Catching sector being let down

The Scottish government has given up the fight for the future of the Scotland’s catching sector according to several representatives who have accused ministers of ignoring them rather than fighting plans to cut the number of days skippers spend at sea.

On the other hand, the Scottish government said it would do "whatever it takes" to ensure our fishermen are rewarded with catch quotas and effort that is actual fishing time, not simply time spent at sea, and to maximise profitability and responsible fishing

With three months still to go, this year’s quota is already running out and now Europe is proposing to further cut the days allowed at sea by up to a quarter.

Safeguarding the future of the fishing industry has been a major part of SNP policy since before the party came to power, but skippers now feel they are being let down by the Scottish government.

According to Skipper David Milne "Our vessel is tied up just now in September and October. If these cuts go ahead next year we are probably looking at July/August time and we’ll have a large amount of vessels tied to the wall with no fishing opportunities."

Bertie Armstrong, of the SFF, said more cuts would devastate the industry and identified the need for support for the sector saying "We have a serious gap between what we know must happen to allow us to continue to sustainably fish, and what’s actually being said, which is ‘sorry, there’s not much we can do about this’."

Meanwhile, Carol MacDonald of the ‘Cod Crusaders’ said they were now resuming their fight following approaches – telling BBC Scotland "It’s quite distressing and emotional when a grown man comes up and asks with tears in his eyes ‘can you help us’."

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