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UKIP fights for rights of anglers
Monday, 12th January 2009
UKIP is launching a national campaign to keep British sea anglers out of the clutches of the European Union.
Brussels wants sea anglers to be subject to the disastrous Common Fisheries Policy, imposing quotas on recreational fishermen limiting the number of fish they are allowed to catch. This is the same policy that has crippled British commercial fishing, reducing the number of fishermen 18,600 to 12,700 in a decade.
"This means the EU intends to turn anglers into criminals," says UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP.
EU bureaucrats claim the move to restrict recreational fishing would protect endangered species such as cod, ling, pollack and shark. There are strict quotas on commercial fishermen for these species, but no limits on anglers.
It is estimated that some 1.4 million Britons go sea angling each year and Brussels thinks the threat they pose to fish stocks is so great that they must be controlled. It is suggested that many have large catches that they sell.
Joe Borg, European commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, says: “Control and enforcement of catch limits should be the cornerstone of the CFP. The future of sustainable fisheries requires us to replace a system which is inefficient, with one which can really produce results.”
His plan is to give each EU state a quota for each protected species and national governments would then decided how this would be shared between commercial fishermen and anglers. Anglers would be banned from marketing their catches.
Mr Borg plans to force recreational boat skippers apply for licences and to stop fishing when their quota is reached. They would operate under the same high-tech surveillance system as commercial boats.
Anglers deny that there are many huge catches and point out that their sport sustains a £1 billion-a-year industry covering equipment, accommodation and boat hire. Ports such as Weymouth, Littlehampton, Seahouses in Northumberland and Arbroath in eastern Scotland earn millions of pounds a year from their recreational angling fleets.
UKIP will be lobbying MEPs ahead of their debate on the matter in April and the party urges YOU to write to your MEP warning that if he or she does not support CFP exemption for recreational anglers, they won't get your vote in the Euro elections on 4 June.
Watch this space for further details of our campaign.
Wow - every UKIP MEP and candidate up and down the country should be issuing press releases - or starting street petitions to highlight this.
There needs to be a coordinated UKIP campaign to highlight this as it could harvest lots of votes come June!
1.4 million potential votes!
I think the last line indicates there will be a coordinated campaign, even though I detect, not for the first time, sarcasm in your post.
You are a prat Bob - there was no sarcasm intended - you are still a prat.Originally Posted by Bob FM
Time and time again we have heard of UKIP campaigns - but nothing ever comes of them.
This would be a good vote winning issue - how will UKIP campaign on it? Are campaign packs being prepared and distributed to PPCs, MEPPCs, Regional Organisers, Chairmen of branches with leaflets, petition forms, press releases, letters for press, artwork and articles for newsletters and websites?
You are still a prat Bob - please report the post - prat.
Wow - every UKIP MEP and candidate up and down the country should be issuing press releases - or starting street petitions to highlight this.
No sarcacsm??? Do me a favour.
No need i have seen it, infraction given please stick to arguing your points and not attacking the man.You are still a prat Bob - please report the post - prat.
We’re not just about Europe.
Have you seen the campaign packs issued by other political parties to their MPs, MEPs and PPCs, Branch Chairmen?
These contain - press release templates, letter templates, leaflet templates, petition templates, artwork templates, campaign schedule showing when to launch campaign and when to issue press releases, letters, street campaigns etc.
Unlike the other political parties - UKIP has failed to do this and continues to fail to do this.
How can UKIP launch a national campaign on this issue - if its branch charmen, PPCs, and activists dont take any active part in the campaign.
What coordinated campaign activity did UKIP undertake with its activists, branch chairmen and PPCs regarding the recent Amsterdam Treaty?
Basildon Boy: Oh come good sir, are you presuming to advise the good people of Swindon in political management? That is one activity which really should be a capital offence. BobFM is referred to by the locals as our master; great leader, teacher, friend,
counsellor and the exalted one. In his company the sighted have become blind, the fit lame, and the sober sick. BoFM does to human beings what Uri Geller does to spoons.
In his role as branch chairman, secrecy is all important. The actual number of members is never revealed, in case the small figure causes the Exclusive Brethren to deem it a breach of their charter.
BB When you wander off on mental excursions about treaties, you are treading on very thin ice. Amsterdam Treaty, for example, is very confusing. Was it James Whale who who at a UKIP conference thought it was something to do with legalising cannabis? Why complicate our message in this way? The Lisbon Treaty may be all right, The Treaty of Rome sounds, shall we say, very Catholic. Should we not campaign to have treaties named in the vernacular? Let us have a competition to say what subjects should be covered in the Treaty of Swindon. As first prize we should award a week with BobFM in his motel in South Merston. Second prize could be two weeks with BobFM in South Merston. The scope for money-raisng by these means is endless. Let us end the constant bickering and assume a more positive mode of activity. It will be by those means that elections will be won.
lol - I meant Lisbon Treaty - getting EU treaty blindness!
Was just pointing out the sort of campaign material that should be provided to ensure coordinated national campaigning - and all candidates, branches, MEPs, activists stay on message - or should we just rely on Nigel?
Basildon Boy: Irony is one of the strangest things in life. When we had weak H.Q. control, we had a strong and successful branches and a vibrant party. On our first attempt we returned three MEPs' To Strasbourr; on our second it was twelve. From that day forward we started to crumble from the top: corruption, greed, and personally ambitious people, sucked all the resources and spirit from among the membership.
I have always been a believer in a federation of branches, who as constituent members support the H.Q. while remaining as self-autonomous groups. The Leadership should provide the guidance for the Party. What we have now are branches whose H.Q. was destroyed by the influence of the MEPs'. This usurpation was done under the fiction of success and influence. We first must separate the party from those who are only representatives of the party in Europe. Not one of them has been voted to power as an individual, but they think that they own the party.
We do not even benefit from those resources which should make us strong. From the EU we were given funds for referenda, but what happened to them? Almost to the point of tedium, I have asked for a forensic audit, followed by managerial propriety. That must be the the first demand for success. Should it not be provided then we are either finished, or so corrupt we will never be of worth. Hardly demands which should provoke vilification. Once we have achieved that, we can make a new beginning.
We must be able to articulate the opinions of the electorate. Then offer a programme which can achieve their goals. We also must be able to separate in our minds opinions, with which people agree, from voting determinants which influence the way people actually vote. Peoples beliefs are often quite different from those things which cause them to vote in a particular way. Senior members of the party have often been unable to grasp that difference. I still remain optimistic. The depression will destroy the euro: we are in for a difficult time over the next couple of years, but it will also have positive benefits for the UK. Not for the first time in our history, we will be saved despite ourselves.
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