Once again the EU attempts to impose itself on another aspect of our lives. They will not be happy until we have the European Super state, controlled from Brussels, with no direct representation of the people. Orwells vision comes one step closer.
Trawlers decimate stocks and habitat not anglers.

Alex, Heswall, UK

have been a keen sea angler all my life and the most cod i have cought in one season [oct -april] is32, all fish except 3 where returned back to the sea, this year i have managed 1,hardly decimating our fish stocks.

p allen, hartlepool, u.k

are they talking boat fishing or shore fishing ?
i know here in the north east of England its good going for shore fishers to get any kind of fish once every 8 to 10 times out , and for sure there are no "huge catches " from the shore here , a 5 kg cod is big news here and a 10 kg fish very rare

baz, sunderland,

The powers that be are SO wrong when they say anglers sell their catch, so many of them really care about their sport and put loads back, fishing only for their own supper table . Don't blame the anglers, try looking at the MP's that allow the quoters to be pushed up !

Harry May, Lyme Regis, Dorset

Beam trawlers have consistently trawled in shore scraping the sea bed indiscriminately, and destroying the food chain, there is virtually nothing for the shore angler to catch anymore. So imposing quotas on them is pointless. NBThere's a fine line between an staring idiot on a beach and an angler..

MG, portsmouth,

Before people blame foreign trawlers it is worth remembering the lovely ol' humble, salt-of-the-earth beautiful British trawlerman sells the majority of his catch to mainland Europe. British trawlers are not blameless.

But, the idea of quotas for recreational fishing is ridiculous.

Noel Blake, Exeter,

"Many of them take huge catches and these are often sold commercially to fishmongers and dealers." What a hilariously inaccurate generalisation. Every sea angler I know has the greatest of respect for their quarry and only kills a very small percentage of their catch. The EU is yet again misguided.

Matt Cumbers, Sussex, UK

I have just read the article about imposing quotas on sea anglers. I must say that I think a great deal of the data used in quotes is out of date, the number of anglers has been on the decrease for some years now. I am also annoyed with the inference that anglers are responsible for herring stocks.

Richard Tilbe, Wokingham, England

Commercial fishing has destroyed our seas - final!.
To suggest that sea anglers fish for commercial return is crazy, it is simply a (costly) hobby. After buying tackle and paying £50 per trip to catch, if lucky, perhaps 1 or 2 fish worth eating it would be a lot cheaper to buy from the fishmonger.

rob morgan, Windsor, UK

Until the recreational anglers pay to be licenced they will not be given representation in quotas. Recreational fishermen in all coastal states in USA must buy a licence and obey limits. The money raised enforces the law and basically lobby for the fisherman. Fishing has vastly improved by this.

kris, The pass, USA

And i thought catching fish on rod and line was one of the only forms of sustainable fishing!!

Ian, Essex,

Yet another threat from europe the sooner it all falls apart in the EU the better. I am sure that if this becomes law the UK will follow it to the letter while the rest of europe ignores the rules on fishing like they do now.

Peter Stotesbury, Fareham, Hampshire

The lunatics have finally taken over the asylum. The problem is overfishing by foreign trawlers (walk round french and spanish markets to see the undersized fish openly on sale) and the damage done to the sea bed by beam trawlers. Better enforcement of the foreign fishermen is what is required

Alf, Portsmouth, England

Hands off our hobby make min size the same in
Europ that will do the job Hands Off

Pasmans Emiel, Antwerp, Belgium

Mr Roberts if you think that recreational fishing is that easy why do you think boats from weymouth have to go over to the channel islands to catch fish do you think they do it to use more deisel so they make less money or may be its because they like to be at sea for six hour longer than they need

mark winfield, bournemouth, dorset

For gods sake listen to yourselves. I dont belive this!
Trawlers are dumping thousands of tons of fish that do not conform to some daft quota.
Are you suggesting that a recreational sunday angler will now be banned or made to pay for a licence?
Shame on you. Get your house in order. WE SAY NO

