Seafood Processors backing Fishing and Richard Lochhead as Processors facing the Perfect Storm
The processors are fully behind the statement announced by Mike Park CE of Scottish White Fish Producers Organisation to lend weight behind the Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead to say enough is enough.
Mr Clark said that from the rhetoric coming from Damanaki following her appointment, it was very clear there was a centralised policy to bankrupt the Scottish Fishing industry to enable the opening up of Scottish waters to the southern EU fleet.
Will states: “With Decommissioning, Days at Sea, Catch Quotas, Real time closures, adaptations to fishing gear, Cameras on board vessels, registered landing ports, fishing effort has been reduced by Scottish vessel to about 10% in the last 10 to 15 years. Almost the whole fleet of deep water boats were wiped out not that long ago and now the rest of the white fish fleet and prawn fleet will be forced to tie up cutting off supplies to processors.”
He says the industry has done (and will continue to do) an enormous amount to manage its fisheries responsibly and sustainably and that the Commission’s latest intervention is an instance of badly drafted European laws seeking to micro-manage in a way that threatens to set back Scotland’s conservation and co-management with fishers for decades. It also threatens the fishers’ right to catch their rightful quotas, he added.
“The industry has acted professionally to ensure stocks are sustainable and now because of a scientific formulas, EU commissionaire Damanaki now proposes the limitation of days fishing boats can go to sea which not only will have an economic impact for all sectors, but insufficient days for the fleet to catch all the allocated quota for 2012. In comparison our competitive fishing nations such as Norway, Iceland Faroe are reaping the rewards and targeting the UK as they recognise stocks are in a good state and have significantly increased their quotas. Norway are rubbing their hands and looking forward to increased fishing quota next year while we are being subjected to cuts. Totally wrong. We as an industry should be looking forward to job creation and expansion next year being rewarded for the great improvement on fish stocks by our improved management not the opposite.
“Scottish seafood has a global reputation built on the supply of quality seafood landed by Scottish boats. It is not the case of the processors turning to other supplies from other countries as a solution to fulfil their customers’ requirements.
“There is evidence to prove that if the regular supply of fish is constrained anymore the viability of processing in Scotland is unsustainable. The processors have been in regular contact with senior government officials over the last year to assist to progress with a long term strategy to grow the seafood industry and compliment the Government’s policy to grow the Scottish Food Drink industry. The daily interference and introduction of regulations from EU have nothing to do with conservation of stocks, it is all about imposing centralised control of EU nations and fishing is just a pawn in the game.
“We hear of talk of new treaties because of the financial meltdown. We call on repatriation of fishing. The industry has the ability to look after its long term sustainable future unlike the Common Fisheries Policy which has been and will continue to be the architect of the disaster of overfishing and the discarding of hundreds of thousands of tons of marketable fish.
“If Damanaki is so committed to sustaining the industry and believes effort should reduce to enable stocks to recover, instead of aiding Mediterranean countries to tie up their fleets until stocks recover she must treat the Scottish industry in the same way, which includes all sectors of the industry. The best way she can do that is to keep out and stop dictating to us as she has proven she does not have a clue how the Scottish Fishing Industry is working to ensure the long term future for fish stocks, the fishing industry and our fishing dependent communities,” said Mr Clark.
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