Will you join the fight to save wasted fish?

I have joined the fight against the operation of the EU fishing quota policy.

It is ludicrous to throw back DEAD fish because they are over quota or undersized. It would be far more effective to INCLUDE those dead fish in the quota – remember they are dead – and consequently reduce the current quota by that amount.. That would not actually reduce the number of fish left in the sea, The current policy does – the worst of both worlds.

I agree too…….

Me too.

I’ve joined the Fish Fight campaign – have been saying for years that they need to rethink quotas, it’s crazy to throw dead fish back in the sea. I was discussing this with friends recently and one was questioning why they don’t have annual quotas – that way if they get a good catch they can keep it and when their quota runs out they can’t go out fishing anymore.

As an aside, it is good to see more sustainable fish types being promoted, but there could still be more awareness about them. When do you see coley and pollack being used on TV cookery shows? I subscribe to a monthly food mag and rarely see anything but the popular fish (salmon, haddock etc) being featured in recipes either.

I think while Fat Sam (or should that be Cynical Sam?) is sceptical about the Fish Fight and Hugh’s intentions, he’s rightly raised the other problems with the fishing industry – fishing methods and cheap fish.

While I won’t go on about how far fishing has moved on from the days when my grandparents were on first name terms with their local fisherman, I do think we need to reassess our fishing methods (and throw out those horrible combine harvester like trawlers that rake up the sea floor http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/oceans/problems/bottom-trawling), and also face up to the real cost of fish – should it really be so cheap?!

And I agree with Hannah, annual quotas for fish would make far more sense.

Annual quotas do sound good but how on earth do you make them work in practice without by catch and throwing back dead fish? You can fish for a certain type of fish in an area but there’s no guarantee of not picking up plenty of something you don’t want to – and this is what leads to the awful practice of fish being thrown back in the sea.

Hugh’s intentions are all well and good but I feel his argument is fatally flawed. Actually, can anyone tell me what Hugh is actually proposing as a solution? His own website is pretty non-committal and doesn’t offer anything decisive.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like seeing dead fish being thrown back but what can we really do? I’ve still not read any plausible solutions to this problem other than perhaps introducing a complete ban on trawling saltwater fish to help stocks recover. This would severely hamper HFW’s own objectives: that of promoting healthy fish eating. Isn’t that what some might call a bit of an own goal? How many of HFW’s fans are prepared to stop eating fish altogether to help our vastly depleted stocks recover? Shouldn’t HFW stop serving fish?

Madness!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m glad people have woken up to this scandalous waste, I mean it’s only been going on since 1983 and some of us have been complaining about it for years. Why did it take a TV chef to alert Which? to what was going on? The evidence has been there long enough.

Best of luck in persuading the EU to change course, they know the CFP is not working but their only response has been to reduce quotas still further which has resulted in even more dead fish being dumped back into the sea.

So we’re all agreeing with HFW but nobody has any ideas or solutions. Brilliant.

How about lobbying the politicians to get the fishing fleets to improve their trawling methods. That won’t completely eradicate by-catch and the sight of dead fish being thrown back – but it might reduce it (so that doesn’t really fit with HFW’s aims).

Getting the fleets to change their methods will increase costs to them because they’re going to have to be more careful about what fish they catch and importantly, how much. Increased costs = increased prices. Which probably means fish will be accessible to even fewer people. Hmm, HFW won’t like that.

I still want to know what people think should happen to all the fish that would otherwise be thrown back. I’d really love to know because, clearly, I’m missing the point.

Or am I right?

No take zones were put forward as an alternative to quotas as long ago as 1989. There are a number around the world and they’ve been very successful in rejuvenating fish stocks. I don’t imagine the system is much more expensive to police than the current one.

Whatever happens the EU can’t go on with the quota policy as it stands. Throwing dead fish back into the sea isn’t a valid conservation policy but the only reaction to it’s failure has to been to continually tighten quotas. It’s a bit like giving some drug to a sick person and then when they react badly to the drug doubling the dose.

I support anything that supports fish preservation – whether that is signing a petition or whatever.

I will not nit pick on it’s effectiveness – we need to save fish stocks – or they’ll go the same way as the passenger pigeon or the bison (AKA buffalo) and over 50% of other animals.

The world is supposed to be shared – not monopolised by profit seeking companies after the fast buck.

In case you are interested I have three foxes in my garden sharing it with my three dogs.

I agree, anything that raises awareness of depleting fish stocks and engages people with wanting to reform the CFP is a good thing.

I don’t think Hugh claims to propose a solution – he makes it pretty clear on his website that he doesn’t have all the answers http://www.fishfight.net – but is just trying to make people aware of what they’re eating and the problems with the fishing industry. Surely making 600,000+ people aware of the far reaching impact of their consumption choices can only be a good thing?

I’m not sure of the solution either, but it has to be a mix of changing the CFP to something that works for both fish and fisherman, and us making better choices about what is on our plate.

I thought the recent program on TV was an absolute eye opener. There must be a better way of doing this than chucking all that good food back in the sea!!!! What a dreadful waste, it’s already dead, can’t we have a mixed quota system so that they can bring in all that they catch and not have to throw it away. It would also be a much Greener option as then the ships would not have to be at sea as long before they needed to land there fish.
Martin

Just picking up on one point Miranda made at the end of her article – that we need to start eating less fish. I think most of us bury our heads in the sand but know that this has to be part of the solution. If you need any more convincing, this interesting article from The Guardian explains why we need to eat less, not just different, fish: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/28/sustainable-fish

There’s an interesting article in Guardian today about how an alliance of industry players & conservationists want the EU to reform the fishing policy http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/03/overhaul-europe-fishing-policy.

Thought you’d be interested in this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/01/plan-end-discards-protects-fishermen?CMP=twt_gu