EU ARTICLE 47 – WHAT A LETTER – VIEWS FROM A CEFAS SCIENTIST

This is from a guy who worked in fishing industry and sent this letter to local MEP.

MEP/MP

Recreational sea angling and EU Article 47

It is with total dismay that we find the EU is planning to amalgamate angling catches with the commercial fishing sector quotas as a part of each countries national quota. ICES scientists throughout Europe have been working for in excess of 30 years to significantly reduce discards from the commercial fleets and to sustainably manage fish resources. One can only say that they with the help of policy makers and politicians have monumentally failed to protect our resources. We are all aware that trawlers discard on average 50% of their catch, and in shrimp and Nephrop fisheries discard levels are even higher. Research institutes around Europe have discard data that they are too scared to publish because they know how damaging this would be to the image of commercial fishing. A video captured by the Norwegian coastguard and published on the Guardian Newspaper website shows a British trawler blatantly ‘high grading’ that is dumping fish that has been boxed and stored in the fish-room when fish of a higher quality and hence greater value has been caught. This practice is commonplace within the commercial sector.

The catches from recreational fishing are but a fraction of what is being wasted on a daily basis by the commercial sector, through failed management policies, yet we continue to perpetuate this approach and destroy yet another sector the ‘recreational angler’. If we look at the UK history since the CFP was formed our large vessel fleet has been decimated, the under 10m inshore vessels has been forced out of business and now there is a serious attack on recreational fishermen. The cynic in me suggests that this is more about job protection and job creation for scientists , managers and our fisheries police than anything to do with sustainable fisheries.

I have worked in fisheries training and fisheries research, and have worked closely with the inspectorate and sea fisheries committees since the early 1970’s so speak with a great deal of experience of what has happened over the last few decades.

As a keen shore, boat and kayak angler who fishes predominately around the Humber estuary, I feel very bitter that anglers should now be persecuted for the outrageous failings of fisheries management policies, and if I felt in any way that this or the RSA licence scheme would in any way benefit our sport I would fully support it.
Regrettably all that it will do is destroy an invaluable leisure activity with monumental social and economic consequences within coastal communities around the shores of Britain and other Member States. There are millions of children throughout Europe who enjoy an invaluable hobby, learn a great deal about the coast and the natural world and how to respect nature through this sport. They now all run a severe risk of having this taken away from them, and spending more time playing computer games and getting involved in ant-social behaviour. We have already seen the detrimental effects of licensing angling in Portugal.

I would be truly grateful if you could bring these important points to the policy makers and others who will be voting on these issues.

Yours sincerely

LINK

http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/north-east-coast-fishing/sea-angling-under-attack-again/120/