A LOAD OF POLLACKS

I don’t usually get caught up in campaigns.  I take the view (clearly the wrong one, if everyone thought he same) that my vote wouldn’t make that much difference.  But I wanted you all to see this.

Under EU quota arrangements, English fishermen are entitled to catch only a specified amount of fish (usually cod, tuna and salmon, because that’s what we mostly eat here).  If, when they check in at their home port, they are found to have exceeded that quota, they will be heavily fined.  But of course the fish are caught in a trawl net, so there is absolutely no way to control what fish go into it.  So, when the fishermen have sorted through the catch at sea and extracted all the ‘legal’ fish, the rest are thrown back into the water.  This is perfectly legal and meets the EU rules.  But it does mean that as much fish as is landed in UK legally, the same amount of perfectly edible, even desirable, fish is thrown back into the sea dead, because the law doesn’t allow them to bring it to shore.  Millions of tons worth, in other words, of food is destroyed, because of some potty Brussels legislation. 

We may only catch so much fish, so we are told to destroy the same amount.  I hope someone can see how this prevents overfishing, saves fish stocks, or helps sustainability .

If anyone feels like joining me and signing the petition to end this nonsense, please do so.