Ross Finnie 1 Scientists/Life on Earth 0

Here's a Scottish Wildcat. He knows he's cool. Approach to give him a stroke and he'd claw your face off, piss on you to mark his territory then disappear into the thistles before you could say puss puss puss, here puss puss puss. Anyway, I'm in a rush...

Ross Finnie, Scottish environment minister. And you Ben Bradshaw, UK Fisheries Minister. I disagree with your views strongly. If you were even a little cool and I thought you wouldn't sue for libel I could have put that more succinctly. Right...

Who are these scientists I'm about to talk about?
They belong to ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea). ICES are scientists from 19 member countries and are the main source of advice for the European Union when it comes to deciding fish quotas.

2004 Quota
Scientists: Cod is at risk of extinction in EU waters with stocks at the lowest ever recorded. Recommend a ban on cod fishing off the west of Scotland, in the North Sea and in the Irish Sea.
Ben Bradshaw: The 15 nations shelved plans for drastic cuts to quotas for cod in Western Scotland. Ben Bradshaw declared the result a good deal for UK fishermen.
The Guardian Headline: EU agrees fishing quotas
Headline Should Read: Scientists told to Fuck Off.

2005 Quota
Scientists: Advise a complete halt to cod fishing in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and west of Scotland. North Sea stocks have shrunk to about one tenth of 1970 levels, warning on depletion on the scale of eastern Canadian waters where cod disappeared in the 1990s and stocks have yet to recover.
Ben Bradshaw: The EC dropped proposals to close depleted cod grounds in parts of the North Sea, Irish Sea, the west of Scotland, the Baltic and the Channel. Ben Bradshaw said "the deal strikes the right balance between maintaining a viable UK fishing industry and one that contributes to protecting our marine environment".
BBC News Headline: Fishing fleets hail new quotas
Headline Should Read: Scientists told to Fuck Off.

2006 Quota
Scientists: recommended the closure of the worst-hit fishing grounds in the North Sea. The conservation group, WWF Scotland, says it makes no sense to continue to allow targeted fishing in the North Sea cod when it's on the brink of collapse. Spokeswoman Claire Pescod: "In doing so, they are ensuring that this iconic British species has virtually no chance of survival or recovery."
Ross Finnie: Scotland's Fisheries Minister Ross Finnie said he believed the package represented a "sustainable deal". He had vowed to resist any further cut in days at sea.
BBC News Headline: Opinion Divided Over Fish Quotas
Headline Should Read: Scientists told to Fuck off.

2007 Quota
Scientists: Call for a total ban on cod fishing in the name of conservation.
Ross Finnie: The Scottish environment minister indicated he would be against even the compromise cut.
Independent Headline: Environmentalists attack deal on fishing quotas
Headline Should Read: Scientists told to Fuck off.

Well done Ross Finnie and Ben Bradshaw. A lot of fishermen will lose their jobs, but now it will be in 10 years when you've retired and cod has disappeared from the North Sea.

Well done British media. Your reporting on the Ross Finnie and Ben Bradshaw show in recent years has had all the bite of a declawed Scottish wildcat. Kept indoors.

Damn. I was in a rush too.