UKIP said Mr Spink asked the Government to investigate the effects of the rising cost of fuel on fishermen after being told of the plight they are facing.

But the Fisheries Minister, Jonathan Shaw, had ruled this out and said that they would not subsidise commercial vessels.

Mr Spink said "Our government has a duty to help our fishing industry in times like this.

"How do they expect to achieve their 'sustainable future' when fishermen can lose money going out to sea?

"If we are not careful, we may soon not have a fishing industry: The government must act and helping our fleet with these sky high fuel prices would be a good place to start."

Mick Mahon, a fisherman in Cornwall for 40 years said that fishermen simply could not afford to keep going.

"A young man with a family and a mortgage as well as a loan on his boat would simply not make enough money to stay afloat." he said

"Currently in Newlyn we have the best haddock I've seen for thirty years, but because of quotas, I'm having to chuck many back in the sea dead.

"The French and Spanish have much larger quotas than us and they are paying about half the price we are for fuel. Soon, the only boats we may see in British waters are those from the other side of the Channel."

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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