UK most savage in punishing fishermen
03 October 2006
In the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament Jim Allister raised the gross discrepancy in penalties imposed on fishermen in the UK who breach Common Fisheries Policy regulations and those imposed elsewhere in the EU for breach of the same rules.
The EU Commission has just recently published the data for 2004. It shows that the average fine across the EU for breach of CFP Regulations was €2272, but in the UK the average fine was six times greater at €13,099.
Mr Allister told the committee it was intolerable and anti-competitive that fishermen in his constituency were liable to fines 6 or 7 times higher for breaching the same rules as fishermen anywhere else. He continued, "Take the Irish Sea where men from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland fish. These figures show that for failing to record data in logbooks or falsifying accounts, the average UK fine is €18,900 but the average Dublin fine is €2,330. Yet these are the same regulations which are being breached, but my fishermen are being punitively hammered, while others are slapped on the wrist."
He continued, "We are supposed to have a COMMON Fisheries Policy, but on penalty it is grossly distorted and unfair. Our UK courts should take cognisance of what is the going rate for these offences in Europe and stop penalising our fishermen so savagely."
