I can understand why local fishermen feel that EU fish quotas are based on bad science. After talking to so many people, it is clear that all those with first hand experience in the industry are convinced that the stocks of dover sole are recovering well. There is real concern at the way that stocks are monitored, with sampling taking place over the same line of the seabed on every occasion. The fishing industry would like to see the scientists accompanying them on their trawlers or training the fishermen to take samples themselves. You could not sample the population of deer in a wood by counting those that are present along a particular line on a given day, because they move around. It takes an expert to know where to find them and the same is true of fish stocks. All are agreed that the feared 15% cut in the quota for Dover sole would be a devastating blow to the industry in Brixham and completely unnecessary. I would call on the EU to look instead at the highly successful project minus 50%, which, using smart nets, has already massively reduced the dreadful practice of having to discard good fish at sea.
The Brixham fishing industry is very diverse; there were over 30 species present in the market when I visited in October. Inevitably there is not a solution that will suit everyone. Of course we need to protect the marine environment but that should not be at the cost of putting fishermen in danger. If, in special areas of conservation, SACs are too widespread and encompass vast swathes of the ocean rather than just focusing on important seabed features, then inshore fishermen in small boats will be forced further out to sea. This will lead to overfishing in other areas, conflict with other types of fishermen and increased danger to small boats operating too far out at sea.
Surely a better model is to use marine protected zones, MPZs. These are already supported and working successfully to the mutual benefit of crabbers and trawlers. Under this system there are agreed adjacent zones where only one type of fishing is allowed, so that they act as protected nurseries for one species, whilst continuing to provide a sustainable resource of another.
