About Hugh's Fish Fight
HUGH's EXPERIENCE
In January 2011, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall left the comfort of River Cottage behind, and went on a journey to find out what was really going on at the industrial end of our fisheries. What he found was that things are not just bad ... They’re mad.
"I have been travelling around the UK meeting fishermen, marine conservationists, politicians, supermarkets bosses, and of course fish-eating members of the public," says Hugh.
“The experience, and how it changed the way I think about fish were shown in Hugh's Fish Fight (broadcast 11th, 12th, 13th January 2011) as part of Channel 4's Big Fish Fight.” Watch all three programmes on 4oD.
Hugh learnt that half the fish caught in the North Sea are being thrown back into the sea, dead, because of crazy EU laws.
So, he launched a campaign ‘Hugh’s Fish Fight’ to try to change those laws and was supported by a wide coalition of environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and, we hope, by a growing number of fishermen and policy makers too.
This website, fishfight.net is the campaign hub accompanying Hugh’s Fish Fight, you can also follow the progress of Hugh's Fish Fight on Facebook and Twitter.
The response from the public was incredible. Over 700, 000 people have now signed the fish fight petition, and so many people emailed their MPs to protest about discards that they forced a debate in the Houses of Parliament.
As a direct result of the campaign, the British Government also decided to fund a six month study into what would happen if a discard ban was introduced. Even Prince Charles leant his support.
In July, the European Commission published their proposals for a new Common Fisheries Policy ... And they included recommendations for a discard ban. This would not have happened without the pressure of the Fish Fight. But that doesn’t mean that the law will actually change. There is another 18 months to go before the new Common Fisheries Policy becomes law, which is why Hugh went back to Brussels to launch the Fish Fight campaign in another 11 languages and countries. The pressure he generates across Europe could be the difference between success and failure, long term sustainable fisheries or more years of pointless waste.
Hugh’s Fish Fight: The Battle Continues, features these and other stories and will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday August 8th 2011.
DISCARDS AT SEA
Around half of the fish caught by fishermen in the North Sea are unnecessarily thrown back into the ocean dead.
The problem is that in a mixed fishery where many different fish live together, fishermen cannot control the species that they catch.
Fishing for one species often means catching another, and if people don’t want them or fishermen are not allowed to land them, the only option is to throw them overboard. The vast majority of these discarded fish will die.
Because discards are not monitored, it is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away. The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch. Many of these fish are species that have fallen out of fashion: we can help to prevent their discard just by rediscovering our taste for them.
Others are prime cod, haddock, plaice and other popular food species that are “over-quota”. The quota system is intended to protect fish stocks by setting limits on how many fish of a certain species should be caught.
Fishermen are not allowed to land any over-quota fish; if they accidentally catch them – which they can’t help but do - there is no choice but to throw them overboard before they reach the docks.
THE SOLUTIONs
We need to diversify our fish eating habits, and we need to change policy so that it works for fish, fishermen and consumers.
The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which is the political framework for the quota system, is currently being reformed for 2012. Scientists and environmental groups have suggested a number of ways that that the policy can work to protect fish stocks. Some details of these can be found on our solutions page.
Re-writing the Common Fisheries Policy is going to be an enormously complicated business, and unfortunately there is no one easy solution to ending discards. Many people agree that the answer will lie in a combination of different ideas and policies.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Sign up to the campaign on the sign up page. You will be writing directly to policy makers in Europe to let them know that the unnecessary and unethical discarding of perfectly good fish must stop. We can make a difference. If enough people sign up to the campaign, they have to listen to us. We aim to get 250,000 signatures by summer 2011.
Expand the selection of fish that you eat by trying some of the lesser-known species of local fish currently being discarded as trash. In the UK, cod, salmon and tuna account for more than 50% of the fish that we consume, and tasty, exciting and nutritious fish such as flounder, dab, coley and pouting are overlooked and thrown away. Download the free app and check out our sustainable recipes to help you.
Spread the word. Join Hugh's Fish Fight on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Tell all of your friends and family about Hugh's Fish Fight - get them to sign up to the campaign!
Check out the Get Involved page, for more ways to support the Fish Fight
Together we can stop this ridiculous carnage. Join Hugh’s Fish Fight now!
Thanks very much,
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall
CAMPAIGN TIMELINE