At a parliamentary meeting on Monday, UK MPs agreed to back a call for the rights of foreign vessels to fish in UK coastal waters to be revoked and reclaimed for the use of low impact, local fishermen.
Many European member states currently have significant historic rights to fish in the waters that are 6-12 nautical miles from the UK’s coastline. The MPs are concerned that this is having a serious impact on the marine environment, and further threatens the survival of low impact, coastal fishermen and the fish stocks they depend on.
In the UK, depleted stocks are struggling to recover from overfishing and international fisheries scientists estimate that 41% of stocks are still overfished in the Atlantic and surrounding seas. Consequently fishermen have faced a steady decline in their catches. In 2009 the UK fishing fleet landed the lowest haul since records began.
Twelve MPs have signed up to a five-step plan aimed at regenerating the UK’s inshore waters, fisheries and coastal communities through quota redistribution; regionalisation of fisheries management and reclaiming coastal waters for small scale fishermen. The plan was jointly launched by the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association (NUTFA) and Greenpeace. They are campaigning for the government to implement the policies in the reformed CFP which reward fishermen who use more selective, low-impact fishing methods, and who maximise social and employment benefits for local communities.
Jerry Percy, Chief Executive of NUTFA said, “Once busy and thriving, many coastal fishing communities have crumbled, fishing harbours turned into yacht parks and fishing beaches that are no longer home to fishing boats. This is the reality for much of modern coastal England. But there is hope. Hope in new legislation sensibly implemented, hope in the realisation that smaller scale fishermen are not the problem but a solution to many of the challenges facing us and hope that politicians will recognise the wealth that has been lost, but is there to be regained in terms of jobs, fish stocks and reinvigorated communities.”
