Hugh's Fishfight campaign on Channel 4.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall's hard-hitting film documenting the 'mad' EU regulated quota system (which came about in the wake of the Common Fisheries Policy) hit the screens last night.  Hugh learnt just how bad what are known as 'discards' - the fish that fishermen catch but then have to throw back, dead, into the sea as they do not have quota to catch them. With fish consumption of cod, salmon and tuna around 50% of total the UK fish sales the series' targets these fisheries in particular, both here and around the world.


His first trip aboard the Seagull from Scrabster NE Scotland skippered by Gary Much saw him witness haul after haul of cod and coley going back over the side of the trawler as she worked off the Shetlands. After one haul, Hugh asks for all the fish that should be discarded to be kept in baskets - the fish represent around £30,000 worth of fish for the course of a single trip!


"I canna put a sign up on ma nets saying, 'no cod today'" says skipper Gary Much, resigned to work in a "mad" system out of his control.


Hugh then moves to the South coast of England and the beach boats of Hastings where skipper Paul Joy has seen the local fleet dwindle from 44 boats to 11. These beach boats are typical of the under 10m sector that make up the bulk of the UK's fleet yet only have 10% of the national quota. The local fleet fish primarily for cod, plaice and sole with a total daily quota of 13kg - obviously unsustainable. They have been given a huge pollack quota but, as skipper Paul points out, totally pointless as the last time he saw a pollack in his nets was five years ago!

In an attempt to show the people of Hastings just how much fish is dumped as discards by the local fleet, Paul and the other skippers left throwing back over-quota cod from their day's fishing until they were just off the beach - thereby allowing Hugh and the assembled crowd to wade in and pick up the discarded fish - Grimmy Mike in Newlyn would have been proud as he long argued that, as it was illegeal to dump anything at sea, fishermen forced to dump ocer-quota fish at sea were "damned if they did and damned if they didn't"!

Staunch anti-CFP activist, Newlyn's Mike Mahon who long campaigned for the right to retain on board fish that were caught rather than senslessley dump over-quota fish at sea.

You can catch the programme again on 4OD here.


Tonight's episode sees Hugh in warmer waters looking at tuna.