In the wake of scientific advice recommending a 20 percent cut to North Sea cod quotas, Scottish fishing industry leaders have warned that it could not be tolerated. According to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas suggestion would “kill off businesses”.
SFF told that the scientific recommendation to further cut the quotas based on uncertain figures because a number of countries did not submit data. A decision on next year’s quota levels will be taken in December. SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong said at present the situation is critical and so it could be tolerate to see any further downturn in days at sea.
As per Scottish government spokesman the information released from ICES, which is only advice at this stage, clearly points to potentially another tough year for many sectors, particularly whitefish, to meet the EU’s stated conservation targets. He told that there is concern among the some of the scientists involved over the basis of this final assessment, which has a significant degree of uncertainty, and this must be investigated. He further says that they will continue to demand that Europe recognises the innovation and sacrifice shown by the Scottish industry in tackling discards and reducing mortality.
