At the start of 2024, Jerry Percy, who led the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association, dedicated to small boats, said he started to receive lots of calls from members. “They were calling my office to report that a lack of fish in the inshore grounds were putting their livelihoods in peril,” he said.
The fishers said they had noticed a depletion of species such as pollack, typically caught off Britain’s coasts.
