A Report for FIBS by Sue Guyford (SG) 10/10/03
My guest on "Caught in the Net" today is Hamish Wyley (HW). Hamish is General Manager of Seafish (Falklands) which is the Islands owned public fishing company that has over 280 local shareholders. Seafish have interests in every sector of the fishery from Illex to Toothfish and Hamish attended the World Fishing Exhibition in Vigo and then he joined the Falklands Delegation to Korea and Japan. Hamish, first of all, tell us about the World Fishing Exhibition. What is it? What happens there?
HW: The World Fishing Exhibition is held once every six years in Vigo and Vigo is regarded as a premier fish port in the world. The show itself attracted about 70,000 visitors this year. The actual show itself consisted of static displays with companies exhibiting equipment and products. And I understand there were 700 companies from 60 different countries exhibiting. On top of that, there was also a conference on deep-sea fisheries and also the meeting of the International Ministers of Fisheries Conference this year. Twenty-seven Fisheries Ministers from different countries discussed fishing in general world-wide.
SG: What’s the purpose of the Exhibition? Is it just a talking shop and a chance for you to get a few nice days away or does it give you a chance to make some real progress and develop the fisheries in the Falklands.
HW: The real purpose of the exhibition, of course, is to bring people from all over the world in different fisheries together. Certainly with regard to the conferences that are held, there is an awful lot that comes out of those, certainly when it comes to agreements between fishing nations on various things. It is a focus point for people in the fishing industry to come together. Also it is a place for suppliers to show their wares.
SG: What kind of reception do you get there, representing a small area but a significant one in terms of fisheries?
HW: We get a good reception. We didn’t actually have a stand there ourselves. For the last two years we have had stands in Brussels and Boston at the Seafood Shows. One thing we certainly found from holding those stands is the Falklands now is becoming more recognised as a fishing nation in its own right, where, the first year, people were indifferent.
SG: I understand the Governor attended the Exhibition. What’s his role there? Is it worth him going? Is he just a figurehead or does he make a difference?
HW: The Governor actually was invited by the organisers of the World Fishing Exhibition. And, the Falklands have significant economic ties with Vigo because of the amount of trade that goes on between the Spanish fishing companies and Falklands fishing companies fishing here. I think both the organisers and the City of Vigo were very pleased that he attended. He made himself available to meet with Spanish partners of the local companies. I think he met with four companies involved in the Loligo fishery. One company was purely involved in the finfish industry.
SG: How many people were there from the Islands at the Exhibition?
HW: There must have been at least nine or ten of us that attended.
SG: Some people have suggested that because the licence revenue from the fishery is so important to the Islands economy, perhaps a number of senior Government Officers should have attended as well. What do you think about that?
HW: I certainly wouldn’t argue with that. Fishing, really, is the single most important source of revenue for the Islands. Certainly, in my view, there is a lack of understanding with in the upper echelons of FIG about what makes the industry tick. The Falkland Islands Government have continued to treat the fishery as a cash cow. And, if you don’t understand what makes the cow produce milk, you are going to find that it might not be strong enough to deliver. I think that’s an area we are coming into. As an example, last year the licence fee for Illex Jiggers represented about 20% of the value of the catch, leaving the vessel owners with about 80% to pay their costs with. I suggest that in my view – that’s an awful lot to be drawing from an industry. So, we really have a choice as to whether we carry on with what we are doing or we can seek to replace this income by increasing economic activity of the fishery and see more of that activity happening in the Islands, with the money coming ashore. And, in that way we will be able to reduce licence fees. And, the Islands gain an equal amount of money out of increased activity. Really, what we are doing now with the Fisheries Policy is going to enable that to happen and give us a more secure and stable fishery.
SG: So what did you get out of the exhibition itself?
