Holy mackerel

[WD-40]

Why is Britain braced for a 'war' over this humble fish?

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[Catherine]

I can well understand the worries of the fishing industry just now.

It used to be that the seas around us were 'ours', and fishing was a traditional industry which not only fed us well, but paid the fishermen well too.

Then the EU said any one could join in, so several other European countries came to share in the harvest of our waters, Spain being a major 'recipient'. Why is it, said many, that others come to share in the gifts nature gave us, yet we cannot (in turn) share in the sunshine on which that country's traditional industry depends?

Ayr used to be Scotland's second largest fishing port. Now it has no boats calling there - a situation similar to most other harbours on the Clyde. Troon is the last harbour on the SW coast to have a fishing fleet, and even that is in jeopardy due to rising fuel costs, etc. - Troon fishing industry takes a blow - Ayrshire Post

We need to look after fish stocks in the seas around us better than we have been, but we also need to get Brussels to understand what its regulation changes have done to tear the heart out of one of Britain's proudest fishing fleets and for it to take action to repair that damage now. Struan is an Ayrshire man - a farmer himself - and eccentric though he may seem to be at times, he spends time fighting for the values and traditions his countrymen have guarded for centuries, while still being mindful of the need for the industry to modernise and work together with our new friends across the Channel so that it may continue far into the future.

Let's hope for the fish in the seas and the fish suppers on our plates that they can get together to create something which will work!

[ladylouise62]

I always thought that it was a little unfair (and is one of the reasons I am not a big fan of the EU). It's also unfair that a country that normally hated the fish, has now decided to join in, ruining a carefully managed set of quotas. They've apparently overfished since 2007.. i.e. just as Iceland started to catch them, increasing the whole catch by almost a quarter - no wonder it's causing some worry.
As for Mackerel being unpopular until recent times, I remember going food-shopping on the Saturday with the parents in the early 70s, and as a treat it was freshly baked rolls and grilled Mackerel when we got home - which, considering I was a fussy child and never have been an enormous fish fan, was quite weird. I never knew that Mackerel wasn't liked.