Just how difficult is it to understand what the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is really about? Judging by pronouncements made by politicians, policy wonks, media "experts" and civil servants (though that may be with tongue firmly in cheek) difficult to the point of being impossible.

John Ashworth, who used to run Save Britain's Fish, sent this e-mail to Fishing News. So far it has not been published: It never ceases to amaze me how cunning the EU system is in hiding their real intentions. Ever since 1982 when the first derogation from the CFP expired, the system has always portrayed the temporary management arrangement as the CFP, and the present “Regional CFP” is no exception.

By using this clever wordage, the Fisheries acquis communautaire of equal access to a common resource without discrimination, which is the real CFP, is concealed as the EU Fisheries Directorate grapples over many years, complicated by a steady continual increase of nations joining the EU, to bring about the acquis through various management means by stealth.

The fishing issue has always been an excellent example of EU manipulation. As we approach the European, followed by the General election, and in turn pressure for an in/out EU referendum, watch the number of times the word “Reform“ is used. The question is what is being reformed, and how, because as in Fisheries, reforming the temporary management arrangement, which most people are being led to believe is the CFP, is no solution, because whatever is devised, and what you think you have reformed, the direction is still to accomplish the acquis.

The decimation of the British Fishing Industry has, and is, taking place solely because of the acquis communautaire. After all these years it is still not fully understood, which is why the EU system gets away with the continual advancement to full political union, and those following a "reformist agenda", without tackling the question of the acquis are furthering that advancement.

European Voice reports that

European Union fisheries ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday (17 October) are expected to agree on the distribution of rights to fish in the Baltic Sea in 2014.

There is, however, to be another item on the agenda:

The ministers will also discuss the annual consultations between the EU and Norway on their bilateral fisheries agreement, which is likely to encompass the ongoing fishing dispute over mackerel with Iceland.

There has been a great deal on this blog about the bullying of Iceland and the Faroe Islands. There is no need to repeat any of that for the time being. However, it is interesting to note in the light of the argument about the size of catches and whether, as both the Icelanders and the Faroese insist, there has been an increase in the amount of fish available, that

Last week, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), an independent scientific organisation, issued recommended mackerel catch levels for 2014 of 889,886 tonnes, a 64% increase from 2013, based on the fact that the stock has expanded north-west towards Iceland. Based on this migration, Iceland has begun unilaterally increasing its fishing, but the EU has threatened sanctions. Iceland welcomed the ICES report.

What exactly is the EU's argument and why is Britain supporting it, given the facts? Come to think of it, does Britain have the right not to support it as long as the common fisheries policy remains in place?

Richard Benyon who was responsible for the fisheries policy has left his position. Paul Goodman on ConHome says:

The Government is losing good, solid, experienced Ministers. Richard Benyon, Simon Burns, Mark Hoban, Mark Prisk…these are all Ministers who have either been at their brief or on the front bench for a long time, and know their stuff. It’s a brutal fact of political life that most Ministers are sacked sooner or later. This will be scant consolation to the “innocents”, as they’ve been called, who’ve done nothing wrong.

Whether all who have had to deal with the fisheries issue would agree with that assessment of Benyon's activity is questionable. More as it comes in.

15.57 He is being replaced by George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth. We need to wait for his first pronouncements to be able to judge how he intends to proceed.

16.15 Apparently Dan Rogerson MP for North Cornwall has also been appointed to DEFRA though that does not seem to have percolated to the media yet. That leaves two places on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee at the House of Commons.

The Autumn Newsletter of the Fishermen's Association Limited (FAL) is out and we thought our readers would like to see some snippets from it.

First off, there is an article by the Chairman about the discards in the West of Scotland Demersal fisheries, which strangely echo the arguments made by Icelanders and Faroese in their fierce debates with the EU (here, here, here, here and here):

It is difficult not to be dismayed at the continuing demands of the Commission for more fishing restrictions on West of Scotland fish stocks especially as skippers who fish the grounds have seen more fish these past 2 years than at any time since 2001.

When I retired the deep water fleet or “edge of shelf “fleet stood at 37 vessels. This has now reduced to 8 who spend most of the year in Area VIa / VIb.

This year alone we have seen 4 vessels leave the fleet who traditionally fished West of 4 grounds.

