European regulations that result in hundreds of millions of pounds worth of dead fish being dumped at sea were condemned as an “utter disgrace” yesterday.
Scottish Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead said the industry could not afford to wait for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy in four years.
It is widely recognised the CFP has failed to protect stocks. Thirty years on, many are overfished and the industry faces annual cuts in quotas and time at sea.
Mr Lochhead told a conference in Edinburgh on reform of the CFP that its failure stemmed from a top-down policy that “micro-manages one-size-fits-all rules” on different European ecosystems.
One of the problems was that fishermen who catch several species that swim together are forced to dump fish, for which they have no quota, over the side undermining conservation efforts, the minister told delegates.
Every year around £60million of white fish is discarded in the North Sea. In 2007 and 2008, cod with a potential market value of up to £100million was dumped.
Mr Lochhead said: “It is an utter disgrace that our fishermen are being forced to dump high-quality and marketable fish back into the sea – hundreds of millions of pounds wasted and unnecessary pressure on our stocks due to the crazy rules of the CFP.”
He called for Scotland to have more control of its own fisheries. Local fishermen were already pioneering new measures to control discards such as CCTV cameras, jigging machines and the Orkney trawl which catches 50% less cod but still keeps haddock and whiting.
“In return for taking less fish from the sea in the first place, our fishermen should be allowed to land more of what they do catch rather than be forced to dump it over the side of the boat”, Mr Lochhead said.
“For reducing overall fishing effort, our fishermen should be rewarded by being allowed to land and sell much of what is currently being thrown overboard.
“We need to stop simply regulating what is landed ashore and instead concentrate on what is actually removed from the sea in the first place.”
UK Fisheries Minister Huw Irranca-Davies will tell the conference today that the CFP does not let the industry plan for the future.
“Fishermen cannot be certain about the strategic direction set for each year, let alone three years or more as most businesses plan for,” he said.
“Annual changes to fishing opportunities, effort restrictions and technical measures doesn't help.
“The industry has only a matter of weeks to adapt, creating short-termism and too many uncertainties.”
Liberal Democrat fisheries spokesman Liam McArthur MSP called discards “economic and environmental madness” and said finding a solution must be a priority.
He said: “Nevertheless, Scotland's fishermen are more concerned at this stage about what might emerge from the crucial fisheries negotiations coming up next month.”
The Orkney MSP added: “Important though CFP reform is, it is largely irrelevant to those discussions.”