Graham Watson MEP

Graham's Response to Correspondence from Hugh's Fish Fight Campaign

Published on Thursday 22nd December 2011

Dear Hugh and Fish Fight supporters,

Thank you for the many thousands of e-mails requesting my support for reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).  My inbox has been flooded with e-mails on this topic.

I welcome your views on this matter and I deplore the amount of fish that is currently wasted by the EU’s quota system, requiring fishermen to discard stock once they catch a certain amount. This affects all marine species and damages biodiversity immeasurably; this problem must be resolved.

I believe it is vital that we get the balance right between conserving fish stocks and allowing continued sustainable fishing. The experience of over fishing has been devastating for communities in Newfoundland and Canada. We must take heed and ensure that the EU does not replicate such a disaster here.

Within the European Parliament I have been supporting the cross party, cross nationality campaign group of MEPs  ('Fish for the Future') which is working to raise the profile of the issue in Parliament and to win support for change to the CFP. 

The European Union is now importing two thirds of all the fish we eat.  For too long short sighted national politicians have ignored scientists recommendations when meeting to set the quotas behind closed doors.

One of the positive aspects of the new Lisbon Treaty (which is often forgotten in all the rhetoric) is that the co-decision legislative process involving both the Council (made up of national governments) and the European Parliament has been substantially extended and now includes the Common Fisheries Policy. This means for the first time there will be full  parliamentary oversight, ensuring that directly elected MEPs get to make a significant contribution to CFP reforms.

MEPs are to vote in the Fisheries Committee on the proposals in June 2012 and in full plenary in September.  The Council and the Parliament will then go through a series of negotiations with a view to reconciling our differences and reaching agreement early in 2013. 

The current proposals drawn up by the European Commission emphasise the need to end overfishing and start to rebuild stocks by setting long term management plans, based on the best scientific evidence available, that cannot be overturned when politicians find them uncomfortable.  The reform plans also include proposals for banning the discard of most commercial species of fish.

The EU’s Fisheries Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, has indicated her determination to try and bring about an end to the bad practices of the past ever since she was appointed in 2010.  She faces strong resistance from many fishermen who seem blind to the need for change, as well as from many governments (such as those in Spain and France). 

I would add that the Commission has also proposed changes to the financial support mechanism for the fishing industry.  Subsidies for scrapping old vessels, which in fact have simply resulted in investment in larger and more powerful new boats, are to be scrapped entirely.  Most of the money will go to projects intended to help coastal communities and fishermen generate alternative sources of employment, and to pay for more selective fishing gear to make it easier to ban discards.

To end on a positive note, Denmark, Sweden and Norway have just announced their agreement to ban discards in the waters of Skagerrak from January 2013.  It is only a limited area but they are describing the agreement as "historic" and it is intended to send a signal to others.

Finally I should address the eurosceptic myth that Britain's problems with our fisheries all stem from the Common Fisheries Policy.  From the mid 1950s until the CFP was created we did a very effective job of devastating fish stocks around Britain all by ourselves! An EU wide approach can now help address reform.

Thank you for your support for reform.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Graham Watson MEP
Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for South West England and Gibraltar

PS – I will endeavour to reply to all my constituents who have contacted me as part of the Hugh’s Fish Fight campaign. However, as MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar I must give priority to those within this region and I may be unable to respond to those in other parts of the UK