According to UKIP, the European Court of Auditors bluntly said that nothing in the present policy worked at all.

The report slammed the fisheries regime, saying that even the data was incorrect and that the real level of catches "was unknown".

"If this situation continues," said the auditors, "it will bring grave consequences not only for the natural resources, but also for the future of the fishing industry."

It was pointed out that there had only been one fine for breaking the rules, which was given to France, but they only ended up paying three per cent of the total amount.

"And that," said UKIP leader Nigel Farage, "is supposed to be classified as a success!"

"It makes a mockery of the whole policy," he continued.

"British fishermen are losing their livelihoods, our natural resources are being obliterated because fish are being thrown back dead into the sea and all the while, the EU do not have a clue what is going on.

"There are more holes in it than in a trawler man's net.

"When the government starts fighting for Britain's quotas to be increased this month, let's hope they have read this report carefully and have some backbone."

The Shark Alliance has also issued a statement, calling for immediate improvements to be made.

Commenting on the report, Uta Bellion, director of the Shark Alliance said: “The issues spotlighted in the report - poor reporting of catches, lack of sanctions for infringements, and excess fishing capacity – are all directly relevant to sharks. To make matters worse, overfishing continues legally on most European shark populations, many of which are in danger of extinction.”

The Shark Alliance has proposed fixes for these pressing problems as part of a Community Plan of Action for Sharks and is awaiting the Commission’s long-overdue first draft of such a plan later this week. In addition, the Commission has recently proposed far-reaching changes to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing.

“Today’s report serves to emphasise that proposed IUU measures must be promptly adopted and rigorously enforced,” Bellion added.”

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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