David Levy – Fishery Communities and the need for Political Lobbying – Jan 24

I expect like many other people, I voted for the opportunity that Brexit offered us and I now sit back appalled by the mess we are currently in. Minister, M. Gove, promised to the small boat fishermen, who fish from boats of under 10 metres, fresh opportunities for a greater catch in our waters and greater control. Well, that’s proved to be a lot of Horlicks.

Daily these same fishermen watch as larger foreign boats continue to fish within our 12 nautical mile national waters. At the same time our share of the take from these same waters continues to be governed by quotas agreed by London (DEFRA) with the EU, and our national quota is significantly smaller than say that of France or Spain.

This broken promise to the fishing communities is causing real hardship and has in hampered the development of home grown markets. Historically we exported most of the catch to European markets, and still do.

What is needed is political lobbying by a yet-to-be-formed lobby group of MPs who have fishing communities in their constituencies. These MPs should be driven by a desire for the country to be self-sufficient in food, with only the surplus being exported abroad. If we genuinely control our fish stocks we can act within scientific advice on safe fishing levels, and build up diminishing stocks to sustainable levels. We should then patrol and police our waters to deliver what Brexit promised – control and fairness for an industry under extreme pressure.

If you hold similar views and want to orchestrate recovery, then I would be most pleased if you contact me to form an alliance that focuses on the political angle. My email is mailto:dr.levy1952@gmail.com

David Levy