A £5m fishing vessel decommissioning scheme for the South West of England opens today. The Marine and Fisheries Agency is inviting applications from south west owners of beam trawlers over 10 metres long which will be affected by cuts in fishing effort required by the agreed long term management plan for Western Channel sole.

The decommissioning scheme gives owners the chance to take a long term business decision on whether to remain in the fishery or diversify.

The Western Channel sole stocks are currently under pressure, and the European Fisheries Council is setting up a plan to manage the fishery's sustainable future. This will require a reduction in fishing effort.

The MFA decommissioning scheme offers vessel owners an opportunity to bid for an amount of money that they would be prepared to accept to decommission their fishing vessels and surrender the associated fishing vessel licences.

Successful applicants will be required to break up their boats and hand in their licences, and claim a payment by November 15 this year. That payment will be to the value of their bid for decommissioning funds.

Applications will be judged on their value for money, taking account of the vessels' tonnage and both fishing effort and sole catch in Area VIIe.

Eligible vessels must be: * at least 10m in length and more than 10 years old * seaworthy and registered as a fishing vessel in the UK * hold an appropriate Category A fishing licence * have fished for at least 75 days in each of two periods of 12 months immediately preceding the date of application * have been allocated days under the days at sea scheme