Under 10m fleet wins quota battle

摘要

THE RECENT LANDMARK judgement handed down by Mr Justice Cranston on 10 July at London's Royal Courts of Justice is being regarded by the UK's under 10m fishing fleet as a major victory over the United Kingdom Association of Fish Producer Organisations(UKAFPO), who were trying to legally rubber-stamp ownership of fishing quotas annually allocated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Justice Cranston favoured the handing-over of unfished quota from the large boats to theunder 10m fleet, and also bringing into question the highly lucrative trade in quota leasing by 'slipper skippers', as well as questioning the tax man's right to regard quota held when assessing capital gains tax liability.