Tuesday, 31st March 2009
European Commission Confirms Recreational Fishermen are off the Hook
The Fisheries Commission has confirmed over three million recreational European fishermen will not be subject to quotas outlined in the Common Fisheries Policy.
Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson wrote to European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, asking for clarification on the rules under Article 47 of the Policy. The response stated that only recreational fishermen fishing off a vessel in the open sea and who catch fish which are under recovery plans are subject to the controls applied to professional fishermen. Shore and pier anglers or those fishing from a canoe or kayak will not be affected.
The Commission went further to say that the normal angling enthusiast who catches an insignificant number of fish and uses it exclusively for their own, private, consumption will not be subject to the control regulation, even if the angler catches fish currently under a recovery plan, such as cod.
Commenting on the Commissioner's statement, Struan Stevenson said:
“This is a very positive response from the Fisheries Commission and will come as a great relief to scores of recreational fishermen who feared their leisure time was under threat.
"I am sorry that my amendment to delete article 47 was defeated in the Fisheries Committee. However, the fallback amendment which won majority support, together with the written answer I have received from Commissioner Borg, reassures me that recreational anglers have nothing to fear from the revised article 47. Only fishermen, who target recovery stocks such as cod, hake, eel and blue fin tuna and seek to sell their catch, will come under the jurisdiction of the CFP. Recreational anglers who are simply catching fish, even cod or other recovery stock fish, for their own consumption, will not be affected."
Richard Benyon MP, Shadow Fisheries Minister added:
"I really sense we are making progress. Recreational fishermen and the communities that benefit from the tourism they bring can have confidence that the vast majority will be excluded from this regulation. It is disappointing that despite all their rhetoric there were no amendments from UKIP opposing or seeking to change this measure. British anglers need politicians who will be effective in reining in some of the EU's more bizarre proposals."
Jimmy Buchan, star of BBC TV's 'Trawlermen' series and Chairman of the Scottish Fishermen's Organisation (SFO) commented:
"I am delighted that the majority of recreational anglers are now taken out of the equation. However I am alarmed that for those who seek to sell their catch, quota will be deducted from hard-pressed commercial skippers to provide them with an allocation. I have voiced my concerns about this to Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg in person."