HW: The benefits we had from attending this type of exhibition really comes in two areas. Firstly, you get to talk to an awful lot of people on the various stands to discuss their products, the fisheries they are involved in and how they deal with various problems and so on. That’s something you can’t really gain from the Falklands. It is unfortunate that we are so isolated. Apart from these events, you don’t get a chance to speak with other people in the industry and learn from them. Your depth of knowledge and understanding of the fishery – it improves enormously as a result.
Secondly, outside of the exhibition itself, you meet a wide variety of people at varied social events and it’s wall to wall learning. And, for people like us, who have only got 15 years or less experience in the fishing industry, compared to those (fishing companies) that have got hundreds of history in it. We’ve got an awful lot to learn.
SG: You mentioned the new fisheries policy earlier and I gather this is very much what your visit to Korea and Japan – what John Barton’s delegation was all about.
HW: Yes. The new policy was certainly an important part of the visit. John Barton and Councillor Richard Cockwell, who is the Councillor with the portfolio for fisheries, were invited by the Korean Ministry of Fisheries to visit Korea. Myself, Sheena Ross and John Pollard from FIC and Sulivan Shipping providing vessel agency services and Stuart Wallace from Fortuna Ltd. attended as part of the accompanying business delegation. There was also John Kultschar there for a short period of the visit. Apart from the Ministry meetings on the first day, which John and Richard attended, the rest of us went around the various things that were organised for us as one delegation.
SG: Perhaps you can tell me how the group, John Barton particularly, presented the new fisheries policy to people both in Korea and in Japan?
HW: The presentations were done both in Korea and in Japan to vessel owners by way of a power point presentation. Apart from the basic principle of a rights based fishery that we are moving towards, it is fairly straight forward. The actual detail is far more complicated and, I think, just like the translation that needed to be done, we left with an awful lot of uncertainty by a number of the vessel owners there. Certainly, it is very much up to us as their partners in the Falklands to carry on from where that presentation has left off. That is trying to explain in more detail, what the policy is about and how it will actually operate.
SG: Where are we up to at the moment in the development of the new policy?
HW: The main point of the policy, which is a rights management system that has been approved, there are 10 key points that Executive Council have agreed. And now, the legislation is being drafted. That’s really the detail as to how the new fisheries policy will work in practice. And, that’s probably the more difficult part as it were. I believe there is the odd policy implications that still have to be approved by Executive Council. But now, it’s a matter of producing the legislation that will enable it to work.
SG: When you say a rights based policy, that’s giving rights to people who are already fishing here when you renew licences, is it?
HW: Yes. At the moment our previous fisheries policies have really been licence allocation policies. It’s been a guide, if you like. Licences have been allocated to local fishing companies or overseas fishing companies. The rights based fishery policy means that at the moment the Falkland Islands Government holds the rights to allocate fishing effort to various fishing companies. Unfortunately, because of the way the system works, that really is of no value or no additional value to the Falkland Islands Government. Under the new system, the companies that have an active involvement in the fishery will be able to apply for and be allocated the rights to fish for a period of up to 25 years. And, that means that, as a business, you then know that you have secure access to the resource – fishing, for example – Loligo, for example. And, that means when it comes to borrowing money to replace a vessel, various other forms of finance for planning a business, you have an asset you can borrow against. When the banks look at your application to borrow money, they know that you have, for the next 25 years, access to a resource to earn money and repay your loan.
SG: Have you come across any resistance or opposition to this on your travels? Obviously doing it this way does mean disadvantaging fisheries based in other countries.
HW: Yes. Quite often nobody likes change and certainly, as you would expect, foreign fishing companies and vessel owners view any change in the Falkland Islands Fishery as being detrimental to them. One of the big selling points or selling jobs that we have to do is to convince those in the Far East (I don’t think the job has been done very much in Spain) but in fact, there far more benefits than disadvantages to be had. The potential threats are far outweighed by the potential opportunities. Of course, it’s those who see the opportunities that will win. Those who see this as a threat will be the losers, I’m afraid.
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