The new year has brought in all kinds of uncertainties. The increase in VAT and the outlook for public investment are both bad news for the future for an independent economic development consultant.
On the other hand we've been very busy with a variety of projects - finishing off the VCS ICT strategy (more next month when it really is finished) and continuing to work with local authorities and their myplace project.
This month has seen us starting in earnest with a new project for Defra, performing a feasibility study for a North East England Sustainable Fisheries Community Interest Company (NEESF CIC for short, but still a mouthful.
It's been fun interviewing fishermen. The bad weather has kept them at home and so we've had no trouble finding them - just that they're bored and talk for hours. Inshore fishermen (those are the ones with under 10m boats) are in one of the most regulated industries in the country. No doubt we've all heard about the quota system, but I think few of us realise that for the inshore fishermen this is regulated by the Marine and Fisheries Agency (now part of the Marine Management Organisation). And they change the regulations frequently, telling fishermen what they're allowed to catch (and how they're allowed to catch it)as often as once a week. It's not surprising that most small fishermen depend on "non quota" stocks such as lobsters and crabs.
It's interesting to compare the North East with Cornwall (where there is already a Quota Trust in operation). Really there's a critical mass of small boats in the South West and a culture about food that enables them to sell their fish. It means that local authorities are more prepared to help the fishing industry (redeveloping ports is not just a question of physical regeneration) and it's much easier to promote initiatives such as tracking line caught fish from the boat to the plate. In the North East there's more of a feeling of decline - which would be a pity since fishing is part of our heritage and not just a tourist attraction for people visiting Northumberland. Fishermen will be here when the bigger industries have gone, and maybe fishing can ameliorate the problems of big closures - around Teesside there's a long tradition of shift workers in the steel and chemical industries having a part time income from fishing. And it's an export industry! Most of our crabs and lobsters are eaten by the French and the Spanish. Maybe we should keep them at home...