19 January 2011
Local MP Peter Aldous has welcomed the Fish Fight Campaign instigated by TV Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The campaign highlights that around half of the fish caught by fishermen in the North Sea are unnecessarily thrown back into the ocean dead as a result of European fisheries law.
The campaign which has attracted big name supporters such as Ricky Gervais and Jamie Oliver highlights that:
The campaign argues the need to diversify our fish eating habits, and to change the fishing policy so that it works for fish, fishermen and consumers.
Mr Aldous who has been campaigning on behalf of Lowestoft fishermen since being elected, led a delegation of Lowestoft fishermen to meet Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 2nd December 2010.
The fishermen told the Minister that the current systems of quotas goes against the conservation of fish stocks. The 10 metre fleet in Lowestoft have almost zero discard and are therefore environmentally friendly.
The Minister responded by saying that he would like to see their ideas developed and accepted that the whole quota system is in need of a reform. He suggested that he favoured a multi-annual plan –where fishermen are trusted to run a self-policing scheme free from the burden of regulation.
Later the same day Mr Aldous contributed to a Westminster Hall Debate secured by Dr Eilidh Whiteford (Banff and Buchan) at which he continued to argue that reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is essential to the future of the fishing industry on the East Coast.
Commenting Mr Aldous said:
I welcome this campaign by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. A high profile campaign is exactly what is needed to increase public awareness and raise the ridiculous system of discard up the political agenda. Aside from the awful spectacle of perfectly good fish being needlessly wasted, we must remember that this is about the livelihoods of fishermen and the economic impact on the whole area. I will continue to work with fishermen and the Fisheries Minister as closely as possible in the coming months to ensure that change is achieved at the review of the Common Fisheries Policy in 2012.
The campaign which has attracted big name supporters such as Ricky Gervais and Jamie Oliver highlights that:
- In a mixed fishery where many different fish live together, fishermen cannot control the species that they catch.
- Fishing for one species often means catching another, and if people don’t want them or fishermen are not allowed to land them, the only option is to throw them overboard. The vast majority of these discarded fish will die.
- Because discards are not monitored, it is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away. The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch. Many of these fish are species that have fallen out of fashion: we can help to prevent their discard just by rediscovering our taste for them.
- Others are prime cod, haddock, plaice and other popular food species that are “over-quota”. The quota system is intended to protect fish stocks by setting limits on how many fish of a certain species should be caught.
- Fishermen are not allowed to land any over-quota fish; if they accidentally catch them – which they can’t help but do - there is no choice but to throw them overboard before they reach the docks.
The campaign argues the need to diversify our fish eating habits, and to change the fishing policy so that it works for fish, fishermen and consumers.
Mr Aldous who has been campaigning on behalf of Lowestoft fishermen since being elected, led a delegation of Lowestoft fishermen to meet Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 2nd December 2010.
The fishermen told the Minister that the current systems of quotas goes against the conservation of fish stocks. The 10 metre fleet in Lowestoft have almost zero discard and are therefore environmentally friendly.
The Minister responded by saying that he would like to see their ideas developed and accepted that the whole quota system is in need of a reform. He suggested that he favoured a multi-annual plan –where fishermen are trusted to run a self-policing scheme free from the burden of regulation.
Later the same day Mr Aldous contributed to a Westminster Hall Debate secured by Dr Eilidh Whiteford (Banff and Buchan) at which he continued to argue that reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is essential to the future of the fishing industry on the East Coast.
Commenting Mr Aldous said:
I welcome this campaign by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. A high profile campaign is exactly what is needed to increase public awareness and raise the ridiculous system of discard up the political agenda. Aside from the awful spectacle of perfectly good fish being needlessly wasted, we must remember that this is about the livelihoods of fishermen and the economic impact on the whole area. I will continue to work with fishermen and the Fisheries Minister as closely as possible in the coming months to ensure that change is achieved at the review of the Common Fisheries Policy in 2012.
