Fishing's funeral

Our MPs have betrayed us. Over the years they have allowed our traditional fishing waters to be plundered by foreign trawlers. This has:

• Decimated a valuable strategic industry
• Forced terrible hardship upon once vibrant coastal communities
• And reduced our stocks of fish to the point of extinction.

This scandal has happened with few MPs, and no government, raising their voices in protest.

Ever since Tory Prime Minister Ted Heath took us in to the so-called Common Market, the surrender of our fishing waters has been seen by our MPs as a price worth paying to be a member of this expensive and hugely wasteful club.

Only now, when it is almost too late, are people beginning to speak out against this criminal madness.

It has taken a supermarket chain, Asda, to speak out and bring the fate of our fishing communities to national attention.

Asda said that British fishermen should manage their own traditional fishing grounds – not distant bureaucrats in landlocked Brussels.

Dismissed

No sooner had Asda spoken out than the government dismissed the idea out of hand – such is the power of Brussels.

But Asda are right: it is time to speak out before there are no fishermen and no fish stocks left.

The so-called Common Fisheries Policy has been a commercial disaster, an environmental disaster and a human disaster.

As Owen Paterson, MP for Oswestry has said: 'The Common Fisheries Policy is a biological, environmental, economic and social disaster; it is beyond reform. It is a system that forces fishermen to throw back more fish dead into the sea than they land; it has caused substantial degradation of the marine environment; it has destroyed much of the fishing industry, with compulsory scrapping of modern vessels, and has devastated fishing communities.'

Fishing folly

The Common Fisheries Policy has resulted in British taxpayers subsidising the building of industrial -scale trawlers in Spain and other EU countries, which are then free to fish our waters, putting our fishermen out of business while, at the same time, seriously depleting fish stocks.

To compound this madness, in order to comply with policies made in Brussels, British taxpayers have had to fund the destruction – known in eurospeak as decommissioning - of the nation's fishing fleet.

Since Britain joined the so-called Common Market more than 30 years ago more than 1,100 boats have been lost.  In the last five years alone, close to 200 vessels over 32ft long have been scrapped in compliance with orders from Brussels. A once proud industry has, quite literally, been wrecked. And the British taxpayer has funded this act of institutionalised vandalism.

Asda's regulatory affairs manager, Gordon Maddan, said: 'We want all the fish we sell to be sustainable. It's very clear, however, that the Common Fisheries Policy has failed to deliver this, so we are now supporting calls for a radical change in approach.' (use this as ragout quote)

The answer, he insisted, was British withdrawal from the CFP and its replacement with a fisheries management regime devised by fishermen themselves.

Predictably, our government toed the Brussels line. Fish, they said, do not respect national boundaries.

Tightly bound

And just to confirm how tightly we are bound by the Brussels straitjacket a government mouthpiece said: 'The repealing of the European Communities Act 1972 would not change the UK's obligations. The United Kingdom is a signatory to this Treaty and we are bound by its terms.

'As the CFP is provided for within the Treaty, the UK would be in breach of Community law if it did not abide by its obligations. (use this as ragout quote from Government) In order to opt out of the Treaty or any of its parts, the UK would need to renegotiate at Community level. Such a renegotiation is not on the agenda.'

As far as the Commission is concerned ' Fish resources are part of our common heritage' and not  part of Britain's historical territorial fishing waters.  Others, like the Scottish MP Alex Salmond, agree with Asda; 'The only real solution is to scrap this policy and reclaim control over our own fishing waters.'

Salmond and Asda are right. The time has come to stop this continued appeasement of Brussels.

We believe that if enough people speak out we can get a referendum on the return of this and other vital powers from Brussels to Britain.

Join the 87% of people who say they want a say in getting these powers back – and demand a referendum. It is time our elected politicians listened to the people and stopped slavishly obeying the rules and regulations spewing out of Brussels.

Footnote

Where percentages have been quoted research was carried out by Yougov 6th-10th October 2006. 2205 responents were surveyed. Respondents who refused to answer or didn't have an opinion have been excluded from the figures.

Related articles

For Asda supporting Britain pulling out of the Common Fisheries Policy: Click here

For a discussion of the Common Fisheries Policy: Click here

Go to

Save Britain's Fish: Click here

Official sites

European Commission Directorate General for Fishing and Maritime Affairs Directorate-General for Fisheries and Maritime: Click here