BERWICK'S Liberal Democrat MP Sir Alan Beith has called for more help for the North East fishing industry, particularly smaller boats based in ports such as Amble, in the fisheries debate held in the House of Commons.
Sir Alan said: "There are several serious issues facing our fishermen at this time and I am keen that the Minister should be aware of these.
"The main problem that the local fleet has faced this year in Northumberland is the enforced discarding o
f prime white fish because of lack of quota availability.
"This year is shaping up very much like last year, with prawn fishing giving very poor returns, but the grounds awash with whiting and cod.
"Even the smallest under-10 metre trawlers are having to dump about 150kg of cod and 300 to 400kg of whiting per day, regardless of what gear they use.
"The fish that the fishermen are out to catch are effectively swamped by the fish that they cannot land and have to discard.
"They regard discarding as an unethical practice, damaging to fishing stocks and to the housewife who could buy the fish. That is not what local fishermen, and their forefathers, went into the industry to do."
Sir Alan said:
"Defra's new proposals for a two-tier system allows only those vessels with substantial track records to fish from the pool, so licence-brokers have put up prices by as much as 60 per cent."
The debate also gave Sir Alan another opportunity to raise the serious damage to the harbour wall at Amble which occurred as a result of the September floods.
He said: "I hope that either the Minister or one of his colleagues will write to me quickly, indicating that the department understands the problem and is prepared to give it sympathetic consideration."
The full article contains 305 words and appears in Northumberland Gazette newspaper.
