Amber Rudd invited Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon MP to hear from local fishermen about the crisis in the industry. Over fifty fishermen from Hastings and Rye, with a few from Dungeness and Eastbourne, attended the lively meeting at the Angling Club on the seafront in Hastings on August 31st.
“The Minister needs to hear “from the horse’s mouth” about the scandalous way that the current quota system is grinding down our fishermen and the high-handed way that it is enforced. I am determined to fight for change. The best way to get that is for the Minister himself to be clear about the problems and the route for change,” said Amber.
Richard Benyon MP made it clear that the aim of the Government is to support the Under 10m Fisheries business and to make it sustainable in the long-run. He acknowledged that having inherited an unworkable system he could not provide “a silver bullet” solution but that he was determined to improve the current regime to support the Under 10m fishermen.
The meeting discussed the scandalous waste of fish in the “discards”, namely the fish that are thrown away dead to adhere to the quota.
Paul Joy of Hastings Fishermens Protection Society, said “We are encouraged that the Minister took the trouble to come and spend the morning listening to our problems and the disastrous quota regime that our fishermen are being ground down by. He is now completely in the picture and appears to share our concerns about the destruction of fishing locally and the damage that that could do to our community. Now we need him to take action to force unused fish quota to be allocated to the small boats in our region. Strength to take action is what is really is required.”
Councillor Peter Chowney, Lead member for Regeneration for Hastings Borough Council, stressed the importance of the fishing industry to the town overall, highlighting the connection of the industry with other regeneration projects such as the Stade Community Hall and its links with Billingsgate. He referred to a “coalition” of consensus amongst all political parties on saving this important local industry.
Nick Perry Lib Dem Spokesman also spoke in support of the industry and took the opportunity to give the Minister a petition of local residents in support of the fishermen.
The Minister commented:
“The fishermen and fishing industry in Hastings have real and genuine concerns about the short term future of the industry as well as how to ensure fishing in the area continues for many generations to come.
“My discussions with them were extremely constructive, and I look forward to working closely with them to help alleviate the issues in the immediate term and deliver long-term reform to move the industry to a more sustainable future.”
There is no related post.
