The Scottish Government has said a new EU deal struck over North sea fishing will help safeguard the fishing industry and stocks, despite cuts in quotas.
Scottish fishermen will be able to land more Cod next year 2011, rather than having to discard the fish when they reach the limit, said SNP Ministers.
However, cod quotas wall fall by 20%, while there will be a reduction of 5% in the haddock total allowable catch.
Meanwhile , talks over an ongoing row over mackerel are continuing.
Richard Lochhead, Scottish Fisheries Minister said the Cod deal was reached between the EU and Norway, following talks o Saturday night December 4th.
“Under the deal, Scotland’s catch quota scheme, whereby fishermen land everything they catch without the wasteful discards imposed on our fishermen= by the EU’s flawed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), will be extended” he said.
“Scottish fishermen will be able to land, rather than having to discard, an =extra amount equal to 12% of the total allowable cod catch. This will enable us to more than double the number of trawlers participating in the scheme, to around 40, therefore, landing more, yet catch less, will help the stocks.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation Chief executive Bertie Armstrong described the deal as “ A mixed bag”.
“The catch quota system has, without doubt, potential for the future. However, it has been spun as an instant answer to discards. At this point it ids not. It is absolutely clear from those who participated in the trails to date that unless there are changes to the present Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and quota rules, then it will simply not work overall, in either reducing discards, or in improving the commercial position of the white fish fleet”.
Elsewhere, the North sea fishing quotas for whiting will increase 15%, while Herring will rise to 21%. There will also be a reduction of 13% in Saithe.
The UK Government takes the lead in European fisheries talks, with input from Scottish ministers.
The mackerel quota row has been on going since Iceland and the Faroes earlier sparked outrage by unilaterally setting mackerel quotas in their own waters.
Despite Iceland walking away from talks, Mr Lochead said he was hopeful a three-way deal between the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands could be in place by next week.
