This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Fishing strategy report published
25/03/2004
The Scottish fishing industry can have a sustainable future
Deputy Fisheries Minister Allan Wilson said today as he broadly
welcomed the publication of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit
report into the fishing industry.
At the launch in Edinburgh, Mr Wilson said:
"I broadly welcome the findings of this report. It clearly
shows there is a sustainable future for our fishing fleet, but
only if the industry and government face up to tough
choices.
"It is clear the industry cannot continue as it is. Low
confidence in the management process results in over-fishing
and this, in turn, depletes the stocks of fish and undermines
any attempts at sustainability.
"Put simply, if fish stocks are to improve and there is to
be a future for our fishing industry then the industry and
anyone who truly has the interests of fishing at heart must
face up to the issues this report has raised."
Mr Wilson said that he was reassured to note that the Report
has much in common with the recently published Royal Society of
Edinburgh (RSE) study into the Scottish fishing industry.
He continued:
"I now want to consider both pieces of work together as we
work towards producing a more definitive implementation plan
later in the year.
"Of particular note, the Strategy Unit's (SU) report
supports the RSE's conclusion that withdrawing from the CFP
would not solve the problems facing the industry.
"It is quite clear now that the only way to ensure a
sustainable future for our fishing industry is to use our
influence to reform the current CFP management system from
within. It is time for those with an anti-Europe agenda to stop
using the fishing industry as a political pawn. Both the SU and
the RSE reports have recognised that the future of the industry
lies within the CFP."
Mr Wilson called on all those who genuinely have the
interests of the industry at heart to fall in behind that
position and work within the current framework to deliver
improvements.
The Prime Minister agreed in January 2003, at a meeting
including Ross Finnie MSP, other UK Fisheries Ministers, and
representatives of the UK fishing industry, on the need for a
project setting out options for the UK fishing industry for the
next five-to-ten years.
Key recommendations of the SU report include:
Creating a competitive and profitable UK
fleet
- Long-term profitability and stock recovery will require
the removal of at least 13% of the whitefish fleet beyond
the 2003 decommissioning scheme
- Introducing individual tradable quotas - initially for
pelagics and nephrops - to promote competition and give the
industry a greater stake in the state of the stock
- The industry should seek sustainable fisheries
certification (by the Marine Stewardship Council or
equivalent) for all major UK stocks by 2015
Improving information and compliance
The report says sustainability of fish stocks is only
possible if the vast majority of the industry supports and
obeys the rules. Without this, stock recovery and effective
management is undermined. Improving compliance is about higher
profits, better trust, effective enforcement and good rules. It
proposes:
- Decriminalisation of most existing offences and
replacement with administrative penalties
- Introduction of smarter enforcement system. (eg: More
emphasis on tracing landings through flows of money through
processors. Using on-board observers for high-risk boats
and risk-profiling)
- Better transparency - where all catches and landings
are published on the internet and data submitted by
fishermen to markets and the fishery departments by
electronic log-books
- The UK should continue to support stronger EU
enforcement role and ensure a level playing field for all
EU fleets
- In the North Sea, Irish Sea and Channel mixed fisheries
- where fisherman have little control over the species of
fish they catch - to investigate the feasibility of
restricting the amount of days fished instead of the amount
of fish caught