According to the information Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead joined the Scottish fishing industry in expressing relief about the new regulations for conservation of fisheries. It is said that the proposed new regulations from the European Commission were thrown out in favour of continuing existing rules. It is explained that the measures that put severe catch composition rules on whitefish vessels operating on the West Coast – adopted on an emergency basis last year – are to be extended up to a further 18 months.
Lochhead told that the decision is extremely disappointing and a serious breach of faith. He added that the proposal to extend the West Coast measures was out of the blue, and “the worst possible example of the Common Fisheries Policy’s failings”. The growing concern of the Scottish Government is fully shared by the UK Government. It become clear that the new technical conservation regulation was not going to get support from Member States, the Commission proposed rolling over the existing regulation.
The UK, backed by the Scottish Government, therefore took the highly unusual step of voting against the final package. Lochead said that many of the real threats that our fishermen were facing coming into these talks have been averted. He further said that the industry’s huge sigh of relief following the removal of new threats to their future was quickly soured.
Scotland, working alongside the UK, felt so strongly about the proposal that for the first time in memory the UK voted against the final package on the table. For the Commission to effectively claim that they couldn’t even negotiate on their own proposal defies logic.
