Fishing restrictions in the West of Scotland are under review, it was announced today.
The European Commission restrictions were initially introduced for one year in January 2009 to help protect cod, haddock and whiting. However, they were unexpectedly rolled over last November for a further 18 months following the collapse of discussions on wider Technical Conservation measures.
Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said the Scottish Government has repeatedly pressed the Commission to repeal these ‘inappropriate’ measures.
In the meantime, Scottish Government officials have worked with the industry to develop a set of alternative measures to those imposed on fishermen on the West Coast of Scotland, and have submitted these to the European Commission. This package of proposed alternative measures contains:
A haddock quota uptake rule, to increase flexibility to whitefish fishermen and to reduce haddock discards
The transposition of the North Sea 110mm net into the West of Scotland, to improve the quality and value of the megrim fishery
A revision of the coordinates of the ‘French Line’
The removal of a prohibition on tangle nets to support a seasonal inshore crawfish fishery
A derogation to allow low powered vessels to operate with a 2m Square Mesh Panel when inside the French Line
The European Commission have requested that the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) evaluates and gives an opinion as to the effectiveness of these measures.
The Scottish Government considers these measures to be as effective as the EU measures for protecting cod, haddock and whiting, but more appropriate for Scottish fishing practices, thus maximising economic opportunity for Scotland’s fishermen during these hard times. T
The Scottish Government will provide information to STECF, and hopes that the evaluation process will be completed by the end of the year, with at least some of these proposed changes implemented immediately thereafter.
Mr Lochhead said:
“This has been a long and hard battle, with the Scottish Government and industry working in partnership to try and overturn these measures.
“I have always felt that the continuation of these measures is deeply unfair – we took the unprecedented step of voting against the final package on offer back in November to register our view.
“Since then, we have been doing everything we can to develop alternative proposals and request that the Commission amend the inappropriate emergency measures. This is a positive first step, and I am hopeful that we will see some changes to bring timely relief to the West of Scotland.
“For now, we will be ensuring that the STECF receives the necessary information and research it will need to make a decision, which we hope will see the ’emergency measures’ amended.”
Scottish Government officials have identified measures that they believe can be modified to aid the situation on the West of Scotland. The European Commission have acknowledged receipt of these proposals, which will be evaluated by STECF later this year. The proposals are:
(i) Introduction of a “Haddock quota uptake” rule
The Scottish Government proposal is that if no more than 50% of the national quota has been taken by 1st September of each year (for as long as restrictions on catch composition remain in place) then at that point Haddock shall be removed from the catch composition requirements and the requirements on the remaining two species, Cod and Whiting, shall be reduced from 30% to 20%. This should increase flexibility for fishermen on the West of Scotland, and reduce Haddock discards whilst maintaining protection for Haddock during vulnerable spawning periods.
(ii) Transposition of the North Sea 110mm gear option to the West of Scotland
We intend to apply to vessels operating in the West of Scotland the same rules as currently apply to vessels using 110mm gear in the North Sea, i.e:-
“The catch retained onboard shall consist of at least 70% of any mixture of the target species included in the longer list of such target species for mesh size range 80 to 90 mm specified in Annex I to Regulation (EC) 850/98 and no more than 5 per cent Cod. ”
In addition, we propose to retain the use of the 120mm Square Mesh Panel (SMP) and to impose a one net rule. This measure would have an important impact on the highly valuable Megrim fishery, which are currently bruised in the mesh.
(iii) Revision of the coordinates of the ‘French Line’
The proposed change is that a single point adjustment be made to the so-called “French Line” from its current position out into deep water. The co-ordinate most out of line is at 59 00N -007.30W; we requested it be adjusted to position 59.00N – 007.24W.
(iv) Removal of Prohibition on Tangle Nets
We seek the removal of the prohibition on tangle nets to allow an inshore fishery targeting Crawfish, primarily during the summer months of the year. This fishery provides an important alternative source of income for upwards of 40 vessels, the majority of which are under 10m in length and not involved in a trawl or directed whitefish fishery.
(v) Introduction of a 2m Square Mesh Panel for low powered vessels We propose that low powered vessels should be allowed a derogation to operate with a 2m Square Mesh Panel inside the French line. This is an important issue of equality for these smaller inshore vessels, which fish almost exclusively for Nephrops.
