MAURICE GRAY Paul Lines fears fisherman are being priced out of the ancestral port

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New boats wanting to use the dock face charges of nearly £9,500 a year, an incredible 450 per cent higher than the £2,000 a year paid by the 14 vessels that already have licences. Boat owners put the blame on the Association of British Ports for giving priority at Lowestoft in Suffolk to the wind farm industry. Fisherman Lee Woollerton said: “Another 20 vessels want to come to the port but cannot due to the charges. They have to use cheaper moorings at Southwold, Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn, and then transport their catch by road.

GETTY Prices for new boats to moor in the dock are 450 per cent higher than for those already there

“The dock used to hold up to 60 inshore fishing vessels but the remaining ones have been crammed into a corner to make way for larger vessels working on the wind farms.”

I’ve bought a boat and want to employ local people to fish from my home port, but can’t because of the charges Fisherman Lee Woollerton

Mr Woollerton, 48, who left fishing to work in oil, gas, and renewables, wants to return to fishing but the mooring costs have forced him to put plans on hold. In a similar position is Ben Stebbings, 35, who manages a firm taking workers to off-shore wind farms, but also wants to return to fishing. He said: “With fishing stocks in the North Sea being replenished and the future looking better, Lowestoft needs the sons of fishermen to return to the industry but they are being stopped by the pricing barrier. “I’ve bought a boat and want to employ local people to fish from my home port, but can’t because of the charges.”

GETTY The ABP say they want everyone to benefit from the windfarms and to secure the fishing industry

GETTY Lee thinks the industry needs the sons of fisherman to return