Relaxing quotas could wipe out fish stocks, experts warn

COD, eels and sea bass are at risk of dying out under the Government’s plans to loosen fishing quotas, the Marine Conservation Society has warned.

Urgent measures are being put in place to help the fishing industry, which is facing trouble due to restaurants, hotels and pubs closing and the export market disappearing.

The Government has already announced £10million in funding to keep businesses afloat and is in talks with fisheries and conservationists about how to relax regulations.

The Daily Telegraph understands that measures being discussed include letting fishing businesses catch extra next year to make up for a shortfall in 2020, and relaxing recording regulations around by-catch – species caught in nets unintentionally.

However, the measures could put struggling stocks at risk, the Marine Conservation Society has warned.

Sam Stone, the society’s head of fisheries, said: “At this stage we don’t know which measures will be taken forward, but some which have been suggested would make us worried about the risk to sustainability of stocks.

“For example North Sea cod and the European eel, as well as sea bass, which is teetering on the edge of being in a depleted state.”

There was “room for flexibility” on measures such as banking and borrowing, where fish not caught this year due to the lockdown may be reeled in next year, Mr Stone said.

However, it could be disastrous if used too widely, he added. “If they caught 30 per cent more next year, that may have ramifications for the other species they are encountering when they target that fish.”

A Defra spokesman said the Government had been working closely with the fishing industry to support it during the pandemic and was “exploring methods to reduce the regulatory burden on the fishing fleet”.

Trout fishermen and those supplying niche products have suffered as supermarkets focus on core lines.

Mr Stone said: “We would encourage supermarkets to stock a wider range … and for consumers to consider buying something they don’t normally buy.”