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Mr. Matthew Taylor (Truro and St. Austell): My hon. Friend has just touched on the key issue, which is the ownership by fishermen of the conservation measures. Unless they feel that they are working towards effective fish conservation, so that the next generation, or even the fishermen themselves for a year or two, can continue in the industry, the race to catch fish first and to make a fast profit is bound to dominate. Even if it does not dominate, for example, in our area of Cornwall, others will come in and make use of it. It is not easy to create such local ownership, but that is the key to a solution.
Mr. George: I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I will draw attention to the need to change the way in which the fishing industry is managed. We need to bring fishermen more centrally into the management of the industry and they should take responsibility for the management of their stocks.
Having outlined the problems with the CFP, it is now vital that we consider some of the alternatives and solutions to what will otherwise become a catastrophe for the industry in general. We all agree that the CFP in its present form should be scrapped. We cannot afford any longer to fudge the issue. The fishermen do not like the CFP because it fails to secure their industry's future. Fish do not like it because it threatens their very survival. Euro-sceptics do not like it because it emanates from Europe, and Europhiles do not like it because it gives Europe a bad name.
The previous Government did not like the CFP because it posed problems that they were either unable or unwilling to tackle. If the present Government do not take decisive action soon in setting the agenda, we will have missed the boat in influencing CFP reform. We now have an opportunity to put forward our arguments to the European Commission's task force, which has been set up to examine CFP reform in preparation for 2002.
When we examine the way ahead for the fishing industry, one principle above all others should provide the basis for achieving the aim of creating a properly
sustainable industry: as my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and St. Austell (Mr. Taylor) has pointed out, that is the principle of empowering the fishermen themselves. Liberal Democrat spokesmen have long proposed to replace the CFP with a policy based on regionalisation, thus decentralising power away from politicians and empowering skippers with the responsibility of managing the fish stocks for themselves. Regionalisation would allow fish stocks to be managed around their own boundaries. It would also give fishermen, both in the UK and abroad, the opportunity to take control of their industry and to work together with skippers from an individual fishery and with fish scientists to consider ways of ensuring that fishing remains environmentally and economically viable. Regionalisation would allow all interested parties such as fish producers, scientists, port authorities, regional public authorities and enforcement authorities to come together and to co-ordinate a regional policy into which they would all have input and for which they would all have responsibility.
By regional, I mean that we need to consider the relative merits of natural regions such as the North, Celtic and Baltic seas, where boundaries coincide with the general range of a particular stock and coastal state management as favoured by the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, operating up to the median line. The crucial point is that such semi-autonomous regions should be given the power and flexibility to determine the management systems best suited to their needs. That may include proposals in some regions for a restriction on days at sea, the use of a variety of technical conservation methods around net sizes and variations in their design, controls on fishing around spawning grounds or seasonal closures of spawning grounds or many other methods that have been debated.
The important point is that that should be decided by the real stakeholders in the industry--the fishermen--and not by politicians behind closed doors. The bottom line for me in all this is the reality that, with power, comes responsibility and if we give power to fishermen and the industry, and if they fail to protect their own stock effectively, it will be their responsibility. Conversely, if they succeed in reviving their stocks, as I am determined that they shall and as Norway has done, they should be allowed to share in the benefits of that in a sustainable way.
A crucial factor in all this is proper regulation, inspection and policing. I was very impressed by a recent discussion document from the NFFO, recommending the use of permanent and temporary closed areas. The Government would do well to consider that and to couple it with improved monitoring techniques such as satellite surveillance. It may be that, where some European nations are concerned about the ability of other European nations properly to police their stock, the Government might consider proposals for a strengthened policing role for the European Commission itself.
In addition, I urge the Government not to ignore the importance of the inshore dimension. It is vital that the Government seek to protect the industry by protecting the 12 and six-mile limits and by strengthening the role of sea fisheries committees. In my discussions with local fishermen, there is strong support for the protection of those limits.
Finally, I draw the House's attention to an aspect of EU fisheries policy that has received little debate here--its impact on the sustainable fishery of developing countries. In many developing countries, just as traditionally in Cornwall, it is widely recognised that fishing is one of the few resources available to the poor. In Senegal, for example, fishing employs 250,000 people, 17 per cent. of the Senegalese population and fish provides 60 per cent. of local protein intake. In March, contrary to the demands of Senegalese fishermen, the EU was granted access to fish in Senegal's coastal waters. My concern is about overfishing and the possible ruin of local economies. Surely it is time that we worked to secure some coherence between EU fishing policy and the development policies of the new Government Department of International Development.
We should be working to help to build and maintain sustainable fishing in developing countries, not plundering their stock. I therefore ask the Minister to ensure that, in the CFP review, we take a responsible approach to that matter and press for a code of conduct to avoid irresponsible actions.
Many of those who come down to Cornwall from other parts of England and elsewhere and who might idly watch our boats set sail would be staggered by the legal and political complexities, the regulation and the pressure on the people engaged in what should be a straightforward occupation. Those visitors might begin to understand that there is a whole new language of TACs, MAGPs--multi-annual guidance programmes--quotas, PESCAs and so on, but, frankly, there should be no need to learn that new language because we all know what the fishermen know very well: politics is about not just interpreting policies and treaties, but priorities.
Mrs. Joan Humble (Blackpool, North and Fleetwood):
I am very pleased to take part in this debate, which I hope will be constructive. I am sure that no one in the Chamber would disagree with the proposition that what we all want is a viable fishing industry for the future. A debate about how we will approach the review of the common fisheries policy is therefore important to us all.
The remarks made by the hon. Member for St. Ives (Mr. George) about his constituency also apply to Fleetwood. Those who recall Fleetwood 20 years ago tell me that boats filled the entire harbour so that one could walk across it from boat to boat. Now, the boats are not there and the fleet has shrunk and shrunk. Nevertheless, the fishing industry is very important to the town. Almost 1,000 people are employed not just on the boats but in the auction market and processing plants. I am pleased that, in debates in Fleetwood and elsewhere in the country, all the disparate groups in the industry are working together--perhaps for the first time, since they do not all share the same agenda. If they do not work together, the fishing industry will indeed disappear.
I agree with many of the remarks by the hon. Member for St. Ives about the future. Clearly, we need proper regulation. Modern technology allows us to consider such things as satellite monitoring. We need to explore all possible avenues to ensure that fishing is properly regulated and monitored. The basis of any new fishing strategy and of the CFP has to be conservation. Without fish, the fishing fleets have no catch and the auction market has no fish to sell. We need to consider a conservation strategy that, on one hand, preserves our fish stocks, and on the other, provides opportunity for the future.
From speaking to fishermen in Fleetwood, I know that they are very anxious to get involved in debates on conservation because they realise that saving this year means having more fish to catch next year. They are considering new and imaginative strategies to ensure that fish stock is conserved and that they have a future.
Fishermen are also concerned about support for modernisation of the fleet, to which the hon. Member for St. Ives also referred. The previous Government withdrew grants for shelter decks, which many of my fishermen say are vital improvements to their boats that enable them to remain at sea for longer and catch more fish. We need to look at grants to help fishermen to improve their vessels to enable them to engage in the industry.
On the suggestion of a regional strategy, the local fishing forum in Fleetwood has worked with Wyre borough council on exactly such a strategy, which seems to have widespread support. Although there are differences of view on how it should be organised and implemented, I hope that the idea will be considered in more detail.
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