Who's got their hands on all our fish?

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/may/29/fishing-greenpeace


Cornish fishermen Ben George flying the 'Be a Fisherman's Friend' campaign flag. The Greenpeace campaign calls for a reform of European fishing policy so that it supports low impact, sustainable fishermen. Photograph: David Sandison/Greenpeace

Greenpeace has spent a lot of time lately on wharves, docks, piers and beaches. The story we're hearing is the same the coast long; the UK's low-impact, small-scale fishing industry is on its last legs.

These fishermen, most of whom are part of the inshore under-10-metre fleet, tend to land high quality fish, using methods that do little or no damage to the local environment. But they aren't rewarded. Quite the contrary: despite comprising 77% of the active UK fleet, they have access to only 4% of the country's quota

So who's got their hands on all our fish? (It's worth remembering they are our indeed our fish; they're a public asset, a common resource). No one really knows who holds UK quota, but what we do know is that the answer mostly involves those with the most economic clout and ability to throw their weight around. In a gradual process bordering on privatisation by stealth, the resource of the many has fallen into the hands of a few.

As the long-time Hastings fisherman John Griffin puts it: "It's definitely the 'greener' side of the industry that's suffering. We're as morally correct as we can be, we don't hide anything and we try to be as green as possible; we're doing our best but we're the ones being pushed out."