Looe fishermen could be forced to throw catches back into the sea after it was revealed that the South West cod allocation for under-ten metre vessels has already been taken. The South West Fishery is likely to be closed next week because figures show the area's 85 per cent quota allocation has already been used, said Sheryll Murray, a Caradon councillor and local Conservative spokesman. Mrs Murray says she is 'horrified' that fishermen will have to return any cod to the sea to die and pollute the sea bed. 'It is not often a cod will survive because the swim bladder explodes and this is yet another example of a European Common Fisheries Policy that is creating an environmental disaster.' Last May an EU regulation made it compulsory for fish merchants to submit sales notes showing quantities of all fish they purchased to the Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA). Local councillor and fisherman Armand Toms said: 'The stopping of the cod fishery will hit the Looe under-ten metre boats hard as, after only a short spell of fine weather, the amount caught by this sector has nearly exhausted the quota. 'This highlights the fact that the UK has such a small part of the Channel cod quota which needs addressing.'
