Do not mess with Fish 26

And you thought fish were fun, well the EU does not, 'To me Mick is a hero. But the EU says he's a criminal - because he won't dump dead fish in the sea' Quota rebel: Courageous Cornish trawlerman Mick Mahon shows off his catch Meet an uncommon criminal - Mick Mahon, a trawlerman who fishes out of Newlyn in Cornwall. His crime? He refuses to throw good fish back into the sea dead at the behest of EU regulations. In the name of ‘conservation’, fish exceeding the EU’s quota system must be returned overboard to rot on the seabed. It is absurd and disgraceful. Mick has finally had enough and now refuses to waste good fish. Instead he either gives it away to hard-up pensioners or sells it to tourists and yachtsmen in return for donations to charities such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Fishermen’s Mission.

Fishermen are forced to throw carcasses of surplus fish back into the sea - wasting stock and preventing correct estimates of fishing levels.

But by so doing his produce immediately becomes illegal and Mick becomes a ‘criminal’ in the eyes of Defra and the EU. Once Defra stood for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; today it appears to be the Department for the Elimination of Fishing and Rural Affairs. Mick’s problem stems from the fact that Britain’s fisheries were deviously handed over to Europe when Edward Heath took Britain into the EEC in 1973. As a result, British fishermen are entitled to only 10 per cent of the fish in our waters. Each is handed an EU quota. If he nets more than this, he must throw the surplus fish back or face a huge fine, often far greater than those for more serious criminal offences. Last month, three fishermen in the Thames Estuary were fined £42,500 plus costs of £27,646 for catching 19 tons of sole (for which they had no quota). Their boats and fishing gear, worth £213,000, were confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act, leaving them with nothing. Several more cases are in the pipeline. European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg has called the system ‘immoral’ but has done nothing about it. Nor has UK Fisheries Minister Jonathan Shaw.

He’s been doing it ever since - a gesture warmly welcomed by his community but not the authorities. He now faces prosecution and a fine of up to £50,000. Mick says arguing with officials is pointless. ‘One told me all fishermen are criminals and should all be jailed. When I argued about policy he sneered, “I’ve got a degree and you haven’t.” How can you deal with people like that?’ In stark contrast, Norway, sensibly outside the EU, will not allow fish dumping. It consequently has the most sustainable fishing regime in Europe. By landing all its fish, the Norwegian authorities can keep track of exactly how much is caught daily – and make instant decisions to halt or allow fishing. By dumping fish at sea, the EU has no idea of the fluctuations in fish stocks. Defra will be targeting me now and I bet I get boarded by the Navy soon. Pathetic, isn’t it?’ Too right. I was left admiring this brave, skillful, hard-working man, and the other 10,000 British fishermen like him. But it also left me despairing at the attitude of the bureaucrats and politicians who make and implement the immoral rules that are killing the British fishing industry. Of course our Continental fishing cousins uphold the law and naturally throw their surplus fish back.

Mick Mahon a criminal? To me he’s a true British hero.