Ship wrecked: Boats smashed by EU fish rules
FISHERMEN in Thanet have been smashing up their boats as part of moves by the Government to reduce part of the UK’s fleet.
Phoenix skipper, Gareth Johnson, 44, a fisherman for 25 years, watched sadly on as his boat was dismantled. and destroyed. Its owner will pocket almost around £100,000 in compensation.
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Whatâs left of the Phoenix after a demolition team got stuck into it
He said: "The Government is paying for boats to be decommissioned and as part of the deal the boats have to be broken up.
"We handed our licence back and they pay us in the region of £100,000. I believe they are getting rid of 70 ships across the country."
"I’m told the reason for this is to give depleted stocks of fish more chance of survival."
Gareth, who has fished out of Ramsgate for five years, sailed Phoenix down the River Stour to Sandwich Marina for the last time on Thursday. He added: "I’m really upset.
"No one likes to see their boat smashed up. I’ve been a fisherman all my life but the owner of this boat wants to get rid of it. I’m now looking at a complete career change doing up homes instead. I’m really going to miss fishing."
The Phoenix was joined by Fat Cat, another small under 10 metre vessel, which fished from Herne Bay.
Its skipper and owner, Kevin McCully, 39, who has been fishing for 10 years plans to buy a another boat when his payment of £81,000 comes through.
He said: "They began to restrict my fishing quota until it got to a point where I couldn’t cover the cost of my fuel. All I could catch was £500 worth of skate every month. I have a couple of kids to support and had to take what I could."
It is believed that about 70 owners of small vessels across the UK received a share of a £5 million pot funded by a European grant.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said: "England’s 2,500 small-scale inshore fishermen have been under pressure because of tight quota restrictions and an imbalance between the size of the fleet and the quota available.
"The £5 million is for decommissioning, paying off fishermen targeting under-pressure stocks who want to leave the fleet, which releases their share of the quota to the remainder of the fleet."
Should the boats have to be smashed up? Let us know. Email your views to newsdesk.thanet@krnmedia.co.uk or leave a comment.
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by Lyn Smith, Margate
Thursday, April 09 2009, 8:41AM
“"The greedy Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese nations will have to live with the guilt"
When have you seen or heard any of those countries ever feeling guilt for their actions or inactions. Cant think of one”
by Brendan Maas, Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday, April 08 2009, 5:44PM
“Britain does seem to be getting the short end of the stick, but you complying with the laws set by the EU which acts on scientific research, just because the idiot nations of Spain, France, and Italy don't pay attention to the quotos does not mean that Britain is doing the wrong thing by complying to them. When our oceans are empty, and essentially just a barant wasteland, the U.S.A, British, and Australian's can sleep at night knowing we abided by teh quotos and tried to save the ocean's from extinction. The greedy Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese nations will have to live with the guilt and ignorance that there greed will lead to, which is a barant ocean and millions of starving people on there coastlines. It's hard because people's livelihood's are being affected, but I congratulate the British for following the qoutos set.”
by Roy Long, Margate
Wednesday, April 08 2009, 4:38PM
“It would be helpful to see the number of French and Spanish boats being destroyed under this scheme.
The number of times the fishing fleets from these countries have ignored EU rules and regulations at the cost of our fishermen and stocks of fish in British waters are too numerous.
Looks like the same old situation that the only country that complies with the EU directives is Britain and every other country just sticks two fingers up to the rules.
Certainly not what Ted Heath had thought when we joined”
by Richard, USA
Wednesday, April 08 2009, 4:22PM
“If your government is paying for boats to be decommissioned , I would think it might be smarter to resell the boats to the recreational marketplace and recoup some of the money spent in the buy outs, or at least, some boats could be refitted for research use.
Destroying boats just to cull the fishing fleet? What a waste !
Just an opinion from an american fisherman.”
by simon, south london
Tuesday, April 07 2009, 11:48PM
“both of the 2 above comments are spot on,heaven help Iceland if they ever join the EU.we do need more boats taken out ,BUT, from europe as our friend says.suggest morocco joins the EU as lots of fish in supermarkets seems to come from there. they dont give a hoot about quotas.i used to live in folkestone and watched the lads coming in with the catches,then i went to hastings, same there. good luck to the guys that are left,you need it.”