After the meeting SFF has issued a press release in which SFF President Alan Coghill states that the meeting was fruitful as SFF has detailed the Minister that large sections of the Scottish fleet are operating right on the edge of economic viability and that any further cut in fishing opportunity would throw many boats out of business and hit fragile fishing communities.
He added that almost all major issues have been covered and the Cabinet Secretary and officials reassured the industry that the Scottish Government understood the difficulties and are committed along with the industry to resolving the problems. Both parties have agreed on number of common objectives with the need for a close working relationship particularly to secure the best possible outcome from the end-of-year negotiations. The current catch quota issue was also discussed and the government assured of fully documented fishing.
