Monday 14 December 2009

Great Yarmouth's fishing industry is finished

Great Yarmouth’s last full-time fisherman is to quit the industry. The once-great Norfolk fishing centre has seen the industry decline over the years thanks to European union rules and environmental concerns over fishing stocks.

Jason Clarke, 39, is the fourth generation of his family in the fishing industry, but he will be the last. He said he was “bitter” and blamed the EU quota system for destroying the town’s fishing industry in the last ten years.

With a meeting sue to start in Brussels tomorrow to discuss fishing quotas for 2010, fisheries minister Huw Irranca-Davies has warned that negotiations will be “tougher than ever”.

Mr Clarke decided not to wait any longer. “It is an absolute farce and I've had enough of it,” he said. ”I don't want to give up but there is only so much you can take. I will miss the fishing but it has been ruined by bureaucracy. The boat needs to make £2,000 a week minimum to make it pay and you can't get anywhere near that any more because of the restrictions. It is really sad for me and the family, after four generations of fishing. But I have been forced out by Brussels. It is sad for the town too.”

I find it sad that a town’s whole fishing industry has been sapped and destroyed. No one can stand in the way of progress and changing times, but sometimes you can’t help but feel suspicious about the motives of the EU (and I am no anti-European).

Mr Clarke went on to say: “There is so much fish in the sea, despite what you hear,” he said. “If I was leaving because there were no fish out there, it would be easier – but is just isn't so.”

“This fallacy about no fish in North Sea makes my blood boil. This last year, we could have made a very good living, but the system doesn't allow you to catch anything,” he added.

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