Six months after launching his hugely influential campaign to change the way we fish, Hugh Fearnley-Whittngstall returns to bring the story up to date.
Six months ago Hugh Fearnley-Whittngstall left the comfort of River Cottage behind and went on a journey to find out what was really going on at the industrial end of our fisheries. What he found was that things are not just bad ... but mad. Half the fish caught in the North Sea is thrown back into the sea, dead, because of crazy EU laws.
So he launched a campaign to try to change those laws... And the response from the public was incredible. Over 700,000 people have now signed the fish fight petition, and so many people emailed their MPs to protest about discards that they forced a debate in Parliament.
As a direct result of Hugh's campaign, major policy changes are being considered. The British Government has decided to fund a six month study into what would happen if a discard ban was introduced. In July the European Commission published their proposals for a new Common Fisheries Policy , including recommendations for a discard ban.
But that doesn't mean that the law will actually change. There is another 18 months to go before the new Common Fisheries Policy becomes law, which is why Hugh went back to Brussels to launch the Fish Fight campaign in another 11 languages and countries. The pressure he generates across Europe could be the difference between success and failure, long term sustainable fisheries or more years of pointless waste.
And its not just discards. Fish Fight also looked at how tinned tuna is caught, and challenged some of the major retailers and suppliers to stop using fishing methods that lead to high levels of by-catch of sharks, turtles and rays. As direct result of the pressure from Fish Fight, Tesco, Princes, Morrisons, Asda and John West, agreed to change their fishing methods over the next few years.
Fish Fight follow up tells these and other stories, and encourages the public to keep thinking differently about fish, to try to eat new species, and to keep Fish Fighting!
Watch now on 4oD
On TV
First Shown
| Date | Time | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 08 August 2011 | 9PM | Channel 4 |
Last Shown
| Date | Time | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 08 August 2011 | 9PM | Channel 4 |
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