Control of the fishing industry must be returned from Europe to member states, says Scottish Government.
Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead voiced for controlling of fishing industry must be given to member states and not EU. He was speaking at Holyrood on reform of the controversial Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which governs fleets across the continent. Most of the fishing leaders support the statement describing effective regional management as a key area for change.
According to Lochhead Scottish fishing industry is at crossroad and now it is a good opportunity to reform a policy which was long to be broken and damaging. The three priorities for Scotland include the return of decision-making to regional level. He said that by giving more control to those most knowledgeable about particular fisheries, we can develop tailored management measures on a fishery by fisheries basis.
He also told that this would develop more environmentally friendly fishing including the end of discards, the controversial practice of throwing away fish to meet strict quota rules. He speaks against Transferable Fishing Concessions which could see the transfer of quotas from Scottish fishermen and lead to the “slow and painful decline” of traditional fishing communities.
