Wednesday 12 January 2011

Fishy Stuff

Posted by Simon

I watched the Hugh's Fish Fight last night and although I was aware of fish stock problems and eating sustainable fish plus about the discard, I did not realise the true extend of the problem. What a staggering amount of fish was thrown back into the sea - DEAD. I know fish stocks need to be sustainable but don't these people who made this policy actually realise that dead fish cannot breed!

Plus the small fishermen, in the likes of Hastings, are 75% of the UK fishing fleet but have less than 25% of the quotas. Even more ludicrous is the quota amounts - I think it was approximately 13 kilos each of cod, haddock and plaice per week. These are the main fish they catch in the English Channel. On the plus side they are allowed to catch 10 tonne of pollack. Well apparently the English Channel is not a place for pollack! Need I say more. Well the fishmongers in Hastings have to get there cod from Norway to sell in their shops whilst the fishing boats that land directly in front of the shops are throwing dead cod back in the sea.

I could go on about the programme because there were many interesting facts of policies gone wrong or not right in the first place - not only affecting the livelihoods of fishermen, but also the fish stocks and the waste. So if you do feel that this fish fight should be supported please click on the link in the side bar and read the facts for yourselves.

And for us the one problem of being in land is that we cannot produce our own fish but for the last 18 months we have been lucky enough to swap with our neighbour - his freshly caught trout and for some of our meat. This was working well until late last year when they decided to move down to Brittany to be nearer the sea for fishing. Most inconsiderate of them! So I'm planning to take up fishing - which with my lack of patience should be an interesting pastime. And I can hear my mother saying now - 'he wont sit still long enough - he's got ants in his pants'!

3 comments :

  1. we watched this too and was apalled at the amount of discarded fish

    It seems sensible to impose a total tonnage quota rather than species specific one , less days at sea would mean lower overheads and a cheaper product on shelves.

    Although as different fish have different values perhaps some unscrupolous fisherman may throw back the ones of lesser value in order to preserve their quotas.......who knows what the right way is but we cannot going like this ....i have signed up :)

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  2. I signed up immediately (using your link).

    Although I have not been able to watch the programmes I have read all about Hughs fight through his River Cottage wesite and wholeheatedly agree WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING and NOW!!

    Sue xx

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  3. Watched the various programs done for this topic. Just madness the amount of dead fish thrown back...insane.

    Gofarmer Farming Classifieds

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