MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Tory alternative to EU fishing policy

Shadow fisheries spokes-man Owen Paterson said the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should be scrapped as it had wrecked the marine environment, fishing communities and the industry.

Mr. Paterson revealed that under the Conservatives, national government would set the strategic framework in which priorities will be restoration of the marine environment and rebuilding the fishing industry.

New local bodies would take day-to-day responsibility for managing their fisheries, with the Conservatives' plans set out in a consultation Green Paper launched this week.

"The CFP is a biological, environmental, economic and social disaster; it is beyond reform", emphasized Mr. Paterson. "It is a system that forces fishermen to throw back more fish dead into the sea than they land, it has caused substantial degradation of the marine environment, it has destroyed much of the fishing industry, with compulsory scrapping of modern vessels, and has devastated fishing communities".

"Fisheries cannot be managed successfully on a continental scale; they need local control. That is the reason why Michael Howard has stated that the Conservatives will return our fisheries to national and local control".

Mr Paterson added that simply exchanging a bureaucratic system run from Brussels for one run by the bureaucrats in London and national centres is no answer. "It must be accompanied by a local management system, which has the confidence and trust of the nation and the fishermen."

Mr Paterson devised his policy after visiting the Falkland Islands, several British fishing ports and successful fisheries in Norway, the Faeroes, Iceland, Canada and the United States. He has also met scientists, experts, fishermen and environmentalists to develop his plans.

The policy proposals in the Green Paper are an amalgam of the best practice observed in successful fisheries throughout the world.

They are based on the following principles: Control based on "days at sea" instead of fixed quotas A ban on discarding commercial species Permanent closed areas for conservation Provision for temporary closures of fisheries Promotion of selective gear and technical controls Rigorous definition of minimum commercial sizes A ban on industrial fishing A prohibition of production subsidies Zoning of fisheries Registration of fishing vessels, skippers and senior crew members Measures to promote profitability rather than volume Effective and fair enforcement

The Tories' fishing Green Paper is now being circulated to thousands of fishermen and other interested parties, including anglers.