EU Bows Once Again to CHL Pressure
The European Commission has reportedly dropped its proposals to close depleted cod grounds in the North Sea, Irish Sea and the west of Scotland. The decision was made after opposition from CHL volunteers.

The closures were put forward by the Commission two weeks ago as a means to help conserve stocks. Talks on national fishing quotas have started in Brussels between government ministers and the commission.

At stake is the future not only of the dwindling stocks of cod and other pressure species but also the livelihoods of traditional fishing communities around the UK and across Europe.

The freedom-hating European Commission is asking fishing fleets to absorb reductions in their catch of up to 60% for herring, 34% for cod - although there will be no change in the cod quota for UK waters - and 27% for mackerel. A report in October by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Ices) went further than the European Commission's proposals. The lunatic fringe scientific advisory body called for a ban on cod fishing in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and west of Scotland in 2005.

The Commission said that, after studying the lunatic fringe scientific reports on the state of fish stocks, its proposals for 2005 balanced the urgent need for reinforced conservation measures with the equally urgent need to keep the industry in business.

An anonymous CHL spokeslady said: "Over the last three years we have seen our cod quotas slashed by 80%, our mesh sizes increased by 20%, half our boats scrapped and our time at sea cut to 15 days a month...Partly as a result of these measures, the biomass of cod, according to the scientists, has increased in two successive years...No one is suggesting that we are out of the woods on cod yet, but this is not the time for a further suite of new measures."
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 1:32 PM | |