Brightlingsea fisherman Terry Stimpson who is facing a court case over allegedly exceeding his EU quotas.
Essex: Fisherman’s livelihood on the line over quotas
By Chris Harris
Thursday, February 23, 2012
6:00 AM
A FISHERMAN from Essex will appear in court next week charged with exceeding North Sea quotas - amid the ongoing row over fisheries policy which results in some catches being thrown back overboard.
Terry Stimpson, who works from Brightlingsea, fears he could be fined up to £206,000 if he is found guilty of exceeding fishing allocations.
The 51-year-old, of Tudor Green, Clacton, will appear at Colchester Magistrates Court on Wednesday, February 29, charged with exceeding his EU-set allowance between February and May last year.
It comes as nearly 800,000 people have signed a petition by celebrity chef-cum food campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall calling on the European Parliament to reform its fisheries policy.
The petition says as a result of the quota system half of fish caught in the North Sea are thrown back overboard dead and that it is a “senseless waste of food”.
Mr Stimpson, believed to be one of the last commercial fishermen in Brightlingsea, said: “Morally it’s wrong to throw perfectly good fish back.
“It’s a waste of resources because you’re catching the fish anyway. When you throw them back some of them will swim off but they will die eventually.”
Richard Howitt, MEP for East of England, said: “I can never condone law-breaking but I strongly support the case against the discarding of fish which is not just bad for our fishermen but environmentally disastrous too.
“I think we’re winning at the moment in Brussels but there’s no excuses for the huge errors of the past which Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign has brought to the public’s attention.
“We’re currently right in the middle of the negotiations about the Common Fisheries Policy and it’s absolutely right that we make all efforts to end this once and for all.”
A spokeswoman for the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), who is bringing the prosecution, said: “In order to maintain fish stocks laws are set at European and national levels, and the MMO in England enforces those laws.
“The MMO is committed to protecting fish stocks and quota for law abiding fishermen who rely on these species to sustain their livelihoods.
“The majority of the fishing industry is compliant with the rules that govern its commercial activities, and the MMO enforces the laws to ensure that those who are not compliant do not benefit.
“Wherever possible we work to achieve compliance through education, advice and guidance and use appropriate and proportionate enforcement action as a last resort. Such decisions are taken in line with our Compliance and Enforcement Strategy and the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
“We cannot comment on matters which are active within the courts system.”
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3 comments
Terry speaks for all Under 10m skippers:- when I say We just want the Government to give us a fair share of the quota NOW, we’ve sailed up the Thames to protest against unfair quotas, we’ve contacted our MPs to ask them to raise this at Government level. Discards have only been looked at because celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall brought some clout to the argument, previously Government wouldn’t listen to us and they’re still not. Richard Benyon says ‘hold on while we get the legislation re-written’, but we’re losing our livelihoods and our homes NOW, and it looks like our liberty is also threatened NOW. EU Bureaucracy is KILLING this country. The common mansmall business has lost our voice and cant rely on our Government to protect us
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Karen Stimpson
Sunday, February 26, 2012
How on earth can this be right, this man is earning an honest living and surely being morally right in not throwing good food away that are caught in his nets. EU laws on regulating on how we process and make food is a joke, apart from this poor fishermans state, those of us who make beer, wine or cider within the UK fall fowl of undue stipulations over air borne yeast which occurs naturally. A well known Belgium brewery in Brussels that has 150 year old wooden beams that have never been cleaned welcome and give tours to UK EHO officers and they can get away with it. Here we would have to sand the wood, paint the wood and have almost extreme clinical units to operate. Talk about one rule for them and another for us. If Terry Stimpson has to pay over £200k where will he find the money, not buy keeping to the quota of fish and where does this money go? Spain or France!
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Magicalredskins
Saturday, February 25, 2012
I believe quotas are a stupid idea. Fish are cught no matter about the quotas and if they are over the limit are just dumped into the sea dead. What a waste of our resources, much better to land and sell whatever is caught. Better for the environment, fish stocks and the customer. Quotas in this sort if industry just produces waste and because of this it becomes one of the main reasons to leave the EU as soon as possible. Other EU countries ignore this rule so why do we enforce such stupidity.
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Alfred Cavill
Thursday, February 23, 2012