The History of the C.F.P.: Just before Norway and the UK applied for membership of the E.E.C. in 1970, the six original members drew up Council Regulation, 2141/70, giving each other ‘equal access’ to each others fishing waters. This was done with such unseemly haste that it was only adopted on the morning of 30 June, the day the British application for membership arrived. The reason for this was that approximately 70-80% of the ‘European’ fish stocks were to be found within UK National Waters and as a new member of the EEC Britain would have to accept all existing European Legislation.

The willingness of British Politicians to ignore British interests in pursuit of their political dreams. Edward Heath was determined to get Britain into the EEC, his career probably depended on it. In October 1971, Geoffrey Rippon, Britain’s chief negotiator stated ‘one thing is certain . . . we should not sign a Treaty of Accession which would commit us to the present fisheries policy’. After Ministers made a number of similar statements and MPs had voted on accession to the treaty during a debate in which the passage relating to fisheries was not published, on 22 January 1972 Edward Heath signed up regardless.

The practical reality of the dreams of bureaucrats. Fish Quotas were ostensibly invented to conserve fish by restricting the number of each species a fisherman could catch. Unfortunately fisherman cannot tell what type of fish they have caught until they are brought up in the net by which time the fish are usually dead. So the reality is that millions upon millions of dead fish are thrown back to pollute the seas.

(European Commission, mid-term Review of Common Fisheries Policy, 1991)

Years after this report was published EU fishermen still have to throw back fish caught that are the wrong type. Of all the legislation that has been produced by Brussels the Common Fisheries Policy must be the classic example of the failings of this type of bureaucratic government.

Britain implements the regulations to the letter - unlike others. Britain implements the C.F.P. to the hilt. Others, notably Spain, do not. The regulation of each nation’s fishing vessels is left to that nation itself. Spain has few fisheries inspectors and they spend most of their time in Madrid hundreds of miles from the sea and so Spanish vessels are lightly, if at all, regulated. A practice that is believed to be widespread was exposed in 1995 when the Canadians boarded a Spanish ship, the Estai, and caught her concealing an illegal catch in a secret hold and with a fraudulent log book.

The 'interpretation' of legislation to the benefit of the European ‘dream’. A bizarre footnote to the sinister story of the C.F.P. is that for the first 22 years it was completely illegal. None of the Articles quoted in the treaty, numbers 7, 42, 43 and 235 mention fisheries. Article 38 is usually quoted as the source but was, in actual fact, left out of the regulation in the haste to draw it up. So in the end authorisation was retrospectively inserted into Article 3 of the Treaty of Maastricht!

Britain loses out. Britain provides 70%-80% of the fishing waters, Britain's 1983 share of the fish gave it 37% of the stocks. In monetary terms this was nearer 12%. In 1994 ‘quota hopping’ commenced and now it is probable that this figure is in single figures.