Disastrous Fishing Policy

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Tories Pledge to End ‘Disastrous’ Fishing Policy
The Scotsman - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK

The Conservatives launched their Green Paper on Fisheries today, branding the Common Fisheries Policy a disaster for those working at sea.

Speaking at the launch in Aberdeen, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Peter Duncan, Shadow Fisheries Minister Owen Paterson, and Scottish Conservative Fisheries Spokesman Ted Brocklebank outlined Tory policies on fisheries management.

The paper is the result of a year-long consultation with people in the fishing industry as well as visits to area where local control has yielded great benefits, such as New England in the US and the Faroe Islands.

Under a Conservative government, fishing quotas would be abandoned in place of days at sea and all catch would be brought ashore, putting an end to the dumping of dead fish and allowing a clearer idea of how much stock is in UK waters.

Mr Duncan said: “We come at this from a premise that the Common Fisheries Policy has failed fishermen and emptied our sea. The CFP will end as far as the UK is concerned, after the election of a Conservative government.

This is the conclusion of a research process looking at fisheries systems around the world at the system that will created a sustainable fisheries industry for Scotland and the UK.

This is not some silly proposal, we are absolutely determined to withdraw from the CFP and repatriate our fishing industries to local and national control.�

Mr Paterson added: “The CFP is a biological, environmental, economic and social disaster. It is quite unreformable.

At the moment nobody knows what is going on. The Royal Commission Report which came out before Christmas estimated 600,000 tones of fish are dumped in the North sea dead. They act as agents for pollution, not agents for generating prosperity.

Everywhere I have been where there are quotas you have problems of discards and the problem of the landing of illegal black fish

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[Simon TorbayFishing]

This is still only a small step in the right direction.

We need someone with the balls to really tackle the issues as a whole and not to keep side stepping what's really needed imo.

[upnorth1]

What really pi**es me off is, if fishing was a really big money spinner for the government, then they would pull out all the stops to protect fish stocks - as it is - they just really don't give a sh*t.

Weapons and wars and control, thats all this government wants, not just this government, but any government.

The day any government does anything for IT'S people, will be a cold day in hell.

It's up to the people themselves (including us fishermen/anglers) to FORCE the government to do something, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE - or is it already too late ???

[kiwimarty]

Originally Posted by Paul - Sunderland

What really pi**es me off is, if fishing was a really big money spinner for the government, then they would pull out all the stops to protect fish stocks - as it is - they just really don't give a sh*t.

Weapons and wars and control, thats all this government wants, not just this government, but any government.

The day any government does anything for IT'S people, will be a cold day in hell.

It's up to the people themselves (including us fishermen/anglers) to FORCE the government to do something, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE - or is it already too late ???

That's why every single sea angler must join the N.F.S.A. (National Federation of Sea Anglers). It's our only possible political voice, both here at home and in Europe. NFSA

Here in the UK most of us already know that sea angling is Britain's most popular participated recreational pastime (yes even above and beyond football). Unfortunately the membership stats on the NFSA website in no way reflect the kind of numbers who fish. This is hugely disappointing as we seem to whinge and complain in this country at just about everything and yet we lag so far behind in taking any direct action that is available to us. We simply always seem to 'part the butt cheeks' and take it.

If you ever want your voice heard, stop whinging and do something about it. Don’t complain about what we do abroad when we don’t use/support the vehicles that would make a difference.

Kiwi.