Scottish fishing leaders welcomed a deal between the EU and Norway on Friday night that will raise Scottish crews’ mackerel quotas next year.
It cam at the end of the talks in Copenhagen which saw the Fare Islands follow Iceland in refusing to sign up to an agreement on catching levels.
The stance led to calls to block both countries from landing mackerel at EU ports after they insisted on setting quotas unilaterally.
Thursday night’s deal sets down a total catch level in the north-east Atlantic of 646,000 tonnes. The agreed final figure is within the range recommended by scientists, and provisional figures suggest the UK quota will increase by around 14,000 tonnes to 190,000 tonnes.
Ian Gatt, Chief executive of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, declared himself very pleased with it.
He said: “ This is the responsible action for the circumstances we find ourselves in. We are absolutely happy as any increase is always welcome as long as it remains within the scientific advice”.#
He added: “it is now up to Iceland and the Faroes to return to the negotiating table and come to a sensible international management arrangement”.
The agreement comes despite the Faroese refusing to sign up to a three-way deal on catch levels in the shared international fishery..
Scottish Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead MSP SNP, whose officials were part of the EU negotiating team, condemned their action, saying Scotland was “Being made to suffer for the selfish behaviour of others”.
Iceland walked out four-way talks last month.
Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson branded the two countries “arrogant” for “trampling over good fisheries management of Scottish fishermen”.
Mr Stevenson, who is also senior Vice-President of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, said,: “To put it in perspective, these two tiny nations, with just 370,00 people between them will be taking a bigger North Atlantic mackerel quota in 2011 than the entire EU, with 500 million citizens.
“The European Commission must now get tough, it’s clear Iceland and the Fares don’t want to negotiate a sensible solution so I again repeat my call for a blockade of these countries at EU ports”.
North East of Scotland fishermen have already moved to block the landing of mackerel from the two countries . More than 50 protesting fishermen pitched up at Peterhead Harbour Scotland’s premier fishing port in August this year as the crew of the Faroese trawler Jupiter attempted to unload more than 1,000 tonnes of mackerel.
The fishermen surrounded the trawler and stopped the crew from landing their catch.
