Diane Dodds MEP has brought together UK members of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee and leaders of the UK fishing industry in what is believed to be the first meeting of its kind in Brussels. The meeting was held on the eve of an important Fisheries Committee meeting, where members were due to vote on over 400 amendments to the Committee’s report on the reform of Europe’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Attended by members of the Conservative Party, UKIP and SNP, there was agreement that following ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the UK’s MEPs had to co-ordinate their policy on fisheries, in an attempt to defend the industry against what has been a long series of attacks by the European Commission. Speaking from Brussels, Diane Dodds said,
“I was delighted to initiate and host this meeting. I was also very encouraged by the response of my colleagues in the European Parliament. There is no doubt that Europe’s Common Fisheries Policy has devastated the fishing industry throughout the UK and especially at home in Northern Ireland. Some of our fishermen have been criminalised and many more believe that a once proud industry has been abandoned. However, together with my UK colleagues in the European Parliament I firmly believe that what remains of our fishing industry in Portavogie, Ardglass, Kilkeel and all around the coast of Northern Ireland is well worth fighting for.
The result of successive EU December Fisheries Councils has been bad news for our fishermen and all those involved in the industry, but I was encouraged that following our discussions with industry representatives that my Parliamentary colleagues are keen to develop a co-ordinated approach over the coming weeks and months in an attempt to secure a future for the UK’s fishing industry.
Similarities between the problems facing our food producers at sea and on land have certainly struck a chord with me. Just as urgent and meaningful reform of the CFP is needed, many challenges face our farmers through the reform of the CAP and I am delighted that I shall be hosting another one of my European Parliamentary colleagues, George Lyon MEP, on Monday (1st February 2010), as he gathers evidence from Northern Ireland’s agriculture industry as part of his report into the future of the CAP.”
