Common Fishery Policy Reform - Green Paper

[pete]

If you have an interest on how 'your' fish stocks are being managed and wish to have your voice heard, being listened to is another matter , then check out the link. Definetly worth reading the green paper and having a think about which direction you want this beast to go in...

www.ec.europa.eu/fisheries/reform

[corbyeire]

thanks for the link

[Bradan]

If you have an interest on how 'your' fish stocks are being managed and wish to have your voice heard, being listened to is another matter , then check out the link. Definetly worth reading the green paper and having a think about which direction you want this beast to go in...

http://www.ec.europa.eu/fisheries/reform

Unfortunately my cynical head tells me there will be lots of submissions from the likes of us, saying that stocks should be managed in accordance with scientific advice, and that nursery areas and inshore zones should be protected from commercial fishing. Then they'll publish the white paper/legislation which will contain nothing but lip service to these ideas. Then they'll carry on as before, ministers ignoring the scientific advice and fishermen hoovering up the juvenile fish. Meanwhile you guys in SFPA will be paraded as the guardians of the industry making sure the fishermen adhere to quotas, but those quotas are completely unrealistic anyway...

[doggie3131]

i have just finished reading the paper,and i think a response is needed,but a organised response,i think we, as a organisation, should make a submission detailing our views and ambitions for the future,i would like to see a sticky, asking for us anglers to submit our opinions,and then organise a submission based on those opinions.a submission forwarded to the e.u.from a group representing three thousand anglers, has a better chance being recognized,that individual responses.

[somedose]

A VISION FOR EUROPEAN FISHERIES BY 2020

"Nearly all of Europe’s fish stocks have been restored to their maximum sustainable yields."

"It operates with environmentally friendly boats"

The people behind this report must be off their heads if they ACTUALLY believe that this could be a realistic senario in EU waters in 11 years.While they admit that rampant overfishing is taking place and that the fleet is way to large to be sustainable, it is only at the end of the day words on a piece of paper. As we all know, the political power of the fishing lobby far outweighs that of any other stake holders who use the marine ecosystem, as pessimistic as it may sound, I don't think this proposed change in fisheries policy will go far enough to save EU stocks. Mentioned in the report they say "93 % of the cod in the North Sea are fished before they can breed" - this is an absolute outrage and a case of the fishermmen shooting themselves in the foot. Once again the report acknowledges this nearsighted approach - "Social objectives such as employment have often been invoked to advocate more generous short-term fishing opportunities: the result has always been to further jeopardise the state of the stocks and the future of the fishermen who make a living out of them" but whether the politicians now sit up and listen to marine scientists with the intention of preserving furture stocks is another matter.

Realistically (and even this might prove to be a stretch), a 'sustainable' fishery like that of Iceland may be the best option.

Also, I agree that this should be made a sticky as every angler should have the opportunity tohave their say

[corbyeire]

well iceland might be the model - but they will have to sign it all over to join the EU - it could be the place that has prevented many fisheries from imploding - now it will lose it all in the Acquis communautaire

[somedose]

I'm not saying Iceland should lose it all - they have every right to keep their stocks. We all know that the sheer number of foreign boats fishing in Irish waters has had a huge detremental effect on Irish stocks. Iceland's defence of it's stocks (sometimes very aggressive) and enforcing of fisheries policies through strict quotas and proper policing has resulted in a relatively sustainable fishery. I'm aware that we are in a 'common fishery' but perhaps that is the root of the problem - drastic times call for drastic measures.

[Ashley Hayden]

This is not a time to be cynical. The link provided gives all the opportunity to have their say. Use it. Use it as a group, as an individual, but use it. But prior to sending your piece, engage your local commercial fisherman in conversation to hear his side of the argument. Then go and speak to fish wholesalers and fishmongers and hear their story. Then read books like "The Unnatural History of the Sea", "Cod", and "The End of the Line", to further inform. Then Google papers by the likes of Edward Fahy to gain further insight on how our fisheries are managed. Now reasonably informed go ahead and have your say, and idealy do not leave it there. Engage the general public who have to buy overly expensive or imported fish (possibly depriving third world people of an income). Most importantly through your local angling club generate a political movement of anglers, something which sadly we just do not have. Someone or some "body"has to take up the mantle. Do all of that and we might get somewhere....