Scottish prawn, scallop and flatfish fishermen are facing ruin because cod-recovery rules from Brussels are being applied “indiscriminately,” said MEP (Member of European Parliament) Struan Stevenson following a meeting with fishermen this week.
Stevenson warned that if the situation continues, fishermen’s days-at-sea would be cut from a maximum 200 this year to 150 in 2010 on Scotland’s west coast, a reduction that would be “catastrophic.”
According to Stevenson, about 120 vessels targeting prawn, scallops and flatfish — with a total catch of less than 1.5 percent cod — should be exempt from the cod-recover rules ushered in last year.
“Although they are not catching cod, they have so far failed to receive exemption from the terms of the recovery plan,” said Stevenson on Wednesday after meeting with fishermen in Campbeltown on Scotland’s west coast.
In November 2008, European Union fisheries ministers thrashed out a cod-recovery plan to reduce cod mortality in the North Sea and surrounding waters. The plan dictates how much time many European fishermen are allowed to spend at sea, aiming to link their allocation of sea time with conservation-friendly measures.
UK authorities asked the European Commission in February to exempt certain groups of vessels from the plan. But, Stevenson said, EC scientific advisers recommended that the request be refused because the application contained “insufficient information on catches, fishing gear and vessel data.”
Further information has since been submitted, “but no news has been forthcoming from the commission,” said a statement from Stevenson’s office.
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