Emma McClarkin MEP says Fisheries Reform doesn’t go far enough

The Common Fisheries Policy reform proposals published today by the European Commission do not go far enough in devolving responsibility for fisheries management away from Brussels and down to a more local level, East Midlands Conservative MEP Emma McClarkin has said.

The long-awaited proposals from the commission seek to reform the CFP by ending the immoral practice of discarding fish – i.e. dumping perfectly edible dead fish back in the sea in order to fulfil EU quotas.

The plans also devolve some control down to national level over areas such as mesh sizes. However, they stop shy of the radical devolution of power initially billed by the commission which would have transferred day-to-day management to regional level.

Emma said:

“These proposals are a step in the right direction but far less ambitious than the CFP needs. The best people to make decisions about fisheries management are fishermen themselves and scientists, not bureaucrats in Brussels. We need to devolve a greater level of responsibility down to the local level.

“However after a long campaign we will finally see movement to end the immoral practice of dumping dead but edible fish back into the sea. Thanks to the people of the UK who signed up to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign which gave the final push to our long campaign to bring the practice of discards to an end.

“This announcement kicks off a long debate about what kind of future we want for the Common Fisheries Policy. Nothing short of a fundamental reform is acceptable.”