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CFP IS THE PROBLEM, NOT THE ANSWER
Thursday 4th December 2003
The European Commission has stopped short of imposing a total ban on fishing, and instead has proposed a new recovery plan to put to EU fisheries ministers on 16th December.
The new proposals recommend the consolidation of current whitefish limits, the extension of catch quotas to more stocks, and the speedy adoption of voluntary stock replenishment measures across the other stocks as well as cod.
Timothy Kirkhope, Conservative MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
"The European Commission is burying its head in the sand. Yet again it is not heeding advice from fishermen.
We can be thankful that the Commission has not imposed a total ban, which would have devastated British fishing communities, but these proposals will not solve the problems caused by the Common Fisheries Policy.
We all want to preserve fish stocks for future generations, but the Commission must listen to the vast majority of British fisherman who have realised that the policies of the CFP are simply unable to address the real problems. The CFP is the problem, not the answer."