This is why we have been advocating that instead of supporting the EU's bullying, Britain's and Scotland's fishermen should take the side of the Icelanders and the Faroese and negotiate some agreement with them. Ah, but they cannot, not while we are in the CFP. Norway can negotiate, Iceland and Russia can negotiate, Denmark on behalf of the Faroe Islands can negotiate but Britain? We shall have the EU negotiating on our behalf should they be inclined to do so.

On the Scrap and Build policy we have this:

Over the years FAL has argued for a vessel scrap and build policy. In June 2010 Richard Lochhead was informed by Sandy Patience that: “In the past one saved to build up the business – either by re-engining and proper care and maintenance or new building. However there are so many other demands now—buying of fish or shellfish or leasing quota and days plus buying of licence parking to obtain more days that nothing is being set aside for reinvestment.

Had a scrap and build scheme been introduced this would have encouraged the young men left in the industry to look forward with hope not despair.”

Regrettably this was never promoted by Marine Scotland.

On 10 July 2013 at a meeting of the EU Parliament Fisheries Committee, Alain Cadec MEP, Rapporteur on the EMFF proposals emphasised that ‘the money for fleet renewal (vessel construction) would only be available for a part of the fishing fleet — replacing vessels older than 35 years, smaller than 12 metres, with an obligation to reduce the vessel’s capacity by 40 percent.’

Mr Cadec stated that “his is responsible fleet renewal. Furthermore, you may only receive money to replace your engine if you reduce capacity. These are the only real measures in the EMFF and the basic regulation in the fisheries reform to reduce capacity in the EU fishing fleet.”

Unfortunately that fleet renewal proposal is not a scrap and build policy. In any event if passed in Parliament’s Plenary session in October (See page 14 CFP Reform Watch Article) it will do little, if anything, for the Scottish whitefish/prawn fleets but may assist some of the owners of very old boats in the Scottish/UK fleet.

The SNP has been making noises about an independent Scotland (within the EU, which is something of an oxymoron) being able to sort out the mess that Edward Heath's government had imposed on Scottish (and other) fishermen. They have not yet specified how they will do it.

In the SPRING 2013 NEWSLETTER we asked the following question:

In view of the condemnation by both politicians of the CFP and their call for restoration of national control would they care to explain how they are going to ensure the livelihoods of the Scottish fishing industry both offshore and onshore and the communities they support IF the Scottish people vote for independence and the SNP subsequently achieves its overwhelming ambition to become a member State of the EU?

We still await a reply. Perhaps we will obtain that when FAL meets Mr Lochhead on 31 October.

As soon as we have an answer it will be published on this blog.

Let us finish on a more cheerful note, to with the recipe in this edition of the Newsletter, for Mussles au Gratin (nothing wrong with European cooking, after all):

Ingredients

455g (1lb) vacuumpacked mussels in garlic butter sauce 55g (2oz) parsley, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 6 x 15ml spoon (6 tablespoons) breadcrumbs 6 x 15ml spoon (6 tablespoons) pecorino or Parmesan cheese, grated grated rind 1 lime and juice of half a lime salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 x 15ml spoon (6 tablespoons) olive oil 1 lemon and 1 lime to garnish

Method

Mix together parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs, cheese,grated rind and lime juice. Season and mix with theolive oil. Blend thoroughly.

Split cooked mussels in half and discard the empty shells. Spread mussels in half shells with the breadcrumb mixture and arrange in a shallow ovenproof dish.

Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Serve garnished with lemon and lime wedges.

Bon Appétit! Buon Appetito! Guten Appetit! And in Icelandic: Verði þér að góðu!

The Faroe Islands who want the coastal countries that include Russia, Iceland and Norway (but not the UK because we do not negotiate on our behalf) to meet in September and discuss the management of the herring stock, have meanwhile taken the EU to an international tribunal under UNCLOS over those threats of sanctions.

The BBC reports that

A statement from the Faroese prime minister's office said the government had requested an international tribunal to declare the European Union "in breach of its obligations" under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It asked for EU authorities to be "ordered to refrain from the threat or adoption of coercive economic measures on the Faroe Islands".

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has also demanded the EU withdraws the threats and allows a peaceful settlement to be found under "free negotiations".

European sanctions will be brought in against Faroese herring and mackerel imports from the end of August.

