This blog post originally appeared on ClientEarth.org. ClientEarth is a member of the Hub community and has chosen to republish its content with the Hubble.
The success of the Fish Fight campaign so far has been incredible. 12 months ago the idea that we may get a discard ban in the European Commission’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) proposal was distant hope. Now it’s in the CFP proposal, you would be forgiven for thinking the job is done and dusted.
Actually, it’s just the start and we still have a mountain to climb. But, this isn’t insurmountable – especially given the Fish Fighters track record! Everyone in Europe is represented by a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). You may not know who yours is, but they’re hugely influential when it comes to the laws that govern you and extremely important when it comes to European fisheries law.
Every December, when the Council of Ministers meets we brace ourselves for the usual bout of horse trading that occurs when quotas are decided (based on political swaps, rather than science to build healthy stocks). However, the review of the CFP is different and involves your MEPs just as much as it does the Ministers.
Even better news is that many MEPs are keen to have a good reform of the CFP, and some have previously shown support for Fish Fight – now’s your chance to make sure they keep to their word.
It’s still possible that the discards ban could be completely dropped, and the CFP will end up the same as it is now. So we need to remind them that we want to eliminate discards, AND we want sustainable fisheries.
You can write to your MEPs to show them that their constituents care about fisheries, and gives them a reason to turn up to the fishy debates and vote.
This letter writing toolkit, that ClientEarth and FishFight have jointly developed, makes the whole process easy and gives you an opportunity to choose who you want to send the letter to.
We’ve provided a template for those that need help you get started, or if you’ve got loads of passion but not much time on your side. We’ve also give you option of editing it to make it more personal – if you have the time, this is a good idea.
So far we’ve had nearly 50,000 e-mails sent, so what’s holding you back?
You can access the toolkit HERE
