Speaking at a plenary session of the European Parliament yesterday, Chris Davies, European Parliament member for the North West, urged his fellow MEPs to look beyond the short term to vote to restore fish stocks:
But his frustration (and passion for this subject) was clear later, after a five-vote margin saw the amendment passed:
* Nick Thornsby is a day editor at Lib Dem Voice.
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9 Comments
Well said, Chris Davies. But is anyone listening?
Well done Chris Davies. A passionate intervention on a crucial issues. However, its a disgrace to see the chamber almost empty.
It seems to be this vote:
http://www.votewatch.eu/en/reform-of-the-common-fisheries-policy-motion-for-a-resolution-am-2.html
I can’t find the text of the amendment in the short time I have, but the amendment is presumably against fish stock replenishment and pro-overfishing, as Chris (and most ALDE MEPs) voted against it, but it passed by 5 votes.
Most UK Tories voted for this amendment, as Chris has tweeted.
Interesting that the majority on this vote was formed by ECR, EPP and GUE/NGL: the right voting with the far left!
@Paul McKeown: Probably not. Is anyone reporting it? Unlikely. Will the Lib Dem party HQ let us campaign on this or any other stuff that MEPs have done in the next European Parliamentary election? Sadly I doubt it, even though this is the only way we are going to win any seats.
” its a disgrace to see the chamber almost empty.”
Yet so many MEPs (754) out of 808) voted on the amendment, with the majority voting on political group lines – I know we complain about Westminster MP’s behaving like sheep, but I wonder whether the majority of MEP’s actually knew what they were voting for/against …
Chris Davies is fighting the good fight on this vitally important issue. Researchers have been warning for years that Europe’s fishing fleets take far more fish from the sea than is sustainable. Scientific advice is routinely ignored when limits on catches are set.Changing the Common Fisheries Policy that governs EU catches has been repeatedly scuppered by political infighting.
Chris can only continue his John the Baptist like exhoratations to repent and see the light – in the hope that fellow MEPs will come to recognise the need for urgent measures to prevent the extinction of many of our current fish species.
@Roland: Party discipline in general is actually much weaker in the European Parliament than in the UK Parliament. If this were a Westminster division, it would most likely have been 100% of MPs voting along party lines. By UK Parliamentary standards, practically all MEPs are party rebels.
Well done Chris – yet again!
So why was there no coverage of this on the today programme this morning when they actually had an item on fish stocks – featuring a representative from nef (new economics foundation) whose recommendations were grossly distorted by the presenter, and a representative of the fishing industry churning out the usual crap lines as he is paid to do?
And why is Chris not featured centre stage on the national party website as one of the most passionate advocates of our party, and of evidence based policy that we have?
Aaargh…5 votes. And many years of trying to undo this if the now amended proposal is finally adopted. Above MSY is what is needed. With all this right wing NEF stuff today, the current UK fishing industry is being set up for a fail.
Chris,
have you reviewed the reseach carried out by the New Economic Foundation No catch investment.
Key Findings:
– Most overfished stocks could be fully restored within five years, with a few needing four more years
Investing £9.16 billion in restoring fish stocks would generate £4.43 billion profit by 2023
– After stocks are restored the total value of landings would almost triple, generating £14.62 billion in revenue each year
– The Return on Investment (ROI) of restoring fish stocks is 148% by 2023
– By 2052 the returns are £14 for every £1 invested