He told the event, which was attended by fisheries minister Richard Lochhead, that ‘ill-fitting management measures’ are failing to deliver any conservation benefits and that new and more sensible measures need to be introduced as a matter of urgency.
“If we are faced with a continuation over the next couple of years of these effects across the whole demersal sector – including prawns – of the cod plan and the west coast measures, then we will see a further reduction in the size of the fleet, without guaranteeing the stock recovery which is meant to result,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it’s not just effort – days at sea – that’s holding our attention. Unhappy quota prospects in several mainstay stocks have just been proposed by the EC. Ill-fitting management measures that continue to create the systematic or regulatory discarding are still with us – including the high-grading ban, which is an outstanding example of a reasonable management objective gone horribly wrong.”
Turning to the pelagic (herring and mackerel) sector, Mr Gatt said a careful eye needed to be kept on Iceland’s interest in becoming a partner in the Coastal States grouping of countries where delicate negotiations to allocate the share of fishing opportunities could result in the UK losing out.
He added that it was vital that the Scottish fishing industry developed new markets and highlighted to UK consumers the vast wealth of seafood that is being sustainably harvested from Scotland’s seas. Against the background of a global recession the market for seafood has proved poor during 2009. Cod prices have struggled all year due to cheap imports from Iceland and Norway, and the international markets for langoustine, crab and scallops have also been flat.
“Through this global economic crisis we have seen how fragile our marketing strategy is; our langoustine, hake and megrim market for instance is almost wholly in France and Spain,” he said.
“We need to develop additional markets and where better to start than at home. There seems to be an appetite within the British public for trying non-traditional species, but we need to get the message across that Scotland has a wealth of diverse species to offer the consumer.”
Meanwhile, Bertie Armstrong, SFF chief executive, told the event that it is imperative that the right outcome is achieved at the end of the current review on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.
“The correct outcome is fundamentally important and it is important that our historically established share of the natural resource in the waters fished by our industry is protected.”
He added: “We have been trying in the Scottish fleet to demonstrate in a practical way what the industry can do with regional solutions and the other fundamental requirement of reform must include meaningful regional management. Small scale fleets have to be treated fairly across the EU, but so must the present holders of quota – they must not be penalised.”
Mr Armstrong highlighted the leading role the Scottish industry is taking in spearheading new and innovative conservation initiatives, such as the adoption of real time and seasonal closed areas, as well as working closely with scientists on stock assessments, along with research and experimentation into new types of fishing gear.
He also pointed out that over 50% of all Scottish fisheries by value are currently independently certified or are in the full assessment process of the flagship Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard for responsible and sustainable fishing.
“One in 10 of the world’s MSC certified fisheries are Scottish and 90% of Scottish pelagic fisheries are now certified as being sustainably fished.
In addition, 125 Scottish fishing vessels are certified under the Sea Fish Industry Authority’s Responsible Fishing Scheme with more currently undergoing assessment,” said Mr Armstrong.
