Richard Benyon MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

DEFRA

Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London SW1P 3JR

19^th February 2013

Dear Richard,

As you will be aware, on 6th February 2013 the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of reforms that would ensure a sustainable future for Europe's fish stocks and fishing communities.

Hundreds of thousands of European citizens contacted their MEPs to voice support for radical reforms that would end the wasteful practice of discarding by 2017 and set fishing quotas for all stocks at sustainable levels by 2015.

Europe's citizens and elected representatives have sent a clear signal that they want the urgent and long-overdue reform of the Common Fisheries Policy to begin now, but the Council's position still supports business as usual until 2020.

I am writing to urge you to use your influence in Council to call for a change in the current position on the following points:

• Overfishing. The European Parliament has called for fishing quotas for all stocks to be set at sustainable levels by 2015, whereas Council wants to delay this until 2020. Action needs to be taken as soon as possible to halt the decline in fish stocks.

• Maximum Sustainable Yield. The goal of the European Parliament's adopted position on quotas is to allow fish stocks to rebuild to levels above those that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2020, not just at least at those levels as Council proposes. Keeping stocks above levels that can produce MSY is the only way to ensure stable catches and profitability for the fishing industry. 

• Discards. The European Parliament has called for an unambiguous discard ban for all harvested species to be phased in between 2014 and 2017, whereas Council has set no clear targets and only proposes a discard ban for certain species.

• Marine Protected Areas. In order to provide areas where fish can breed undisturbed, the European Parliament has called for Member States to establish a network of protected areas where no fishing is allowed,

It is essential that the Council position ensures the long-term profitability of the fishing industry and healthy marine ecosystems that are more resilient to environmental change.

I hope that you will challenge the Council's current negotiation mandate taking the above mentioned points into consideration.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion