Latest news from Fish Fight
Council of Ministers agrees its position on new CFP
added byHugh
on15/05/2013
The Council of Ministers has agreed its position on the new Common Fisheries Policy: the discard ban has survived, though fish will still be thrown back. Now they enter final negotiations with the European Parliament - the end is in sight!
See more...
Letter from Richard Benyon:
We all know that the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is broken and no one wants to see it continue to erode the livelihoods of our fishermen and blight the marine environment.
I am committed to going into this week’s important negotiations with a view to us achieving our objectives of sustainable fish stocks, a prosperous fishing industry and a healthy marine environment.
We’ve come a long way since the detailed negotiations began in September 2011 and this week’s Fisheries Council provides a clear opportunity to continue pushing the reform in the direction we need. This will not be easy – the ambitions that I hold are not shared by all – but I will be working hard to deliver as much as I possibly can.
We will continue to press for robust commitments to ensure we can eliminate discards quickly, reflecting the strength of feeling among the British public that we need to tackle this terrible waste.
I’ve set out the objectives we are fighting for in these negotiations, but as one of 27 participants round the table I can’t pre-empt the outcome, but what I can do is make clear the UK will not shy away from these objectives and will continue to fight for a fairer deal for UK fishermen and the marine environment.
Richard Benyon
UK Fisheries Minister
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Ahoy there, Fish Fighter!
Join the Crew and you’ll earn some fine rewards.
Rack up points by joining in the Fish Fight, and you can scale the ranks.
Our amazing supporters
