BETTER NEWS ON FISH QUOTAS
There's doubly good news on the fish catch quotas front - figures are up for next year and pressure is growing for EU-wide reform of the entire system.
"This is good news for every Fish and Chip shop in the UK and their customers can enjoy their favourite food without feeling guilty about destroying the world," said FASFA's Tim Cartwright-Taylor, welcoming the news. "All the scare mongering is simply not true when it comes to cod and haddock stocks."
He was speaking after the European Fish Advisory Committee (ICES) released its management advice for 2009 for a number of fish species in the North Atlantic and the catch quotas for cod and haddock in the Barents Sea are recommended to be higher next year (2009) as the spawning stocks of both species are well above the precautionary limit. It is anticipated that the quota size will rise a minimum 10 per cent for cod and 20 percent for haddock.
The total annual catch (TAC) for 2009 for cod will be increased to 496,000 tonnes and haddock to 194,000 tonnes, split between trawlers from Norway, Russia and the EU. In addition, ICES state that Arctic Saithe (Coley) stocks are in constant good condition.
Fasfa holds that the responsible fishing policy of the EU, Norway/Russia, where spawning and fish growing grounds are no-go areas for fishermen has paid off. Some of these areas are as big as the UK itself. Stocks are being maintained and in some cases are increasing despite adverse climate and environmental conditions.
FASFA's Tim Cartwright-Taylor added: "We are delighted for our members to discover that fishing quotas are being increased for this unique, wild, healthy fish. The cod and haddock customers in the UK need to know their fish is being managed sustainably."
Meanwhile, the House of Lords European Union Committee has called for a radical reform of the way fisheries are managed in the EU. The current "over-centralised and top-down legislative process should be overhauled into a system that gives regional stakeholders a greater role." I
n the report, The Progress of the Common Fisheries Policy, the Committee concludes that the CFP's "dismal reputation" is warranted on several counts, giving us an intricate regulatory regime that has failed to protect fish stocks. It notes that the UK has demonstrated a much greater commitment to getting the balance right than other member states, and proposes that central EU institutions should only set strategic objectives and allow regional management bodies to take the lead in devising strategies for achieving them.
