5 replies to this topic

[Mike Carr]

There is a mention of risk-based regulation to the tune of £67m, which is still separate to other regulations, such as fishing quotas to prevent overfishing.
Regulations such as having larger fish net mesh, to allow smaller, younger fish to escape and protect the fishing stock, are difficult to enforce, and more stringent in the UK than other countries. Particularly those countries which rely heavily on fishing for income.
Does there need to be some cohesion then. Perhaps in individual sectors?
If the FSA is to meet its objective on the DEFRA website to have 'profitable, competitive fishing and food businesses'?

Mike

[Simon]

Are you in the fishing industry Mike and effected by this issue or some other interest? In a way as a developed 'socially responsible' country at the forefront of environmental, health & safety and other social changes, equality and political correctness etc. as a country we often penalise or disadvantage ourselves against those other countries who are behind. I know that doesn’t help the fishermen but we have to question where do we want to be as a nation. Some would say we are so small that it doesn’t matter in the scheme of the world. I’m not arguing one way or the other by the way.

Regards,
Simon

[Mike Carr]

Hi there,


I agree, we disadvantage ourselves against other countries that are behind. No I am not in the fishing industry but there are also more actively enforced regulations in this country in many other food sectors. The FSA says that about 90% of firms it regulates are never visited. They also say that their responsibility is ‘subjective’, saying it is ‘an inescapable result of the widely differing statutory objectives given to the FSA’. It is like you said, where does the UK want to be? Global society has superiority, including moral superiority, over the society of states. It implies global responsibility for the environment without regard to state jurisdiction and international boundaries.

[Mike Carr]

The fact that authorities fail to exercise global responsibility they show the moral bankruptcy of traditional International order based on independent states. I wonder within what framework money is spent by the FSA.

Mike

[Mike Carr]

Im not in the fishing industry but the questions facing each boat in a European fleet is how large their catch should be, and how small the minimum size of fish caught should be (which is affected by the mesh of the nets). On one hand it is best interests of each individual fishing captain and fleet owner to achieve as large a catch as possible, including small fish. But on the other hand, when everyone acts in this way, the result is overfishing, which in the end renders the fishing grounds useless to all.

Mike

[Mike Carr]

Just to add - How do people behave?
Surely rational individuals can work out the consequences of their actions, and this will be sufficient to discourage overfishing including the use of fine-mesh nets to trap small immature fish? However, each individual can work out that everyone else is likely to catch as many fish as possible, so they should also do that. The private gain from selling one more tonne of fish is greater than the private loss from fish stock depletion that extra tonne causes – since the loss is shared by all fishing fleets. So the overfishing continues.


The tendency is to act in individual self interest that acts as a barrier to securing the benefits of cooperation.

Mike