Scotland’s Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead will today warn that Europe must seize the ‘best chance in a generation’ to deliver a fit for purpose fisheries policy.
‘The Future of the Common Fisheries Policy: A Regional Approach to Fisheries Management in the EU’ will highlight that the review of the CFP offers a much-needed opportunity to provide a sustainable future for fishing communities and stocks.
Some of Europe’s leading thinkers and policy managers are attending the event which is being co-hosted by the vice-chair of the European Parliament Fisheries Committee, Struan Stevenson MEP, and Ian Hudghton MEP, at the European Parliament.
Speaking ahead of today’s event in Brussels, Mr Lochhead said:
“Working in partnership with the industry and environmental groups we need to deliver real and lasting change across Europe, allowing fishermen to land and earn more, whilst catching and discarding less. We cannot deliver this if the framework is broken.
“Our guiding principle remains that decision making must be returned to Scotland where it belongs. However we cannot afford to wait for 2013 for radical changes – we need them now – before it’s too late for our fishermen and fish stocks.
“Discards are widely regarded by skippers, environmental experts and scientists as one of the current model’s biggest flaws. Existing European regulations mean that fishermen currently have little choice but to throw away much of the fish they catch – that is utterly ridiculous.
“We have endured 25 years of pain. At home our fishermen are struggling with low market prices, rising fuel costs and other short term problems as a result of the broken CFP.
“Today we have brought together some of Europe’s leading experts to drive forward the debate as we seek to influence radical changes in European fisheries policies that deliver a sustainable future, while resisting proposals that would see our historic fishing rights sold off.
“Central to the Scottish blueprint is the need to delegate decision making to Member States and beyond. Within a regionalised framework there is much greater autonomy for fishing nations to balance the economic, conservation and social goals of fisheries policies. Greater industry buy-in can help reduce discards, especially when matched with incentives to harness the innovation and experience of the industry.”
Mr Hudghton, said:
“It seems obvious to me that those who have most to gain from successful conservation and management of our fish resources – i.e. fishing nations and communities themselves – should have the power to determine how these resources are conserved for the future.
“This seminar highlights practical options for delegating real powers to fishing nations, to encourage co-operation between fishing nations and stakeholders on a logical basis by sea basin, and to encourage the incentivisation of sustainable management measures taken at national and local level.”
Mr Stevenson said:
“Micro-management from Brussels has bedevilled our fisheries sector for decades. We have a chance to put things right. We have a new Fisheries Commissioner, a new and powerful Fisheries Committee in the European Parliament and an opportunity to reform completely the discredited Common Fisheries Policy. We must ensure that any new management policies put in place no longer pursue the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that has been disastrous for Scotland’s fishermen. Now is the chance to design a management system that guarantees a sustainable fishery with healthy fish stocks and a good living for everyone in the industry”
Today’s event is part of a wider programme of promoting the Scottish Government’s priorities for radical changes to European fisheries policy to key and influential stakeholders at European level. The event will focus on the Scottish Government’s priority of bringing decision making closer to stakeholders through development of models of regional cooperation. The final Options Paper is expected to be published by the European Commission at the end of June.
