East Devon Green Party join on-line petition against tossing dead fish back into North Sea

MEMBERS of East Devon Green Party have voted to support Hugh’s Fish Fight because it is in line with existing Green party policies.

At a meeting of the EDGP at Sidmouth on Saturday, January 15, Sharon Pavey, EDGP co-ordinator, members supported her suggestion they sign an on-line petition to support the Fish Fight.

Some half a million people have already signed the petition backing Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign to get people to petition against the throwing back of nearly half the fish caught in the North Sea, to contact MPs asking for their support of a Fish Fight early day motion and to try eating lesser-known species of fish.

Mother of two Sharon, from Honiton, said: “Like many people, I watched Hugh’s Fish Fight on television and was appalled to see so many dead fish being thrown away as the quotas did not allow them to be landed.

“I was particularly struck by the images of so many sharks being tossed into a heap to die, the unfortunate victims of intensive tuna fishing.”

Henry Gent, a Green Party member from Broadclyst, said the party wanted radical reform of agricultural and fisheries policies.

He said: “I think many people are concerned about the way food production is going, on land and on sea.

“Family farms are driven out of business by competition from factory farms, and those who fish with sustainable methods cannot compete on price with more intensive harvesting and farming of fish.”

The East Devon Greens meet monthly in different towns in East Devon, and will be holding a coffee morning at Christ Church Hall, North Street, Exmouth, from 10am to noon on Saturday, February 19.