Warning on care of fish stock

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EUROPE must look after its fish stocks and the wider marine environment better, a seafood group has said.

 

The call has come from UK experts Seafish during the week that European plans for a new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) are due to be announced.

 

Seafish is hoping the industry will have flexibility to operate sustainably and profitably within the European plans.

 

Its head of environment Philip MacMullen said: "We welcome proposals that could result in the CFP delivering better on its basic commitments to economic, social and environmental sustainability.

 

"We simply must have better long-term management of our fish stocks and the wider marine environment, and we believe that the industry as a whole must be given a major role in helping to achieve this."

 

The group said the reduction of discards — a key issue in the reform — showed the complex fisheries management issues which the UK industry has been tackling for years within the restrictions of the current CFP.

 

Mr MacMullen continued: "The issue of discards shows clearly how a 'one-size-fits-all' solution does not work. Even within the same fishery, the level of discards can vary by moving to slightly different grounds."

 

Fishermen, he added, should be encouraged to become custodians of the sea

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