A Hove Labour councillor has been chosen to sit on a new fisheries watchdog.
Melanie Davis, who represents Goldsmid on Brighton and Hove City Council, has been chosen by her colleagues to represent the city on the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.
Councillor Davis said: “This new progressive body for the south east coast has a legal duty to protect our seas and brings together the fishing industry and marine conservationists.”
She added: “I’m passionate about fish and the sea and I eat lots of fish and it’s very important that we keep it sustainable.
“I’m going to be interested in how we’re going to keep the sea and beaches clean.
“We’ll also be talking about biodiversity and the marine environment.
“I think we all want to keep our seas healthy and safe.”
Councillor Davis has been a member of the Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee, which is being replaced by the new watchdog.
She said: “There’s such a huge variety of fish caught locally.
“One of the amazing things I’ve learnt since being involved with the sea fisheries committee is about the whelk industry.
“It’s worth £40 million a year.
“When I heard that I thought: ‘Who’s eating them? I never see them.’
“But they all go to South Korea where they fry them in garlic.”
A healthy share of that export income is potted in the inshore waters between Brighton and Shoreham each year.
Councillor Davis’s new job will be to help oversee the organisation that polices those inshore waters, protects our coast and aims to keep our fisheries and fishermen productive in a profitable and sustainable way.
