Scottish whitefish sector leaders have called for a swift end to the “mad2 approach to recovery plan.
Chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association (SWFPA) said serious flaws in Brussels-led efforts to protect Cod stocks in the European Union were widely acknowledged.
Even the European Commission knew the recovery plan was failing to achieve its objectives, he added.
Fishing time at sea has been cut drastically in recent years I an attempt to return Cod stocks to healthier levels.
Mr Park said: ” The North Sea and north-west waters regional advisory councils have repeatedly criticised the automatically of the reductions in days at sea where there would seem to be no clear recognition or understanding of the net benefit.
“Disappointingly, the only obstacle to change seems to be a political process that is too cumbersome for speedy revision”.
The SWFPA said it was becoming increasingly concerned for the economic wellbeing of its members after years of savage cuts, with still more to come. It added: “The ongoing output of the Cod Recovery plan dictates that in 2012 Scottish vessels targeting white fish will receive 90 days at sea, 15% fewer on average that they received in the current year”.
David Milne, Chairman of SWFPA said: The Cod plan set out to recover cod not destroy business. Some of our members hardly see Cod, yet they have to take the same penalty as those that are seeing cod try to avoid them as much as they can. This madness has to stop, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to expect fishermen to respect a plan that does The SWFPA aid it would await the out come of a meeting this week before discussing the next steps with the Scottish Government.
It added ” In the meantime, we will continue to develop initiatives that reduce the capture of cod and other unwanted catches..
“Scottish fishermen have led the field in developing new innovative measures to reduce the capture of cod. What we require is a management regime that respects those developments and the role that Scottish Fishermen are playing to bring change”.
