As per the information Faroese and Icelandic fishing boats are under strict measures against landing mackerel quotas and it will continue until a solution to the ongoing dispute over quota allocation is resolved. Scottish fishermen meeting in Fraserburgh on Monday were adamant that Faroe should not get away with taking 85,000 tonnes of mackerel from the stock in the north east Atlantic as this would threaten the viability of the Scottish pelagic fleet.
Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association chief executive Ian Gatt said Scottish fishing communities needed to be protected. He told that the expected meeting between the European Commission and the Faroes at the end of last week seemed to be productive. Gatt informed that the encouraging signs should turned into positive action by agreeing a sensible outcome during the October negotiation meeting.
Scottish fishermen are protesting against any Faroese pelagic landings into Scotland until there has been a successful conclusion to the mackerel dispute. It is Scotland’s fisheries entitlement for mackerel that is under threat and this is why we will leave no stone unturned in our battle to ensure a fair deal is achieved. The Liberal Democrats’ fisheries spokesman, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur, added that understandably anger at the actions of Iceland and Faroe Islands remains undiminished. It is vital that this damaging dispute is resolved as soon as possible.
