SCOTLAND’S fishing industry yesterday received a £44 million funding boost as a result of annual EU negotiations.
The additional funds are part of the overall £440m package agreed and will see significant quota increases for key stocks. However, there are warnings that some areas will still face challenges, and that the quotas will mean more “overfishing”.
North Sea whiting, west of Scotland haddock, North Sea Norway lobster and monkfish all saw sizeable increases, while nine of the 13 stocks the Scottish Government measures its sustainability performance against have been set in line with the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for 2018.
Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing welcomed the deal, but was frustrated that proposals on cod and Norway lobster, helping those operating on the west coast of Scotland, were rejected.
“Brexit has loomed large over this year’s negotiations,” he said. “Now that these deals have been confirmed we will continue to seek real assurances from the UK Government that they will not trade access to Scottish waters away to secure other interests in the Brexit negotiations. We cannot and will not accept Scottish fishing interests being put at risk.”
Ewing’s caution was echoed by Mike Park, chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association, despite him labelling the outcome as “broadly fair”.
“If this was a prelude for the final round of fisheries negotiations next year before the UK leaves the European Union, it does not bode well,” he said.
Further concerns were raised by environmental law charity ClientEarth, who warned that the quotas were too high if the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy for fishing to be sustainable by 2020 was to be realised.
“The 2018 fishing quotas mean overfishing continues for many stocks,” they said.
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