The Scottish fishermen are supporting this high-handed action. As we have said before, Britain should be looking to ways of negotiating with both Iceland and the Faroes. But we shall not even be there at the September meeting which is still scheduled to take place.

We are very pleased to publish a letter from the indefatigable Honorary Chairman of FAL, Tom Hay, in which he once again attempts to explain that the common fisheries policy (CFP) is non-negotiable. The letter, we hope, will appear in the next issue of Fishing News.

It appears that Richard Benyon is determined to continue misleading British fishermen about CFP reform. His plausible statements in Fishing News 9th August 2013 on this very serious matter are extremely erroneous, in fact, spurious since they are deceiving our hard working fishermen into believing that a better future lies in store (how often have we heard that?) for them, if they submit to his optimistic overtures, that history would show that returning the seas to sustainable harvesting “as the really big win” of CFP reform. Fishermen will have certainty over the future of the stocks they fish, and depend on, he continues, but cunningly however, he doesn’t say British fishermen because, he really means EU fishermen.

This is why FAL is equally determined not to allow him to get away with this. What he is talking about reforming, and craftily calls it the CFP, is a temporary derogation from the general rule of equal conditions of access to fishery resources and non discrimination laid down in Article 40 clause 3 of the Treaty.

Never to my knowledge or belief has Richard Benyon or Richard Lochhead for that matter, ever stated publicly the appalling fact that the CFP is free access to waters on a non- discriminatory basis for all member states fleets, and that it is not negotiable.

Whatever these servants of the British people may tell our fishermen, they have no security whatsoever, and absolutely nothing can be done for their peace of mind, as long as we remain within this horrendous, anti-British Common Fisheries Policy.

Take a look at the East Coast of Scotland as an example of the enormous damage which has already been done. Every Port from the Borders to John o’ Groats, which used to be a bustling hive of activity, now lies indisputably desolate.

There is only one clear unobstructed way of escape. The fisheries agreement signed, by Treaty in 1972 must be revoked, and the shackles of this terrible Common Fisheries Policy thrown off, so that we can regain control of our potentially rich fishing grounds, which are rightly ours according to international law, yet so shamefully surrendered by the Edward Heath Government through unbelievable deceit.

Succeeding generations of the British people will hold us accountable for evermore if we allow a disaster of such tremendous enormity to befall our nation.

Thomas Hay

Honorary Chairman FAL

On the whole, we do not consider it necessary to quote politicians at length. It is enough to note what they say and move on. However, in this case, we do recommend our readers to read the article by Sigisrdur Ingi Johansson, Iceland's Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, in the Wall Street Journal. As we have pointed out before (too often to link to) the EU's behaviour has not been rational or politically sensible; it has been the behaviour of a greedy, peevish school bully but, at least, there is some sign that sense might, if not prevail, at least get a look in. Talks are planned for early September.

Iceland's recently elected government has a renewed sense of purpose to resolve the international dispute over mackerel catch levels in the northeast Atlantic. Yet rather than pushing toward a fair outcome, aggressive talk of trade sanctions from Brussels is harming the effort to seal a lasting shared-quota agreement.

Iceland is dealing with an unexpected explosion in the number of mackerel in our waters. Cooperation and diplomacy, not illegal sanctions, are needed to manage the stock together. Our position is clear and unchanged: We want to sit down and reach a fair, lasting solution for all of Europe's coastal states. The EU's decision last week to move forward with sanctions against the Faroe Islands sets an unfortunate precedent.

Since 2010, Iceland has repeatedly offered concrete proposals that would have solved the dispute, including five public requests this year to reconvene the relevant coastal states—Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway and the European Union, which represent Scotland and Ireland, among others, in this dispute—for urgent talks. These efforts were rejected.

Given the lack of action from other countries, Iceland's new government, which took office after April's election, decided to take bold action to restart negotiations. We reached out to our counterparts with the offer to host multilateral talks as soon as possible. We are pleased that the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands have confirmed they will attend these new talks, which are scheduled for early September. Norway's participation is especially encouraging: The Norwegian government previously stated that it was not in a position to negotiate until after September's elections.

Sadly, the UK will not be there negotiating though the issue is of some importance to this country and its fishermen as well as consumers. But then, we have handed over our rights to the EU and submerged our interests into the Common Fisheries Policy. How well that has served us!