Emma McClarkin backs changes in EU Fisheries Policy

East Midlands Conservative MEP Emma McClarkin is backing TV Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign to prevent over 1 million tonnes of fish being dumped in the North Sea each year.

“Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall joins a long line of Conservative MEPs who have been calling for responsible reforms to EU Fishing Policy over the years,” Emma McClarkin said today.

Emma has joined Conservative EU Fisheries spokesman, Struan Stevenson MEP in welcoming the TV Chef’s campaign in his Big Fish Fight programme on Channel 4.

“Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s revelation that over 1 million tonnes of fish are being dumped annually in the North Sea alone is not a new issue. Indeed, this is not a problem confined to Europe. According to the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) around 7.3 million tonnes of fish are being dumped overboard by fishermen around the world every year.

“There are an estimated 850 million people in the world today suffering from hunger. It is an obscenity that we stand idly by and watch the wanton destruction of global fish stocks and the dumping of unwanted and juvenile fish on this appalling scale.
 
“This has not been the only cause of discards, however. Some fishermen have been guilty of high-grading, which involves dumping good healthy marketable fish, to make room in the hold for bigger, plumper and more expensive ones. Thankfully, this deplorable behaviour is less common now and seems to be on the decline.”