The European Union is not content within having ruined Britain’s fishing fleet and halved the number of UK fishermen, and is now turning its attention to criminalising our recreational sea anglers, Andrew Brons MEP has warned.
Speaking during a debate in the European Parliament on Maritime Policy – Fisheries, today, Mr Brons said the “eagerness with which the United Kingdom was bundled into the EU’s predecessor in 1973 had nothing to do with our collective charm and charisma and everything to do with the quantity of our fish.
“The Commission will decide before the end of 2012 whether recreational fishing can be regarded as Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing,” he said.
“Recreational anglers catch a miniscule percentage of the total catch. Most important of all, recreational fishermen are much more likely to return immature fish safely to the sea.
“The report calls for an end to flags of convenience. However, the 1991 European Court of Justice decision, legalising quota hopping, legalised just that, which is a form of flags of convenience,” Mr Brons said.
Earlier, EU Commissioner Maria Damanaki, announced that recreational fishing was not a competence of the EU–unless the catch was sold.
However, the Rapporteur said that the Commission would be called on to decide whether or not recreational should be considered ‘Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated’ fishing.
According to a memorandum to the House of Commons Agriculture Committee, submitted by The Fishermen’s Association Ltd. the EEC Common Fisheries Policy was introduced in 1970 and allowed EU states whose own fish stocks had been depleted to exploit the well-conserved waters of the applicant countries of Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom.
The result has been an environmental and political disaster.
Competence for the living marine resources within the 200-mile exclusive fishing zone has been handed to the Community, based on the principle of equal access to a common resource without discrimination.
The Common Fisheries Policy causes the depletion of fish stocks by measures that were ostensibly intended to conserve them.
Single-species quotas result in massive dumping at sea of fish caught in excess of the quota for that particular species.
Dumping takes two forms:
Prime fish of breeding size: When a mixed species catch is hauled on board, all the fish of a particular species must be dumped overboard if the vessel has an insufficient quota for that species. These are called “black fish.”
It is possible that 30 million prime cod along with unknown quantities of other fish will now be dumped dead at sea each year.
Juveniles: The Council of Fisheries Ministers voted on 30 October 1997 to reduce the minimum landing size of three species — hake, plaice and megrim — to below breeding size. This endangers the future of the industry.
During the 1980s, the fleets of the nine member states plus Greece reasonably matched the Community’s marine resources. When Spain joined on 1st January 1986, its fleet amounted to three-quarters of the combined fleets of the Nine. EEC fishing capacity nearly doubled overnight.
Too many vessels were chasing too few fish and every member state was required to cut its fishing fleet to make way for the newcomers.
As a result:
* The quota system is responsible for the dumping dead of thousands of tons – and numerically billions – of fish every year.
* This is the principal cause of the overall reduction of fish stocks and pollutes the marine environment.
* It criminalises honest fishermen.
* It has resulted in the reduction of the British fishing fleet to one third of its former size.
* It destroys direct and indirect employment.
* It is having a devastating effect on coastal communities.
* It has resulted in the growth of a trade in quotas which ensures that ownership of the fleet is becoming concentrated in fewer hands. This will eventually destroy the industry.
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I used to go both course and sea fishing in Yorkshire (for pleasure, not as a professional fisherman). Sadly, the Yorkshire coastal waters are now all but barren. Indeed, I would suggest a policy of creating fish farms around the economically deprived Scarborough area, which would give much needed employment to that area. The farms would aim at producing fish for consumption (bringing the price of fish back to more affordable levels in markets and supermarkets) and fish to replenish the seas, until such times as it were prudent to return en masse to more traditional fishing methods.
It only makes sense if you accept that these commissars are at war against European people, at the behest of their communist overlords in the Kremlin. Destroying our fish species, and destroying us as the white race, is the real cold war.
The current policies are insane, Britain must leave the EU , if only to preserve this finite food reserve. It will then be possible to introduce sustainable fisheries, re-establishing territorial waters.
Marine reserves could be introduced covering large corridors of ocean where there is no fishing whatsoever, this could also protect the migratory paths of many species.
If continued access to our waters is allowed to EU countries we will see several important species disappear within a decade.
This article, written towards the end of 2011 stands the test of time. as Andrew quotes the commission will decide whether recreational fishing can be regarded as illegal. They will decide. you have got to be kidding. Chairman little Red Book or Stalin would be proud of this one. These European Union people are totally out of control. Vote for our new British Democratic Party for a real withdrawal from the European Union dictatorship and then go fishing.