Political sanity and fisheries briefly joined together for a brief moment on the 12 May. Whilst Brussels Members of the European Parliament backed calls for the doubling of fuel subsidies for fishermen, sanity dawned in London. 247 members of the British House of Commons backed a motion to end fish discards. MPs Zac Goldsmith, Nicholas Soames, Peter Bottomley, Annette Brooke, Daniel Rogerson, and Joan Walley backed calls to end the senseless practice of discarding fish.
The motion deserves listing:
“That this House welcomes the resolution of the `Fish Fight’ campaign to eliminate the environmentally and economically damaging practice of discarding fish before landing; is concerned that up to half of all fish trawled in the North Sea are thrown back either dead or dying; further welcomes the campaign’s support for the sustainable use of discard species by retailers, suppliers and restaurants to stimulate the creation of new markets for lesser known species; and calls on the Government to demand strong reform of the European Union Common Fisheries Policy to institute a regionalised, ecosystems-based management framework which incentivises the use of selective gear, uses real-time management, including temporary closures, and establishes ecosystem catch quotas rather than single-species landing quotas.”
Politicians, sanity and fisheries can stand united (if but for a brief moment).