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Name: Tom Vallois Dear Scrutiny Panel
Having been both sides of the fence working as a commercial fishing crew & currently in the private sector I have seen a number of changes
Whilst I understand our fisherman may have have agreed with the Granville Bay Treaty in 2002, the industry and economy has since changed, which seems to have given our French counterparts an unfair advantage over Jersey fishermen within Jersey waters. Modernisation and larger boats have allowed french fishing efforts to increase disproportionately to the Jersey effort, which remains small and relatively unchanged.
Foreign vessels working in our waters not obliged to provide landing figures, meanwhile all Jersey vessels are. This is something I struggle to comprehend, given the fact they are working alongside each other. Can we realistically and morally allow our waters to remain under such foreign pressures whilst we have the opportunity to make a change?
My suggestion to our government would be to act now and take control of our Bailiwick waters including outlying reefs and 6 mile limit. By doing this we would have full control of how many foreign vessels work in our waters with rules which all nationalities would be obliged to follow.
In doing this we can have hope for a sustainable future for not only our fishermen but also our secondary industries which rely upon them (fish mongers, marine engineers & boatyards etc..) and of course our marine environment.
I write this letter as I sit eating a Sole, caught by a Jersey fisherman, in Jersey waters, on a 19ft vessel, in a sustainable way.. Let's hope our government acts now to ensure its not my last!
Tom Vallois
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