Brexit will save fishing decline

Our MP Amber Rudd has taken a leading role in campaigning for Britain to remain in the EU.

But Hastings is a traditional fishing community and EU membership has been a disaster for the UK fishing industry.

Since we joined what was then the EEC in 1973, the number of fishermen in this country has fallen from 40,000 to 12,000.

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More than half of the British fleet has been scrapped, traditional UK fishing grounds have been handed over to trawlers from Spain and elsewhere and many tons of fish have been discarded every year under EU rules. We see the results of all this here in Hastings where the size of our once-proud, beach-based fishing fleet has dwindled alarmingly.

We could turn this around – but only by leaving the EU.

A new study by Aberdeen University finds that 93 per cent of Britain’s fishermen believe leaving the EU would boost our fishing industry, and 92 per cent will be voting ‘Leave’ in the referendum. Hastings residents who care about the future of our town might consider joining them.

Peter Saunders

Croft Road

Hastings

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