Conservatives in the West Country today launched a petition aimed at stopping sea angling from falling within the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). MEP Neil Parish and Truro Conservative PPC Sarah Newton jointly launched the petition at Falmouth Watersports Centre in Cornwall after it emerged that the European Commission has proposed to bring the 1 million recreational fisherman in the UK under the rules of the CFP.

The Commission proposals could mean that sea anglers will have to keep records of all fish they catch and all boats which are used to catch fish, even if only used once a year, would have to be registered as fishing vessels and be subject to the same quota rules as commercial fishermen.

The Petition calls for the Commission to drop these proposals and for the British government to resist any pressure from Brussels to impose them in the UK. Once signatures have been gathered the petition will be presented to 10 Downing Street by Sarah Newton and to the European Commissioner for Fisheries, Joe Borg, by Neil Parish MEP.

Speaking from Falmouth, Mr Parish said :- "We are launching this petition to draw attention to this crazy proposal and to make the British government and the European Commission aware of the depth of opposition to these proposals.

" To single out anglers and subject them to this kind of bureaucracy threatens the viability of a sport which contributes significantly to the our coastal economies and will do nothing to address the current problems with fish stocks.

" Quite why anglers have been targeted is beyond me. Instead of targeting an innocent recreational activity, the European Commission should be looking at the real cause of the crisis in commercial fishing, namely the monstrosity which is the Common Fisheries Policy."