LETTER:EC subsidies lead to overfishing

From Mr Norman Crabtree

Sir: Last year my wife and I sailed our boat across Biscay and down the west coast of Spain round to the Mediterranean. We were delighted to find that seemingly every port which we put into for the night was equipped with a large new harbour and fish marketing facility.

We were proudly told several times that these excellent installations were provided by the EC, and there was generally a warm welcome for us as fellow EC citizens. At the time, I thought what a sensible form of aid to provide to these small communities.

In the light of the apparent expansion of the Spanish fishing industry and their reported exploitation of fish stocks, are the Spanish entirely to blame? It seems to me, in retrospect, that a large, hungry fishing fleet is the logical result of converting small Spanish fishing harbours to large, modern fish-processing ports, and that some responsibility lies with the politicians who sanctioned this policy.

Yours sincerely,

NORMAN CRABTREE

Bristol

17 March