Tim Farron has been writing in the Huffington Post about a crucial vote in the EU to reform the way in which fish are caught. This might seem tedious to many of us, but this has positive, practical implications for anyone who catches fish and anyone who likes to eat it.
Tim first set out the issues with the current situation:
The situation right now is drastic. Job losses within the UK fishing sector continue to rise as fish stocks fall, and it tends to be the small-scale fishermen who are hardest hit. The total amount of fish caught in the EU has plummeted from 7.9million tonnes in 2002 to around 4.8million this year, meaning that Europe now imports two-thirds of all the fish it eats. Shamefully, each year millions of tons of perfectly edible fish are thrown overboard through the wasteful practice of discarding.
He then outlines how the recent votes will change things:
The most important aspect of these new reforms is that fishing quotas will now have to fit into a long-term plan based on scientific advice, with the aim of restoring Europe’s fish stocks by 2020. That is ambitious, but achievable. Meanwhile the wasteful discarding of edible fish, which Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has campaigned hard together with Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies to abolish, is going to be gradually phased out. There are also special provisions to protect the livelihoods of small-scale fishermen who do minimal damage to the environment. And in a blow to those who say power can’t ever flow back from the EU, day-to-day decisions are being handed back from Brussels to local communities who understand local conditions.
They will ensure that our children and grandchildren will still be able to eat locally sourced fish. They will make sure that we are building a stronger economy for the long term for our fishing communities and giving them back a future.
Finally, he concludes that this shows what the EU can achieve by working together:
They show that when the UK is constructive and pushes for reform of the EU, it can deliver real results. And that is what Liberal Democrats, as the Party of In, will continue to work towards. Unlike the Tories and UKIP, we understand that the best way to stand up for Britain in Brussels is to roll up our sleeves, build alliances and reform Europe from within.
You can read the whole article here.
* Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary in print, on air or online.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Inside the secret world of Eel Pie Island
Phil Hutty re-selected for Torridge and Tavistock
Extraordinary cover-up of leak that could have cost lives
St Peter's Free Church Holiday Bible Club #dundeewestend
Brenda Will
Robert Heale
Tristan Ward
Linda Chung
Ruth Bright
One Comment
I rejoice with Ed Fordham and others in the extension of marriage to people of the same sex. But I hope there will be some thought for the people who have found this more than they can swallow. There are Libdems who cannot support the measure, and there are certainly people who have voted Libdem for other reasons and find their support wavering. Many of them, but not all, are devout churchgoers. There is a major job for those of us in the Libdem party who are also churchgoers to engage creatively with them and to help them to see that traditional marriage is not jeopardised by its extension to people of the same sex. And if St Paul and parts of the Old Testament were opposed to homosexuality – as they undoubtedly were – there are other parts of St Paul that bible enthuisasts also feel free to disobey. The Bible is not the last word on everything, but love is…..