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Farming Today: 10/12/2013

10/12/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 10/12/2013

MEPs decide whether to ban deep sea trawler fishing from the North Atlantic.

Should fishing trawlers be banned? As the EU prepare to vote on trawling, an MEP says it damages the seabed and fishermen say it's essential for their income. With Anna Hill.

The European Parliament will vote today on a new Common Fisheries Policy. But fishing using deep sea trawlers could face a complete ban in the North East Atlantic - that's an area stretching from the coast of Greenland to the straits of Gibraltar.

Currently trawlers can fish around environmentally sensitive areas however, The Lib Dem MEP for the North West, Chris Davies has tabled an amendment to the trawling rules - which would prohibit fishing along the seabed at depths of over 600 metres.

The move would mostly affect fleets in France, Spain and Portugal, but could also have an impact on the UK fishing industry. The Scottish white fish producers association say a ban on trawling would impact on the livelihoods of small trawling communities.

Truffles can fetch up to three times the price of the same weight in gold. But to find these small, dark fruits you have to know where to look. We visit the UK's first commercial truffle woodland to forage for fungi.

And after one of our largest outdoor pig rearing companies goes into administration, we ask what the industry needs to to in order to grow.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Jules Benham.

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