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It's not much to show for a month's work. But these two baskets of prime
Dover sole, trawled up by Westcountry fishermen Stephen and Michael Nowell,
represent all they are allowed to catch for the whole of February.
It took them just one day to land these fish because Dover sole are currently
so plentiful off the Cornish coast.
Yet if they land so much as one more boxful they will be deemed "over-quota"
and are likely to be prosecuted and fined for breaking EU fishing regulations.
That means the two hard-working fishermen, with 13 employees to support,
interest to pay on their loans and bills to meet, face sitting in port
for up to four weeks, doing nothing, or switching to deep sea fishing
in vessels not built for the job.
It's a damning indictment of the quota system and the entire European
Common Fisheries Policy which condemns our own fishermen to kick their
heels in harbour while foreign boats from France and Belgium, with higher
quotas, catch the fish from our home waters.
Stephen Nowell said: "The really sickening thing is that we have
just left the Belgium fleeton the north Cornwall coast, in Cornish waters
with 70 per cent of the quota, fishing away."
That is sheer madness. And it is a system of controlling fish stocks
which, increasingly, is being seen as unsustainable - not just by the
fishermen but by those in positions of authority.
Already the Conservative Party have pledged that if they came to power
they would take Britain out of the Common Fisheries Policy and return
to us the control of our home waters.
Last month, a judge at Mold Crown Court in North Wales told Welsh fisherman
Hadyn Jones it was "senseless" that over-quota fish had to be
thrown back into the sea, dead, in order to meet quota regulations. He
let Mr Jones off with a caution, even though he had landed tonnes of over-quota
cod as a protest at the rules.
The only people who cannot, apparently, see the madness of the current
policy are members of the British Government, who blithely maintain that
this is the best method of maintaining Europe's stocks of fish.
Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw returned triumphant from Europe towards
the end of last year with what he described as a good deal for British
fishermen following the latest round of quota talks. Try telling that
to the Nowell brothers today, Mr Bradshaw, as they wonder how they are
going to feed their families and meet all their commitments with three
beam trawlers all geared up to catch Dover sole, plenty of sole available
to catch, but no quota on which to legally land them.
Mr Bradshaw's "good deal" actually included a 24 per cent cut
in the Dover sole quota for the waters of the Western Channel this year.
That's a cut based on the so-called scientific evidence of Dover sole
stocks.
Yet the evidence of the fishermen is that Dover sole are there in large
numbers. As Stephen said: "It's the best sole fishing we have seen
out there for 30 years. There is so much fish around we can see we are
catching more than we're allowed and have to turn away."
The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, however, sees
it very differently. They are prepared to see skilled British fishermen
and valuable boats lie idle in port in the name of alleged "conservation"
while their European counterparts in other nations pay for their fleets
to be expanded and their fishing effort increased.
Worse still, our ministers are prepared to send their inspectors out
to slap down any British fisherman who dares land over-quota fish and
urge the judges and magistrates who hear the subsequent court cases to
"throw the book at them". In some cases, that's just what those
judges and magistrates have done.
But there is just the smallest signs that things are beginning to change
on that score. Last month's landmark ruling by Judge Geoffrey Kilfoil
in the case of Mr Jones, skipper of the Pride of Wales, was the first
real proof that someone in a position of some influence and authority
is prepared to stand up and say this system is deeply flawed.
Judge Kilfoil did not put it quite in those terms. But when told, to
his apparent astonishment, that all over quota fish - which cannot help
but be caught - had to be thrown dead over the side he exclaimed: "Well
what's the sense in that?"
The fishermen of the Westcountry - and indeed ordinary people everywhere
- will have responded with a hearty "hear, hear". There is no
sense in such a policy and it simply cannot be sustained for very much
longer.
The Nowell brothers know the sea and know fishing. They know there is
sufficient Dover sole in the Western Channel to increase quotas. Indeed
they were so confident Ben Bradshaw would be coming back from Brussels
with improved catch limits for this year, they invested £500,000
in a new boat.
Now, in order to cover their massive overheads, they are contemplating
heading into deeper and more dangerous waters with boats that are not
built for the job in order to pursue other species. It's a risky move
but one they may have to take if they are to stay in business.
And New Labour is apparently content to stand by and claim it is doing
its best for our fishermen, in spite of the fact that by slavishly following
EU policies it could be forcing these men, and others, to make the choice
between risking their lives or facing financial ruin.
That's some deal, Mr Bradshaw.
article copyright © WESTERN MORNING NEWS
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