A European Union pilot project in which fishermen will be paid for catching rubbish from the Mediterranean has been questioned by industry leaders in the Westcountry.
Reports suggest the plan mooted by the EUs fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki is designed to provide struggling fleets with an alternative source of income to reduce pressure on dwindling fish stocks.
It has also been described as a sweetener to fishermen who are opposed the European Commission's plans to ban the wasteful practice of discarding edible fish at sea.
But Jim Portus, chief executive of the South West Fish Producer's Organisation, questioned why payments were necessary, given the success of a voluntary scheme already running in Britain.
"I am glad they are catching up with us," Mr Portus said yesterday.
"Obviously they feel the need to incentivise this scheme in the Mediterranean with a bit of cash encouragement. But ultimately, cash incentives come from the taxpayer. It seems to me we should be encouraging people to do it for free for the good of the environment. The fishermen should want to do it anyway."
Dozens of Westcountry boats have signed up to the Fishing For Litter Project, administered locally by Seafood Cornwall Training and supported by Cornwall Council, which provides sacks and waste collection facilities in six ports across the region, making it easy for skippers to dispose of the litter they net.
The project co-ordinates and covers all the costs involved with the disposal of the waste. So far, more than 80 fishing vessels from Newlyn, Brixham, Plymouth, Looe, Newquay and Appledore are taking part.
"Basically fishermen are catching litter when they are catching fish but in the past all they did was throw it back over the side, recycling it back into the ocean which never improved the situation," Mr Portus said. "So the idea of asking fishermen to just stick it in a dumpy bag on board and bring it into port and get the local authority to agree to take it off to landfill free of charge is one way of trying to clear up the oceans.
"It is no extra work for the fishermen but it is a good thing for the environment."
Mr Portus said there was "a hell of a lot of rubbish out there" with a variety of problems from domestic waste to washing machines and car parts being pulled up in nets.
He admitted that the industry needed to "clean up its own act" but stressed that fishing vessels were "never going to clean up the oceans alone".
He said the world needed to do some "soul searching" about the use of the sea as a dumping ground.
The trial project is expected to be unveiled later this month. Maria Damanaki said incentives were necessary because the industry felt "insecure" over proposed changes.