I
Ian Cloke
Guest
MEP intervenes in fish crisis
A BITTER dispute between Bridlington and French fishermen is set to go to Brussels this week.
Edward MacMillan-Scott, the MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber is to press the European Commission to take action to stop large French fishing boats causing further damage to lobster pots and other shell fishing gear off the Yorkshire Coast. It is thought likely that a claim for compensation will be lodged.
The Conservative MEP is expected to meet the European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg in Brussels in the next few days to press the Bridlington fishermen's case.
The dispute began in early summer and continued throughout the months of August and September with periodic potentially serious flare-ups as the French boats trawled across the pots causing damage totalling several thousands of pounds.
Because many of the pots are laid down outside the 12-mile limit, the French trawlers, which come from the Boulogne and Etaples area, are fishing legally. But the Yorkshire skippers say there is an unwritten rule that conventional trawlers do not fish across areas where shellfish gear is laid and this particular French fleet has been blatantly ignoring it - and ignoring radio calls to stay clear. However, they accuse some of the French boats of slipping inside the 12-mile limit under cover of darkness.
Local skipper Gary Redshaw, who lost gear worth almost ?1,000, said his colleagues were afraid of putting down more pots because they may not be there when they return. Gary Hodgson, vice-chairman of Bridlington and Flamborough Fisherman's Association, said he and the association chairman Steve Cowan had met Defra which has promised to get a patrol boat into the area more often. But if the French vessels are fishing in international waters there is little it can do.
Edward McMillan-Scott, who is also a Vice President of the European Parliament, is a strong supporter of British fishing interests and earlier this year he quickly intervened after Yorkshire fish farms were caught up in Defra restrictions following a report of trout disease at one particular farm.
A BITTER dispute between Bridlington and French fishermen is set to go to Brussels this week.
Edward MacMillan-Scott, the MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber is to press the European Commission to take action to stop large French fishing boats causing further damage to lobster pots and other shell fishing gear off the Yorkshire Coast. It is thought likely that a claim for compensation will be lodged.
The Conservative MEP is expected to meet the European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg in Brussels in the next few days to press the Bridlington fishermen's case.
The dispute began in early summer and continued throughout the months of August and September with periodic potentially serious flare-ups as the French boats trawled across the pots causing damage totalling several thousands of pounds.
Because many of the pots are laid down outside the 12-mile limit, the French trawlers, which come from the Boulogne and Etaples area, are fishing legally. But the Yorkshire skippers say there is an unwritten rule that conventional trawlers do not fish across areas where shellfish gear is laid and this particular French fleet has been blatantly ignoring it - and ignoring radio calls to stay clear. However, they accuse some of the French boats of slipping inside the 12-mile limit under cover of darkness.
Local skipper Gary Redshaw, who lost gear worth almost ?1,000, said his colleagues were afraid of putting down more pots because they may not be there when they return. Gary Hodgson, vice-chairman of Bridlington and Flamborough Fisherman's Association, said he and the association chairman Steve Cowan had met Defra which has promised to get a patrol boat into the area more often. But if the French vessels are fishing in international waters there is little it can do.
Edward McMillan-Scott, who is also a Vice President of the European Parliament, is a strong supporter of British fishing interests and earlier this year he quickly intervened after Yorkshire fish farms were caught up in Defra restrictions following a report of trout disease at one particular farm.