After a long legal suit Scottish fishermen have won a ruling against the European Commission over an administrative error which decreased the number of days they could spend at sea. It was in 2007 when this administrative error was happened to the European Union which led to a cut of 28 days which authorised vessels could spend off the west of Scotland.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) was the first to point out the error and lodged a complaint last year. Its case has now been upheld by the EU ombudsman. The Commission has until the end of April to respond. It is said that the mistake, which reduced the west of Scotland allocation from 280 to 250 days, was included in the final Council ruling for 2007. After the original complaint in 2008, the Commission stood by its decision.
After detail probe by the ombudsman it is found that the Commission had “mistakenly interchanged the data in two columns of a document” which regulated days at sea. Now the ombudsman has urged the Commission to correct its error, pointing out that the mistake might have knock-on effects in future years.
Patrick Stewart, from the Clyde Fishermen’s Association, a constituent member of the SFF, welcomed the ruling saying that the Commission cannot do whatever it wants in the name of the recovery of cod stocks, by constantly increasing restriction, which is often illogical and unwarranted.
