esponding to the official announcement today (16 October) by the European Commission of its proposals for total allowable catches for 2010, which show very severe quota cuts for the West of Scotland, Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong, said:
“The first part of the EC statement on this announcement is grudgingly optimistic about the overall state of fish stocks, which is slightly encouraging because normally at this stage of the annual process the advice is extremely pessimistic.
“Whilst many of the cuts proposed are very severe, particularly on the west coast, what the figures do not reveal is the composite effect on commercial viability of those cuts and the significant effort control (days-at-sea) cuts proposed for next year that form part of the cod recovery plan and which will of course seriously effect boats abilities to fish for other species also.
“Never before has it been more imperative for the Scottish industry and government to work together in partnership to reduce by as much as possible the scope, severity and speed of implementation of these measures. We have played a leading role in meeting the management aim of sustainable fishing, we must fight to still be here to harvest the benefits.”
