Lib Dems in Parliament question DEFRA over cod lottery

Nick Perry, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has welcomed two parliamentary questions tabled by Tim Farron MP on behalf of the under-10 metre fishing sector.

Tim Farron has asked ‘the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consultation his Department undertook with the under 10metre fishing industry regarding the introduction of the 500kg cod lottery draw’; and what is ‘his most recent assessment is of the likely effects on the under 10metre fishing industry of the introduction of the 500kg cod lottery draw?’.

This follows the Government’s decision to divide 18 extra tonnes of quota by lottery in the VIId fishery.

Speaking after the questions were put down in the House of Commons on Tuesday morning, Nick said,

“I am pleased that through partnership-working between Tim and I, we have been able to ask these questions of the Government on behalf of local fishermen. DEFRA must be held to account for its actions. It is my firm belief that DEFRA has lost the confidence of our local fishermen who no longer feel the Department has their best interests at heart.

“This is by no means a happy situation. With Christmas around the corner, good wishes and warm words are not what our fishermen need.

“They need the Government to act to support this historic and environmentally sustainable local trade; and the Lib Dems are doing all that we can to get them to come up with the goods.”