People and Places

Managing the fish stocks in the North Sea is a challenging task. It’s done by limiting the amount of fish skippers are allowed to land on shore and by closing some areas of the sea to fishing altogether.

The ship's bridge

Twelve sea fisheries committees - each with a responsibility for a different part of the UK's coastline - enforce the regulations, making sure that fishermen abide by the rules.

The North-eastern Sea Fisheries Committee manages fishing in the inshore waters between the Scottish Border and the Humber Estuary.

Its just taken possession of the most advanced fisheries protection vessel in the British Isles. The new patrol boat is called the “North-eastern Guardian III ". Its cost £1.5 million and it’s been built in a Finnish shipyard.

Chris Arundel went on board and spoke to its skipper Ian Davies.

Ian Davies: Captain

“We’ve got two engines capable of producing 1400 horsepower each ", explain Ian.” We can do 26 knots and we can go further off-shore."

The patrol boat has accommodation for eight crew and can stay at sea for several days, without having to go into port.

The boat's nerve centre is its wheelhouse which is packed with high tech equipment.

"It’s got a tremendous specification ", beams David McCandless, the Chief Fisheries Officer for Yorkshire and the Northeast." On the starboard side we've got radar that can track the movement of fishing boats while on the port side we've got equipment that can survey the seabed and identify different sorts of habitats."

Indeed the 26-metre long patrol vessel won't only police the fishing regulations - it’s also equipped to carry out research work. There's a small laboratory on board where catches can be examined. One of the tasks it will carry out is to investigate how the warming of the North Sea is affecting fish stocks.

It is the most technically sophisticated fisheries protection vessel in the British Isles.