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Print versionLabour says "No Way" To Sea Angling Catch Quotas
Following strong lobbying from the Angling Trust, sea angling groups, and Parliamentary angling spokesman Martin Salter MP, Labour’s Fisheries Minister Huw Irranca-Davies has made clear the Government’s opposition to any attempt to use the EU Article 47 Directive to impose quota restrictions on catches made by recreational sea anglers.
In a strongly worded letter to Martin Salter, Huw Irranca-Davies said:-
“I am certainly aware of and can understand the strong concern among the sea angling community about the proposal to regulate recreational fishing activity. I was able to hear these concerns first hand at the Angling Summit which you chaired in the House in January and in the correspondence I have received on the issue from a range of sea anglers.”
He continued:-
“We will be opposing the Article 47 proposals in their current form. I do not believe that the Commission has made the case to date to support its proposals and we will continue to challenge and seek further clarification from the Commission and amendments to the proposals.”
Martin Salter stated:-
“I wrote to the Fisheries Minister last month inviting him to clarify the British Government’s position in order to allay the fears about sea angling quotas which were caused by some of the mixed messages coming out of Brussels. I’m delighted he has taken such a robust line and came down on the side of sea anglers. This is excellent news and Huw Irranca-Davies is to be congratulated for lisening and acting in the interests of anglers”.
Leon Roskilly, a recreational sea angling campaigner, said:-
“I’m immensely reassured that the UK Government is backing the country’s recreational sea anglers on the issue of Article 47, including the many businesses and coastal communities that rely upon visiting sea anglers for their livelihoods. The Minister’s stated position on Article 47 reflects the effort put in by the Angling Trust, clubs and individual anglers to alert DEFRA to the damage that these proposals could do to a sector that is incredibly important to so many, and which is widely regarded as having minimal impact on fish-stocks.”
He added:-
“That the Government is prepared to listen to our concerns, at a time when anglers are reeling from mounting threats to our passion, gives every angler hope for the future. We look forward to a continued and robust defence of the rights and freedoms enjoyed by the nation’s anglers, against all unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions.”
FULL LETTER TRANSCRIPT
Martin Salter MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
2nd April 2009
From Huw Irranca-Davies MP
Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife & Rural Affairs
Dear Martin,
Thank you for your letter of 12 March about the European Commission Proposals to regulate sea angling.
Further to our discussion earlier this month, I am certainly aware of and can understand the strong concern among the sea angling community about the proposal to regulate recreational fishing activity. I was able to hear these concerns first hand at the ‘Angling Summit’ which you chaired in the House in January and in the correspondence I have received on the issue from a range of sea anglers.
Let me lay out my position, and thereby the position of the UK government: I can confirm that we will be opposing the article 47 proposals in their current form because of their potential impact on recreational sea anglers. My reasons are laid out in some detail below.
First, it may be helpful to bring you up to date on where the discussions in Europe have reached on this proposal. To date, the discussions have been at an official level and have only last week reached article 47. In the lead up to these discussions, Commissioner Borg made a helpful statement in the European Parliament that the proposals were not intended to capture ‘hobby’ angling. The Commission has also recently said that fishing from the shore will not be included. The European Parliament Fisheries Committee has also this week issued a report on this subject, pointing to the need for increased monitoring of angling catches before any further controls are considered. A copy of the report can be found via the following link:
These are helpful statements for us to build on but they have not as yet been translated into any changes to the text of Article 47. So, the distinctions which the Commission seem to be making between different types of angling are not clear in the proposals as they are currently drafted. The Commission has recently undertaken to produce a revised text of this Article which should clarify its scope and extent although there appears to be less concern to date about these proposals among other Member States and this may reflect the fact that some of these Member States already license sea angling. In view of this, however, the Angling Trust may wish to consider raising awareness and discussing their concerns on this subject with their counterparts across Europe.
In terms of our position on the proposals, they form part of a draft regulation addressing wider control and enforcement beyond sea angling alone. Compliance is a top priority for the UK and I support the general need for a new control regime which addresses shortcomings identified previously by the European Court of Auditors and which will help to support Defra’s wider objectives in relation to reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. That said, I believe that the Commission needs to be very cautious indeed in seeking to extend the control regime to cover recreational sea angling ��" particularly where the impact of these activities are generally not known or where the impact could be minimal.
I am not in principle opposed to regulating an activity where it has a measurable impact on the recovery of stocks under pressure, and I am not opposed to the regulation of commercial activity carried out under the guise of recreational fishing (for example, the sale of catches from unlicensed vessels). I know also that all responsible recreational sea-anglers would accept that where a stock is depleted, all those whose activities impact on that stock need to play a part in ensuring its recovery. But where measures are proposed in these circumstances then they must be proportionate, easy to comply with and enforceable.
So, to sum up my position, we will be opposing the Article 47 proposals in their current form. I do not believe that the Commission has made the case to date to support its proposals and we will continue to challenge and seek further clarification from the Commission and amendments to the proposals. I would consider further work to evaluate the impact of anglers catches on certain stocks to put beyond doubt the question of their impact, but until that work is completed and evaluated at a Community level, the issue of counting catches by recreational sea anglers against quota is premature and unjustified.
I expect there to be an initial discussion of the entire Control Regulation proposal at June Council, when Article 47 will be discussed but no decisions will be taken until later this year. This will ensure that there is sufficient time and opportunity to find an acceptable way forward. I will keep you and angling stakeholders updated as the discussions proceed and officials will also write to angling stakeholders to bring them up to date on the discussions. There will be further opportunities for sea anglers to feed in their comments as the discussions progress.
I hope this is a helpful update for you and a clarification of our position, and I am happy for you to share this letter with the Angling Trust.
Huw Irranca-Davies
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