Nicholas Clarke, Warsop, England

The dumping of dead over-quota fish decimates stocks, is unmeasured, does not punish the captor, and destroys valuable food. The Government and EU should mandate that ALL sizeable fish netted are landed at zero profit, with massive fines for dumping, then watch the "by-catch" stop and stocks recover

Mike Fox, Bournemouth, England

Kiss of death for another British pasttime and another legitimate means of employment. It beggars belief that anyone would continue to support Britains continuing destruction in the corruption club, wake up you fools and start to think about your country, get off of your backsides and start shouting

John Korn, North Bay, Canada

Living proof that politicians do not live in the real world.
One trawler takes literally tons of fish in one catch.
I belong to a Small boat fishing club (pbsbac.co.uk ) and 99% of our catch is returned to fight another day. Fish taken to eat comprise a miniscule part of our catch.

Pal Dore, Christchurch, UK

As a sports fishing charter boat skipper for many years some of the comments have clearly been made by the uninisiated we have for many years helped worlwildlife fund with tagging programs,all spawning fish & shaks are released,one commercial netter this year took sixty stone of bass in one day

Lee Bolingbroke, Brightligsea, Essex

Has Mr. Roberts actually been recreational fishing in the uk recently, the trawlers have decimated the stock to such an extent that the anglers don't actually have the chance to catch large quantities of fish. how can a boat of anglers catching 2 or 3 fish each be compared to a trawler catching tons

dave barnes, benson, oxon

Anglers -
a) Are ALREADY banned from selling fish
b) DON'T kill tons of fish then dump them because of quotas
c) DON'T drag hugely damaging chains, nets, and dredges across the sea bed.
d) DON'T decimate sandeel stocks for fertiliser/fish food.
e) DO return ALL immature and some breeding stock fish

Jim Grant, Guildford,

Sea angling is the most eco friendly method of catching fish known to man.Its is both selective ,and means undersize or unwanted specie are returned to the sea unharmed.Now more than ever before,anglers are imposing their own quotas and returning fish that are not required for their own consumption

Trevor Small /charter skipper, Poole, UK

If the scientists had been listened to decades ago, and the fairly modest cuts in fishing they wanted implimented, there would be a self-sustaining fishing industry, and not one chasing ever-smaller fish stocks.
At this point, I'm entirely in favour of outright banning sea "recreational" fishing.

Leon Wolfeson, Oxford, UK

I believe that serious sea anglers would not have a problem with a sensible and fair quota system for anglers and charter boats but it must be a sensible and fair system where anglers and charter boat had a fair share of the UK quota, about 50% for some species such as cod, bass and plaice.

Norman Berry, Portsmouth, UK

Most sea anglers would be delighted to catch something worth taking home - the greed of commercial fishing has left precious little for them. This adds insult to injury.

Steve, swindon, wiltshire

I live on the North West coast of Spain. You need a license here to cast a fishing rod into anything bigger than a puddle.

However this being Spain, the authorities do not seem to stop people who come to the coast armed with wesuits and harpoon guns.

The UK will exterminate anglers though.

zen, London,

It would be nice to know just who the "we" are, in Callum Roberts's assertion. Just because the waters in question are around Britain does NOT mean that the damage done by excessive fishing was done by, or with the blessing of, British people. Over to you, Callum.

Robert Nichols, Huntingdon, England

The EU trying to control another food source, even down to the recreational level. If you think that's bad, when Codex Alimentarius comes in at the end of 2009 This will effectively control and restrict the supply of Vitamins and Minerals. All because the drug companies cannot patent them.

Kevin, Edinburgh, Scotland

Hang on Mr Roberts, It is the French and Spanish trawlermen that have depleted the Uk stocks, so don't be dropping the blame on to weekend sea anglers. This legislation would be grabbed with both hands by our greedy government to bring in licences for sea anglers, Yet another stealth tax.

Bill, Liverpool, UK