Britain’s beleaguered trawlermen desperate to get out of the business due to restricted fishing quotas and competition from Icelandic rivals. This will have bad effect on thousands of workers, including those behind the counters of our much-loved fish and chip shops. It is estimated that for every job lost at sea, five land-based workers will end up on the dole.
Trawlerman James Cole heaved hundreds of dead fish over the side of his boat, dumping them into the sea below. He is banned from landing them as they are whiting and the whiting quota was reached in February. It is said that in British ports there is the sickening ceremony of throwing away good fish is played out weekly. James is a sixth-generation fisherman who can trace his heritage back to Staithes in North Yorkshire, where Captain Cook hailed from.
In Britain every trawler in the county is up for sale. It is said that last year fishermen flung back 18 tonnes of fish. And they reckon even more precious stocks will be wasted this year as quotas were reached in record-breaking time. Experts told that it is absolute madness throwing good fish away and they’re travelling 150 miles on round trips to buy identical fish that will just boost the economy in Iceland.
According to a trawlerman his earnings last year were £13,000 and he had to get rid of his Filipino crew as they were being paid more than him. He told that the business is just going backwards. Fellow trawlerman Richard Brewer, 55, firmly blames the Labour Government for turning its back on the nation’s fishing industry. He told that the government has sold us all down the river.
