Despite some reservations, there is plenty of support from many within the industry for the actions of the Peter Bruce aboard the Budding Rose after challenging Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to sail with him and his pair partner the Lapwing to see at first hand the amount of fish on the ground...
the AIS track shows where the pair team decided to go and fish - south west of the Shetlands.
on the same lines, here is a letter in response to an article that appeared in the Daily Telgraph this week:
SIR – As a fisherman, I must comment on Geoffrey Lean’s article on fisheries reform (Comment, May 11). It is rumoured that there are 2,600 amendments tabled, so any clear way out of this mess is doomed.
The main problem is that fish stocks are not dwindling but increasing. Cod and Dover sole are doing very well in the North Sea, with many of my colleagues having to find grounds with fewer fish on them for fear of catching too many. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science says there are more plaice in the North Sea now than when scientific work began in 1960. Similarly, haddock are increasing in the Channel.
The quotas are so small that discarding is inevitable, and because we are not acknowledging the rising stock levels we will continue to discard.
Paul Gilson
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Comments below:
Interesting to see how many of the response to the letter focus on membership of the EU rather than the state of fish stocks per se!
