Wednesday, 16th December 2009
A slap on the face with a wet fish
The Fisheries Council Meeting has provided Scottish fishermen with their traditional Christmas gift from Brussels of a slap on the face with a wet fish! This was the view of Scottish Conservative Euro MP Struan Stevenson who is senior Vice President of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee.
The UK Fisheries Minister described quota cuts of 10% for North Sea cod, haddock and whiting, 9% for nephrops (langoustine, scampi and Dublin Bay prawn), 25% for West of Scotland haddock and 5% for Western Channel sole, as "great news for the fishing industry".
The breakdown in recent talks between the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands meant that no final decision on TACs and quotas could be taken until next year. Interim measures were confirmed last night, including a 10% further cut in the number of days fishermen can fish in the North Sea and 25% in the West of Scotland, coupled with cuts in quotas, which Struan Stevenson pointed out would spell disaster for some struggling skippers and their crews.
In recent years the Scottish fishing industry has seen 60% of the UK whitefish fleet scrapped and thousands of jobs destroyed, despite the fact that the core objectives of the CFP written into the EU treaty were aimed at preserving and protecting fish stocks and maintaining and enhancing jobs in the fishing industry.
Speaking following the Fisheries Council, Struan Stevenson commented:
"Recent evidence gathered by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) the scientists who advise the European Commission indicate that cod, haddock, monkfish and whiting stocks have all increased in the North Sea. This is not surprising, given the fact that there are fewer than half the vessels fishing today than there were ten years ago. But it seems that pleas from the fishermen to be allowed to increase their catches have fallen on deaf ears.
"Of course we all look forward to a complete reform of the CFP, but the final definitive legislative acts that will usher in these reforms will not be completed until 2012.
"Our beleaguered fishermen are routinely ordered to limit their catches under strict Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Quota regulations and to restrict the days they spend at sea. They are ordered to reduce their engine size and increase the mesh size on their nets. They are monitored by satellites from outer space and every fish they catch has to be registered in electronic logbooks. They will soon be watched by CCTV's fitted to every fishing vessel.
"They risk their lives daily in the most dangerous profession on earth to put healthy food on our tables and they have been rewarded with the most ludicrously harsh regulatory regime in existence anywhere in the world. The European Commission calls for sustainable fishing, but what we need is a sustainable living for our fishermen.
Struan Stevenson concluded:
"Recent talks have raised hopes that fisheries management will be devolved out of Brussels and down to those at the forefront of the industry, with day to day control involving the fishermen themselves. However the reality is that inadequate science, a harsh regulatory regime, poor financial rewards and dangerous working conditions - the hallmark of 50 years of the CFP - have rendered the job almost un-tenable."
