Govt seeks end to fish dumping
Millions of fish being dumped to meet EU quotas
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Tuesday, 20, Nov 2007 11:59
The UK government has admitted its concern at the proportion of fishermen's catches being discarded due to EU quotas.
Fisheries minister Jonathan Shaw says the government wants to increase the amount of cod that fishermen can legitimately catch in the North Sea to resolve the problem.
"This year we are going to ask for an increase in the amount of fish we can catch in the North Sea," he told the Today programme, despite admitting that cod levels in the North Sea were "dangerously low".
Strict EU quotas have reportedly seen millions of dead fish being thrown back into the sea by UK fishermen.
According to Greenpeace, 63 per cent of catches – equal to almost 120 million fish – was discarded over the last 12 months.
"I think the first thing we have to do is abandon the rigid quota system; it's clear that it causes the waste," said Greenpeace spokesman Oliver Knowles.
"There's no doubt that there is still too much capacity in the fishing fleet. Put simply we're still taking way too many fish out of the sea. So, hard as it is, I think we need further decommissioning."
"No one wants to see discards," Mr Shaw continued. "That is why we are asking for a modest increase this year in the amount of cod that fishermen will be able to catch."
The EU fisheries commissioner meanwhile has highlighted the problems in finding a solution to the amount of fish being dumped.
Jose Borg, who said that discarding was "immoral", explained: "The problem is when we come to work out the details of how we can remove and eliminate discarding and at the same time have sustainable fisheries. That is the big problem."