshore fishing fleet, across the country, and distil fisher-led ideas about priority actions that could help stem the loss of boats. The workshops bring together fishers and their families who predominantly (but not exclusively) fish with under 10m boats inshore, representatives from fisher organisations, fisheries managers, NGOs, academics, and policy makers, all of whom share concern about the ongoing loss of boats from our inshore fleet and the subsequent erosion of national benefit that fisheries provide.
We aim to distil from the workshops a set of recommendations which we will feed into ongoing policy discussions, heightening visibility of the particular needs of the inshore fleet. Whilst this workshop is focused on the under 10m boats, we envision that outputs will be useful for the wider fleet and could lead to future workshops addressing the decline more generally. The workshop organisers are able to fund all travel and accommodation for fishers and family members who also wish to participate and we will reimburse commercial fishers with a day rate of £350 in recognition of lost earnings due to attendance.”