Scottish ministers oppose EC fish ban recommendations
Executive's opposition to the proposed closure of certain areas of
the North Sea to fishing.
"The Scottish Executive is committed to developing sustainable and healthy fisheries to secure a healthy future for our industry and fishing communities," said Finnie in response to a report published by the European Commission ahead of fisheries negotiations in Brussels.
Around a fifth of the North Sea would be closed to fishing next year under European Commission plans for an unprecedented ban to help rescue cod stocks from collapse.
"If we don't take measures which are quite tough now, the situation can only become worse," claimed EU fisheries commissioner Joe Borg as he presented the proposals to be debated by EU ministers next week.
The EC study follows the publication on Tuesday of another gloomy assessment from the UK's Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, which proposed a ban on commercial fishing in 30 per cent of UK waters.
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report, entitled Turning the tide: Addressing the impact of fisheries on the marine environment, echoes the EC's contention that fisheries policies have failed and that radical change is needed.
The European Commission believes that a more targeted strategy is needed to conserve species in specific areas, while allowing better-stocked waters to be exploited and cushion the economic impact on fishing communities.
Five areas, covering 20 per cent of the North Sea and which have higher concentrations of cod, would be closed for the year to allow species to recover. Officials say this is a better option for fishermen than reducing the number of days they are permitted to spend at sea, currently around 14 each month.
Quotas for other types of fish, including haddock, would be increased. The Commission also wants a three-month closure in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark, and in the west of Scotland, where cod have all but disappeared, closed areas would be enlarged.
But such strategies are being met with strong opposition. The UK fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that more time should be given to implement measures that have already been taken, while Finnie argues that the recommended closures would devastate an industry already on its knees.
"Advice on some valuable stocks is more helpful this year and this is reflected in the Commission's proposals published today. We will be pressing the case for increased quotas on monkfish and prawns," said Finnie. "However proposals on closed areas have already been overtaken by the advice from the Commission's own technical advisers and fly in the face of representations by the newly formed North Sea Regional Advisory Council."
Finnie claimed that the Scottish Executive would always take account of scientific advice on threatened stocks while pushing for greater opportunities to fish healthy stocks. "But there is no case for this closed area and we will oppose it unreservedly," he said.
