Catch 22

As Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall seems to be making some progress on his crusade to stop the wasteful discarding of undersized fish caught in the North Sea, we thought it appropriate to show some of this film we made over 16 years ago. It deals with very similar issues and looked at what the various fishing authorities, including the EU, were doing to change the fishing industry back in 1994 including reducing the size of the UK fishing fleet though decommissioning, changing the mesh sizes of nets and limiting the amount of fish caught. So what did the EU and the fishing industry achieve in all that time and what progress have they made? Very little it would seem...until a celebrity came along. Oh how we love 'em.
Once a thriving business, North Shields was a busy fishing port on the northeast coast but hit by Government cuts, quotas and EC regulations in the 90's, it has suffered greatly. Filmed around the infamous North Shields fish quay and market, Catch 22 tells the story of Alan Morse a successful trawler owner and skipper who borrowed extensively to increase the efficiency and capacity of his trawler but was starting to fear the worse as regulations and reduced stocks in the North Sea were taking their toll on his livelihood. Skippers were turning to illegal methods to make a living and combined with the practice of throwing away undersized fish, the future of the North Sea trawler fleet looked extremely bleak.
Sadly Alan died a few years after making this film whilst out on his trawler fishing off the Dogger Bank.
Produced by Media19.

[@justahappygardener]

I remember big Alan and his dad Norie well. Without their support and that of John Carter, there would never have been a Fish Quay Festival and the millions of people who enjoyed it over the ten years of it's life, would have missed out.
We are never truly gone as long as people carry memories of us. :) Paul

[@media19content]

Yes, all true. Thanks for the comments Paul.