South East residents are rightly proud of the variety of birdlife in the region, particularly seabirds, with the seabird sanctuary in Dungeness one of the premier sanctuaries in the UK.

It is with this in mind that I have contacted the new EU Commissioner for fisheries, Maria Damanki, requesting she take swift action to approve and implement an EU action plan for seabirds.

Birdlife International recently revealed that up to 2 million seabirds have died in the last 10 years as a result of fishing industry practices in the waters around Europe and the Atlantic. This unnecessary slaughter must not be allowed to continue.

The action plan – which the EU committed to producing over a decade ago – will introduce minimum mitigation standards across Europe’s fishing fleet to minimise the by-catch of birds by European fishermen, and require greater reporting of bird deaths.

Alongside other Labour Euro MPs I will continue to keep the pressure up on the Commission to publish and implement the action plan, meanwhile residents in the South East interested in the subject can join me in signing an online petition to register their desire for the speedy implementation plan at the following address -  http://www.birdlife.org/eu/EU_policy/Fisheries_Marine/seabird_pledge.html