Fishing Policy

Asda joins call for Common Fisheries Policy to be scrapped.

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Asda (owned by US Supermarket Wall Mart) has joined calls for Britain's withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in order to protect the livelihoods of local Scottish fishermen and preserve fish stocks in the North Sea.Gordon Maddan, regulatory affairs manager at Asda, said: "We want all the fish we sell to be sustainable. It's very clear however that the Common Fisheries Policy has failed to deliver this so we are now supporting callsfor a radical change in approach."

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The supermarket believes a new management regime, devised by fishermen and taking on board the views of NGOs and other stakeholders should replace the CFP. It would give fishermen a stake in managing the stocks on which their livelihoods depend.

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Last December the newly elceted leader of the Conservative Party reversed the Policy of the party resuing to oppose the EU's CFP. As it stood, the policy represented two years of gruelling hard work and the personal commitment of then shadow fisheries minister, Owen Paterson MP who produced a credible alternative to the CFP in the form of an opposition "green paper", now dead in the water.
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Taking a very different tack, earlier this year Asda announced it was changing the way it sources fish,bringing its sustainable fish policy into line with its parent companyWal-Mart. Within the next three to five years, Asda will only stock wild-caught fresh and frozen fish from fisheries that meet the Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) independent environmental standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.

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Asda's decision means dozens of products bearing the MSC’s distinctive blue eco-label have started appearing on the supermarket's shelves. The supermarket suspended the sale of North Sea cod in May this year (switching to fisheries in Iceland and Norway).

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The supermarket is calling for the North Sea to be declared a marineconservation zone to preserve fish stocks for local fishing communities. It believes commercial fishing of the North Sea should be limited to localfishermen who depend on it for their sole income and who use recognised sustainable fishing practices.

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The Fishermen's Association Ltd (FAL) and Save Britain's Fish (SBF) have been campaigning for UK withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy for the past 10 years, saying that thousands of fishermen have lost their jobs as adirect result of EU conservation policy.

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Since 2001 and 2004 196 vessels over 10ms have been scrapped, and that1,100 boats have left the UK fleet in the 20 years since the UK joined theCommon Market.Last week campaigners for Britain's withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) also welcomed the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation to their ranks.

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Many small businesses in the UK are dependent on a flourishing fishing industry. The EU's CFP continues to be detrimental to our nations economy. When the issue of North Sea fishing is understood and addressed by the UK's largest member Business organisation, the Federation of Small Businesses they to should call for the withdrawal from the CFP, useing Owen Patterson's white paper (copies on request) as the bases for a dynamic and radical policy.