A booklet published last year by the Campaign for an Independent Britain, The Betrayal of Britain’s Fishing to the European Union, puts forward specific proposals for how we can now restore control over Britain’s fish.
Written by John Ashworth, who has worked in the industry since 1963, the booklet explains how to develop the industry anew once we take back control of our territorial waters.
The first priority has to be the UK’s fishing zone of 200 miles or the median line with other states.
The inshore industry could be built around the 0-12 mile limit, having benefits for coastal communities through tourism, recreational fishing, employment and other ancillary industries, all administered locally.
The offshore industry would be based on the 12 to 200 mile/median line, in which you have the straddling stocks and reciprocal arrangements with other states. When another nation’s vessels fish in our waters they must do so under our rules.
The rules could be based on an existing document called FleXcit, produced by the Leave Alliance. Control of the catch should be based on the concept of days at sea, which removes the present incentives to cheat, inherent in the quota system, and avoids the terrible waste of discarded fish.
All fish move freely, and to protect juvenile fish we must close areas where they are abundant, often at short notice which is never possible when under control by Brussels.
Fishing gear must be designed specifically to allow the escape unharmed of everything below the Minimum Landing Size, and this will vary from one area to another and from time to time.
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