fish fight

The hubbub has now died down since we announced that John West’s shift completed a clean sweep of change among major players in the UK tuna market. And it’s been a week since Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight: The Battle Continues reinforced this message, making people think about how we use and need to protect the extraordinary resources of the waters that dominate this globe.

Tonight Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall broadcast Hugh’s Fish Fight: The Battle Continues, his follow-up to the influential BAFTA-winning Fish Fight series broadcast in January. Hugh and his team have clearly been very busy over the last 6 months, and not just in securing Hugh a swish new haircut.

Back in January, Channel 4’s Big Fish Fight season caused quite a splash. The undoubted star of the season was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his three Hugh’s Fish Fight programmes which brought the shocking facts behind the fish on our plates onto TV screens.

You did it! Today John West, the last of the major UK players to resist a shift to sustainable tuna, finally committed to change their tuna. After more than 51,000 emails, a lot of negotiation, some interesting stickering initiatives, and becoming utterly isolated amongst the UK industry, John West have changed their policies.

On Wednesday the European Commission launched its proposals for a reform of the way Europe’s seas and fish are managed. After such a positive start back in 2009 when the Commission published its progressive green paper [PDF], it has been downhill ever since.

The day those of us in fish world have been waiting for is upon us. Today the European Commission officially launched its proposals for a new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and finally we'll find out if Europe intends to meet its targets to recover our decimated fish stocks, or bend to the same political pressures of its 40 year history and failing put the environment first.