Blog
Seaspiracy – fact or fantasy?
Raising awareness is important but this documentary failed to get the narrative and facts right

By
Chris Williams
07 April 2021

I don’t think I’ve ever been asked so much what I thought about a documentary than I have with Seaspiracy. It’s fair to say that this type of film, including all the gory archive footage, makes for gripping viewing. Although the subject matter is hard to watch, it’s eye opening to those who haven’t spent time working on ocean issues. But that’s exactly why it needed to get the narrative and facts right.

Blog
The future of farming is agroecological
The problem with our global food system – and how to fix it

By
Chris Williams
01 February 2021

In early January, the Oxford Real Farming Conference brought together over 5,000 people from all around the world to discuss how farming and agriculture can transition to a system that works with natural systems and supports farmers to farm in a way that reduces chemical inputs and regenerates soil and biodiversity. This inspiring event had to move online due to the pandemic, but used the opportunity to expand its remit to bring

Blog
A raw deal for UK fishers
Politicians haven’t delivered on Brexit promises, leaving fishers feeling betrayed and lied to

By
Chris Williams
25 January 2021

Last week, fish and seafood exporters protested in London against the ​‘Brexit trade deal’. While a no-deal would have been the final nail in the coffin for the struggling industry, this trade agreement, as we predicted, does not live up to the expectations of UK fishers.
NEF has shown that not all fishers are in the same boat, with a large part of the fleet at risk due to a reliance on shellfish exports to the

Blog
Deal or no deal
Are the scales now tipping back in favour of the status quo for UK fishing?

By
Chris Williams
19 November 2020

As anyone who has been reading the NEF blog over the past few years will recognise, fisheries — while only making up a tiny part of the UK economy — has developed totemic status in the UK’s Brexit narrative and remains one of the major obstacles to a UK-EU deal.
In the run-up to the Brexit referendum, it was impossible to avoid hearing about fisheries and Brexit and the oft-repeated soundbite of ​“taking back control” of our waters. This fits a portrayal of the UK as an

Blog
Light on the horizon: the story of the Eastbourne fishing quay
How fishers in Eastbourne worked together to build their own community fishing quay

By
Chris Williams
24 August 2020

Good things come to those who wait, or so that saying goes.
Like so many small-scale fleets across the UK, fishers in Eastbourne have been squeezed to the point of extinction. So, way back in 2014, we began working with fishers in Eastbourne to help shape a proposal for a new fishing quay. The Fishing Quay project would enable fishers to own or lease their own quay in Sovereign Harbour, to give them long-term security

Blog
Discarded at sea
Why do workers’ rights get forgotten when we talk about the fishing industry?

By
Chris Williams
13 July 2020

Fishing is playing a totemic role in Brexit negotiations. While awareness of the importance of environmental sustainability is more prominent than ever, there’s a widespread failure to connect this with the human rights of fishers themselves.
Labour rights violations, people trafficking, forced labour and other illegal activity occur in fisheries, with ​’illegal, unregulated and unsustainable fishing’ (IUU) in all of the world’s oceans. Only last week a story emerged of a