Speaking after attending the Conservation Credits Steering Group meeting in Edinburgh today, Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
“This was another welcome opportunity to speak to the industry about how best we can work together to come through a testing period which has seen our fleets trying to cope with major regulatory change as well as the effects of the economic downturn.
“I appreciate the substantial challenges that our fleets are facing and we are working hard in partnership with the sector to do what we can to ease the pain. We have already streamlined the European Fisheries Fund to help skippers purchase more selective gear and have also put forward a strong scientific case to the Commission for a group of West Coast nephrops vessels to be made entirely exempt from effort management restrictions.
“An economic assessment of the cod recovery plan and west coast measures by the Commission is absolutely essential. At next week’s Fisheries Council in Luxembourg I will be pressing the UK and the Commission to recognise the efforts of our fishermen.
“Our fleets have already achieved a great deal this year, building on the leadership that enabled us to negotiate a deal which avoided catastrophic closures and a straight 25 per cent cut in days at sea, and rewarding fishermen with additional days in return for adopting conservation measures.
“Many of these choices are forced on us by a system that’s broken, which needs to be fixed in Scotland’s interests. But, for as long as we have to deal with the system as it stands, we need to use all the flexibility we can find to provide certainty and help keep businesses viable.”
