Fish, the staple food of many, is becoming an endangered catch in much of the world.
In the film End Of The Line, one of the most ridiculous practices is the throwing overboard of much of the catch as it is too small.
If this is EU policy it is plainly crazy. It seems we should either leave the EU and police our own territorial waters, or we can implement a more sensible policy.
If several test catches were made through the season the percentage of small fish either by weight or number could be accurately recorded.
Say a 100kg catch contains 10kg of small fish. If then the population can sustain itself, which requires a complex calculation, on a basis of say removing or taking 5,000kg of small fish per season, then clearly you could land 500 catches at 100kg each, or a total of 50,000kg. If boats operate to this total and stop when it is reached the stock will remain viable. Better still, there is no throwback and all fish are used.
A kind reader will explain why all this is too simple for the geniuses at the ministry concerned.
Chris Clayton, Hempland Drive, York.
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