UK Government won’t fight Art47

Bill Wiggin MP, the Conservative Party’s Shadow Fisheries Minister, attacked the Government for failing to take action to save the recreational sea angling from damaging EU proposals.

After Environment Secretary Hilary Benn refused to oppose Article 47 or even acknowledge angler’s concerns in the House of Commons, Bill Wiggin said: “By refusing to stand up to the EU, the Government is not only letting down over a million sea anglers but is also putting £1 billion and 20,000 jobs at risk. Not content with bringing the ten metre and under fishermen to the brink of ruin by reducing their allocation of quota, ministers now want to swamp sea anglers and boat owners in bureaucracy from Brussels.”

“Under these proposals, a sea angler catching a couple of cod would have to fill in forms or buy a licence to declare their catch and it would count against the national quota. Or a small boat, making only a handful of journeys to sea each year would need to apply for a fishing licence. This level of control is totally ridiculous and instead of persecuting the nation’s sea anglers the Government and EU should be focusing on tackling discards and making our fisheries sustainable and profitable.”

SSACN – Waiting with interest to see what the Scottish Government do.

Category: UK Government News