The trade association for Pelagic buyers and processors in the UK claim emotion is clouding ‘ clear and measured thinking’ in the row over Faroes and Iceland unilaterally increasing their mackerel quotas.
A statement from the Herring Buyers Association (HBA) said it derived little satisfaction from protests at Peterhead harbour last week, or from a Faroese trawler having to leave the north east port without offloading its catch at a ‘substantial’ loss to the owners.
It added that about 200 employees at the town’s Lunar Freezing processing plant were left idle.
The HBA said: “ It should be borne in mind that over recent years three major pelagic processing companies have disappeared in the struggle to remain viable on reduced volumes of herring and mackerel from Scottish trawlers.
“More than two months ago, the association was asked by the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association if its members would support a boycott of Faroese mackerel. It was pointed out that a number of processors had long associations with Faroese catchers and relied on them for supplies”.
The HBA also said a large number of Scottish trawlers landed catches in Norway, in stead of helping to protect processing jobs in Scotland”.
It added: “ If these plants cannot survive, many jobs will be lost and the Scottish fleet will have no domestic Scottish-owned market. Emotion has taken over where clear and measured thinking by the Scottish pelagic fishermen and the Scottish Government would have been more appropriate”.
Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson accused Brussels of dithering over the mackerel row, which was prompted by Faroe and Iceland upping their quotas in defiance of international agreements.
He said on Saturday that Iceland had already landed 75% of it enormous 130.000 tonne quota.
