Fishing deal hailed as common sense

THE SCOTTISH whitefish and prawn fleet will not have to endure further cuts in 2013 as a “more pragmatic approach” to fish quotas won the day during marathon EU negotiations in Brussels.

A final deal was reached at just before 7am on Thursday morning.

The outcome removes the threat of further automatic cuts in days at sea as part of the cod recovery plan, and also paves the way for the EU-Norway negotiations over shared stocks, which will take place in the middle of January.

There will be an increase in the North Sea haddock quota, but a 30 per cent cut for west coast haddock.

Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong praised the Scottish and UK governments for their negotiating stance “which has ensured that a common-sense approach on fisheries management based on the science has been adopted”.

He added: “We were facing the very real danger of the decision-making being caught in legal red tape that would have caused immense economic hardship and done nothing to aid fish stock conservation and sustainable harvesting.

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“Fishing effort in Scotland has been slashed by almost 70 per cent over the last 10 years and we were quite simply at a stage where the fleet could not sustain any more cuts.

“Although the deal reached this morning had some notable successes, there are still considerable challenges to be met, especially with increased operating costs and difficult markets, and most particularly for fishermen on the west coast where catching opportunities are still severely curtailed.”

He added that the Scottish and UK governments had given a commitment to continue with pioneering and positive selectivity measures adopted by the fleet that have dramatically reduced discards in recent years.

“Developing and refining these conservation measures will help ensure the steady growth in stocks that we are currently experiencing,” said Armstrong.