PROTESTERS dumped dead fish on the European Union’s doorstep yesterday in protest at a deeply-unpopular fishing policy.

The TaxPayers Alliance staged the protest against the Common Fisheries Policy, using the slogan “For cod’s sake, stop the EU fish disaster!”

The watchdog is backing British fishermen who fear the policy, with its tough quotas, will ruin their livelihoods.

Leigh fisherman Paul Gilson said: “At last, people are realising how bad this policy is. It is good the public is becoming aware of how much damage the EU is doing. Last week, our boats went to sea with the aim of not catching cod. Stocks of cod are so good at the moment Ramsgate crews caught their one month quota in a day. It’s madness.”

Thames fishermen have also been struggling with rising fuel prices and the threat of a dredging operation in the estuary for the new Shellhaven port.