EU ray ban ‘will cost Jersey £1m a year’

Jersey Fishermen’s Association chairman Don Thompson

JERSEY’S fishermen claim they will lose up to £1 million a year after the EU introduced a Europe-wide ban on catching a valuable flatfish.
From next month the Island fleet will no longer be able to fish for the undulate ray – one of the most common species caught by Island fishermen.
The ban, which was introduced to safeguard the future of the under-threat species, has outraged Island fishermen, as Jersey is one of the few places in Europe where stocks are high. And some of the fishermen today vowed to continue catching the ray and face a possible fine.
Don Thompson, chairman of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association, said: ‘This ban is based entirely on spurious data on skate and ray stocks in areas that are remote from Jersey and have nothing to do with the sustainability of our stocks.’ (from JEP)

The EU strike again...