Euro-MP wins fish fight

Rochdale Euro-MP Chris Davies

Rochdale Euro-MP Chris Davies won support from MEPs for beleaguered fish stocks in a marathon voting session today in Strasbourg.

MEPs from France and Spain attempted to put aside large amounts of taxpayer money for fleet renewal – effectively giving fishermen cash for better boats that could catch more fish.

Mr Davies, who founded the cross party Fish for the Future group of MEPs, led the fight to prevent more subsidy cash being wasted on measures that would encourage overfishing and the further decline of fish stocks.

The European Maritime & Fisheries Fund (EMFF) will provide €6 billion towards the fishing industry between 2014 and 2020. MEPs approved payment of subsidies to help fishermen adjust to change but not to catch more fish.

Mr Davies welcomed the decision as proof that the EU was serious about improving its fisheries policy.

"We still have too many boats chasing too few fish, so to use public money to pay for building new boats would only make the problem worse.

"Grants of this kind were scrapped a decade ago, when 90% of the money was going to France, Spain and Portugal. To have reinstated them would have been a massive step backwards."

"Fishermen only have a future if we can help fish stocks to recover. That is why Lib Dem MEPs supported investment based on sound science rather than subsidies for the few."

The Parliament supported the use of funds to help fishermen buy more selective gear, to improve port facilities, and to obtain more scientific data about the state of fish stocks.