Today the Fisheries Bill returns to Parliament - worth checking the manifesto promise and then seeing if the bill delivers - sadly there is no legal obligation to fish sustainably @LukePollard @Steph_Peacock @GeorgeMonbiot @fionaharvey @horton_official

The White Paper promised 'gold standard' and 'world leading' fisheries management - unfortunately the Bill falls short of these ambitions. The addition of fisheries management plans is welcome but they are severely weakened by the fact managers can choose not to implement them

The government has argued it doesn't need a legal duty to fish sustainably as it intends to do that anyway -unfortunately approximately 45% of catch limits for assessed stocks of interest to the UK were set above the scientifically advised levels last year alone....

it is hard to see how a 'trust us' approach is justified. These overfished stocks include all 5 UK cod stocks (and the science shows that the 4 with more complete assessments are below safe biological levels) and the status of the 5th is unknown.

Fortunately with negotiations about catch limits due to take place at some point in the autumn there is a chance for the government to deliver fisheries management that protects and recovers stocks but there is a long way to go from where we are today.