Fighting to push rail investment and to land better fishing deals

From House to Home with Amber Rudd SUS-151103-114637001

Fishing is a local industry we are rightly proud of, and rail is key to our area’s continuing successful regeneration. I am campaigning hard to deliver success for both.

This Government is pursuing policies to correct historic wrongs of quota allocation as well as to provide for a sustainable future for our country’s fish stocks.

I welcome the forthcoming discard ban and the accompanying quota uplift, but more must be done to protect the livelihoods of local fishermen.

Firstly, we need to ensure that quota uplift benefits smaller fishing vessels, those which make up our area’s fleets, instead of the large producer organisations who have historically enjoyed far too much allocation at the great expense of our local fishermen.

Secondly, a discard ban will protect against the worst excesses of waste in the fishing industry.

However, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to regulation would damage small, artisanal fisheries such as Rye. The Rye fleet already fishes in a sustainable manner; they discard juvenile fish which are largely worthless to the fishermen due to their small size.

A very large proportion of these fish survive being discarded, and they go on to breed and secure the future of the fishery.