Hastings and Rye: Fishing for a fair deal
As part of our visits to 100 constituencies, Claire Marshall reports from the marginal seat of Hastings and Rye.
Fish have become the prop of choice in this election. Nick Clegg posed with a cod in Cornwall, Boris Johnson and Ed Miliband were snapped in chippies, while Nigel Farage visited Grimsby docks. But in many traditional coastal fishing communities, the industry is facing collapse. Fishermen with smaller boats complain the current fish quotas are weighted heavily in favour of large corporations and they aren't allowed to catch enough to survive. All the parties accept the quota given to the 'inshore fishermen' needs to change.
As part of our visits to 100 constituencies, Claire Marshall reports from the marginal seat of Hastings and Rye.
Paul Joy has been fishing for forty years and is chairman of the Hastings fishermanβs protection society. He told Today: βmy cod quota at the moment is 1.4 kilo a day. Now Iβve got three people that go to sea on my vessel and one who helps on the shore, so four people can derive a living from half a fishβ.
Mr Joy added: βthe enforcement is very rigid.. I had half a box of fish too much and got fined Β£5,000β¦ theyβre literally putting you out of businessβ.
Will McCallum is from Greenpeace and also believes the quotas should be changed: βsmall boats should be right at the very front (of the quota allocation). Theyβre the ones that fish sustainably, theyβre the ones that provide jobs in coastal towns and they boost the local economy and they deserve to have their fair share of the quotaβ.
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100 seats in 100 days—Today
Today visits 100 constituencies before the General Election polling day on May 7.
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