Historic fisheries deal secured by UK government

Posted on June 15, 2013 by argylesock

We’ve waited years for Europe’s Common Fisheries Policy to get its much-needed makeover. Yesterday, the reform was approved. You can read more under my ‘fishery’ tag and you can hear the Fat Lady singing.

About argylesock

I wrote a PhD about veterinary parasitology so that's the starting point for this blog. But I'm now branching out into other areas of biology and into popular science writing. I'll write here about science that happens in landscapes, particularly farmland, and about science involving interspecific interactions. Datasets and statistics get my attention. Exactly where this blog will lead? That's a journey that I'm on and I hope you'll come with me.
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2 Responses to Historic fisheries deal secured by UK government

  1. pendantry says:
    June 16, 2013 at 10:52 am

    This sounds like good news, but I have become increasingly cynical about politician hype.

    From your linked article:

    The new Common Fisheries Policy will radically transform fishing practices in Europe. Reforms include:

    A ban on the wasteful practice of discarding perfectly edible fish;
    A legally binding commitment to fishing at sustainable levels;
    Decentralised decision making, allowing Member States to agree the measures appropriate to their fisheries.

    The first two points sound great, though I have my doubts regarding ban enforcement and monitoring of legally binding commitments (the term ‘sustainable levels’ is particularly woolly, since all too many people use the word ‘sustainable’ in connection with industry rather than ecology).

    Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon said:
    […]
    This ‘regionalisation’ process has been a top negotiating priority for the UK government which has built support for reforms to replace the over-centralised system that currently hinders progress in our fisheries.

    Yes… ‘progress’ = ‘growth’ to all too many folk.

    Reply

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