The Scottish Government is bringing together some key opinion formers in the EU to highlight Scotland’s vision for sustainable fishing, at an event in Brussels tomorrow (March 15).
The seminar, hosted by Scottish Government officials, will be attended by EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki and involve Scottish MEPs and Fisheries Committee members Struan Stevenson and Ian Hudghton. The findings of Scotland’s independent Inquiry into Future Fisheries Management will help guide discussion.
Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
“Discards are the result of a broken EU Common Fisheries Policy and are a chronic waste of a valuable economic, environmental and food resource. Any system that forces our fishermen to wastefully discard marketable fish back in the sea, dead, is clearly failing.
“That’s why in Europe, Scotland has been saying loud and clear that progressive change is needed. Indeed, through the December EU negotiations, it was Scottish lobbying that resulted in the Fisheries Council declaration acknowledging the serious problem that discards are causing and to commit to action to reduce discards.
“Scotland efforts to address the issue have seen discards by our whitefish fleet reduce by half over the past two years – the greatest reductions achieved in the EU. Quite rightly, therefore, Scotland is sharing its experience in tackling discards and the merits of greater regionalisation in fisheries management within Europe.
“We are at a critical stage in determining the future of European fisheries policy and I’m sure that this event will help advance Scotland’s agenda. This is one centred on involving our fishermen to find workable solutions by rewarding sustainable fishing. This is the only way that we can achieve a viable future for fishing in Europe.”
The ‘Future of Fisheries Management: towards a sustainable and discard-free future’ event takes place on Tuesday afternoon (March 15) at the European Parliament in Brussels and will be attended by MEPs and stakeholders from across the EU.
In addition to the involvement of Commissioner Damanaki, Mr Stevenson and Mr Hudghton, the event will include contributions from: David Brew, Head of Sea Fisheries at the Scottish Government; Mike Park of the Scottish Whitefish Producers Association; Mireille Thom from WWF Scotland; and Kjartan Hoydal of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission.
Scotland’s Independent Inquiry into the Future of Fisheries Management published their findings in November 2010.
Through the Scottish Conservation Credits Scheme, vessels are using more selective fishing gear to avoid catching undersized and unwanted fish and in return can spend extra time at sea.
Scotland’s catch quota trials reward fishermen with increased quota provided there are no discards. Fishing activity is monitored by CCTV and enables less fish taken from the sea while more can be landed to market.
In 2009, Scottish vessels were forced by the Common Fisheries Policy to discard almost 28,000 tonnes of fish, around a quarter of the whitefish catch, valued at £33 million.
