A NORTH Yorkshire MEP has chosen the launch of National Seafood Week to warn that Britain's fishing industry remains at risk of sinking without trace.
Edward Macmillan-Scott claims mismanagement by Brussels has left the industry teetering on the brink of collapse.
"Much of our best fish is sucked up and sent in containers to the continent," he said. "It is time to cherish fish as never before and save our stocks; this is a mortal crisis."
Mr Macmillan-Scott blames the Common Fisheries Policy, which is up for renewal at the end of the year.
British fishermen fear further invasions by foreign fleets will mean the destruction of stocks in what were once the world's richest fishing grounds.
As many as 40 or 60 species are now thought to be under threat, with skate now extinct in the North Sea and cod stocks halved since the CFP was introduced.
"It is time to take proper democratic control before it is too late," said Mr Macmillan-Scott, who represents Yorkshire and the Humber on the European Parliament.
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