Blue Marine Foundation will appeal the decision by a High Court judge to dismiss its judicial review of the way the majority of fishing quotas are allocated above scientific advice.
The conservation charity said the way quotas were allocated had led to the collapse of fish populations and the decline of fishing communities.
“This judgment has condoned irresponsibility,” said Blue Marine co-founder Charles Clover. “It says that ministers have the discretion to make bad and irresponsible decisions like this, without proper justification, even if they are manifestly against the public interest, against those of the natural world and even against the stated objectives of the Fisheries Act.”
The charity launched legal proceedings in March last year and said the calculations of fishing opportunities were illegal under post-Brexit fishing laws, which requires that management of UK fisheries is based on the best available scientific advice and any decisions are made on a transparent basis.
Blue Marine went to court at the start of March to argue it was an irresponsible use of national assets and against the interests of the majority of fishers.
“Either the Fisheries Act 2020 is a very bad law, or it is not being applied properly. We still believe it is the latter,” added Clover. “We are going to persist in asking the courts as to whether what has been going on is a legal and responsible way of managing public assets or wild animal species.”
Defra has welcomed the judgement.
“Sustainability has always been at the heart of the UK’s approach to setting catch limits, and we have fully complied with our obligations under the Fisheries Act 2020 and the Joint Fisheries Statement,” said a Defra spokesperson. “We are pleased the judge has dismissed this claim, and we will continue to support the UK fishing industry by delivering world-class, sustainable management of our sea fisheries.”
The charity said that fishing quotas for 54% of species failed the government’s own metrics for sustainability, including quotas for staple stocks such as mackerel.
It added that 30% of fishing industry jobs had been lost since 2016, which was a “direct result” of decisions like these.
Tom Appleby, head of legal affairs at Blue Marine, said: “This judgment seems to indicate that there is no single decision where we can hold ministers and the civil service to account under the Fisheries Act, there is no duty to give us members of the public any indication of how these (often bizarre) decisions come about beyond the merest smattering of random detail, and that somehow it is rational to make decisions which inevitably will collapse stocks.”
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