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Fresh start for fishing industry
25/05/2007
Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead today signalled a fresh start for Scotland's fishing industry.
Addressing the Fishing 2007 exhibition in Glasgow, he said:
"I am delighted to be here at this important international event - in my first fishing engagement as Cabinet Secretary.
"It is time for a fresh start for Scotland's fisheries. Let there be no doubt - this is a key priority for the new Scottish Government.
"Fishing has a central role in Scotland's history and heritage. It is the lifeblood for many of our coastal communities.
"It also provides tens of thousands of jobs and generates hundreds of millions of pounds for the Scottish economy not only the fleets but also the landings, harbours, processing, food, retail and restaurant sectors.
"Fishing is fundamental to our national economic interest and the social wellbeing of our communities.
"We will give it the support it deserves and push for improvements at every level.
"We will be constructive in our approaches and seek to build consensus at all levels, building on progress already made.
"Scotland has the largest fishing zone of any single EU country and, importantly, the largest part of Europe's productive and fertile northern fishing grounds.
"For too long Scottish fishing has not been treated as a priority. The new Scottish Government will be relentless in its pursuit of the Scottish fishing interest at all levels.
"That means better representation at UK and European level so that the voice of Scotland is clearly heard. And we need an honest and informed debate on the ills of the CFP.
"We need a system that works with and not around fishermen and one where fishermen and fishing communities have a genuine voice in decision making.
"This will be a the core of our new Convention on the Future of Scotland's Fishing Communities - actively involving and listening to all the voices in those communities.
"And that process starts now and that is why today I am pleased to announce a new industry-science partnership programme.
"It will build on existing links between fishermen and scientists but will deliver more in depth research, more quickly, in the areas identified as priority topics by the industry."
Background
Scotland's fishing zone covers 328,930 square km, Scotland has 11,800km of coastline and over 800 islands. It accounts for 60 per cent of the UK's fishing zone. Scotland lands 60 per cent of the world's catch of langoustines and has a 30 per cent are in the North East Atlantic's important mackerel fishery. Scotland lands 68 per cent of the volume and 61 per cent of the total value of the UK's catch and 74 per cent of key UK quotas are held by Scottish Producer Organisations.
The industry/science partnership will help develop existing collaboration between the industry and scientists in Scotland further. It will be led by the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and the Fisheries Research Services.
Examples of project areas for the partnership to consider are:
- Developing new fisheries
- Improving gear design to reduce discards
- Reducing environmental impact of fishing
- Surveying stocks in inshore waters
- Researching closed areas
- Providing extra data for stock assessments
- Separating species during fishing
- Investigating fishing effort indicators
- Monitoring fish biology/distribution