madam president supporters of the common fisheries policy often point out that fish do not recognise national borders
they tend to tell you this as though it is an original insight oh really they swim around well who would have thought it yet the reality is that territorial jurisdiction and property rights are the only secure basis for conservation
if you look at the countries that have pursued successful conservation policies in fisheries whether it is the falkland islands iceland norway new zealand all of them have done so on the basis of giving skippers a sense of ownership so that they have an incentive to treat fisheries as a renewable resource
it is the basic wisdom of aristotle that that which nobody owns nobody will care for
unfortunately the common fisheries policy defines fish stocks as a common resource to which all nations have equal access
hence the ecological calamity which has befallen stocks in the north sea
one point which is particularly timely is that we have seen in recent years a migration of mackerel from common fisheries policy waters into iceland territorial waters
that i am afraid makes them icelandic property
there is no point in complaining about this
it is our bad luck and their good luck
it may happen that it comes the other way round in a few years time then it will be our good luck
in the meantime the best and surest way to ensure that we treat fish as a supply that is always going to be there is to recognise the ownership rights of the people who have the water under maritime law
