May 18, 2010

 

 

Scottish fishing leaders are stepping up the pressure on politicians to act as quickly as possible to bring about radical reform of the EU catch policy.

 

Scottish Fishermen's Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong said sections of the fleet were struggling to survive against a background of increasingly restrictive fishing opportunities.

 

He laid down a challenge to the Scottish and UK governments to urgently come up with a solution.

 

Armstrong spoke out after the European Commission (EC) published a document outlining the approach it intends to take when setting quotas and fishing effort limitations for 2011.

 

The report warned that stocks of cod off the west of Scotland and whiting in the Irish Sea are so depleted there are barely enough to give an accurate picture of remaining supplies. It added that illegal over fishing in breach of annual EU quotas and poor industry reporting of supplies is still a problem despite years of conservation efforts.

 

The report called for tougher methods of setting quota limits and the number of days fishing boats can put to sea as part of a drive to return EU waters to full sustainable fishing by 2015.

 

Armstrong said many skippers were finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile their experience at sea, where there was a "relative abundance" of fish, with the regulatory framework that governs fishing.

 

Moves to reform the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) must lead to effective regional control and substantial fisheries management powers being devolved to the most efficient and appropriate level, he added.

 

But he warned there was still a lack of clarity over what might be achievable under any reform of the CFP.

 

He said, "The Scottish and UK governments must address the significant question of what is legally possible for regional management under the reform of the CFP and then tell us their findings."

 

"They must now focus all their efforts in finding what is possible to achieve, so that a viable solution can be implemented that will secure the industry's future," he said.

"The status quo is not an option - change must happen otherwise sections of the fleet will find their business survival prejudiced."

 

The EC has consulted governments, industry and other interested parties on its main aims for changing the CFP, with a view to having final proposals ready by early 2011 for implementation in 2012.