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environmentalists and fishermen advocates giving priority access for small boats for cod, hake and monkfish

hundreds of small UK fisheries are facing financial ruin, according to activists who advocate a radical reform of the rules of EU fishing. They say their case revolves around a fundamental fact: that although the small fishing boats account for 77% of the fishing fleet in the UK and 65% of full-time jobs in the industry are allowed to access only 4% of

The obvious result of this imbalance, says a new alliance of environmentalists and fishermen is that the viability of boats less than 10 feet long - and thus classified by the EU as "coastal "operator - is increasingly threatened. Fishing interests dominate not only large industry, but also threaten fish stocks. This, they say, threatens the existence of communities of fishermen that date back centuries.

in Hastings, on the south coast with a fleet of 29 small fishing boats still operate from the beach known as Stade, mainly cod, plaice and sole. The fishing industry of the city is part of the southeast, where 339 small boats have access to a defined group that represents about 30% of the regional quota, while the control nine ships over 70%.

local fishermen say that, until 2006, they were actually fish at will, but the establishment of a European register of buyers and sellers in 2006 marked the arrival of a more strict.

Paul Joy, a local fisherman and co-chair of nutfa (New Under Ten Fishermen Association), told The Guardian film produced as part of the series anywhere, but Westminster. In January, he said, was followed by a police helicopter, sea before cod was weighed and found to be a little above its catch limit. After being fined £ 7,500 for exceeding its limit, which is waiting to hear if it will be processed.

"If we were drug dealers understand us," he told the Guardian. "But we're only fishermen trying to earn a living, and the fees are, you can not."

At the height of the season for cod at the beginning of winter, the boundary of each fishing vessel was set at about 1.4 kg per day, which is less than half of a fish. "By allowing them to capture even pay for the fuel to go fishing," said Joy.

activists say the percentage of the quota allocated to small craft should be 20%, while acknowledging the impossibility of such a change. The British government has proposed to reallocate unused quota, or about 3% of the total for small boats, but the British Association of producer organizations Fish - dominated by the interests of large-scale fishing -. You have requested a judicial review

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it was working with nutfa on improving how to manage the quota for small fishermen. DEFRA has stated that the proposals for reform of the Common Fisheries Policy to help small farmers, because they should allow Member States to take over the management of his own hand, which would allow some of the interests of the small fleet to be a priority.

The European Commission said it was also looking to the interests of smaller fleets, for example, by helping them to access more funds for the improvement of ships: one smaller fleet countries, with Member State funding will be allocated. A spokesman added: "The Commission has also proposed that fishermen should be able to work together to quotas that quotas can be used flexibly and effectively in such a system, small vessels can be protected with a portion of the total quota. aside for them. "

CFP reforms were adopted by the Ministers of the Member States in June, but they must also pass the European Parliament and many members from different countries have links to large industries, industrial fishing when it is feared that the proposals may face defeat. Commissioner for Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, urged citizens to express their opinions, and that public pressure has been essential to the adoption of proposals to ban the wasteful practice of throwing edible fish in the sea, dead .

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