Fishing sector faces new shake-up

Fears voiced for Scottish fleet if aid to combat fuel crisis is not forthcoming

By David Perry

Published:

The fishing industry faces a new round of “significant restructuring” under plans for possible help with crippling fuel costs which won overall support in Luxembourg last night.

Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong later welcomed recognition in the European Fisheries Council that there was a serious problem over fuel, but warned some of the support would be left to national governments under the initial ideas for coping with the crisis put to ministers by Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

He said a failure by the UK or Scottish governments to deliver their share of any aid “would lead to the nightmare scenario where some European fishing fleets will gain aid to help see them through the fuel crisis, while the Scottish fleet is given nothing and is put at a severe competitive disadvantage”.

His warning followed a review of the crisis at the council meeting in Luxembourg, closely monitored by representatives of the Scottish fishing industry.

No details of the proposals were available immediately after it concluded.

They have not yet been agreed by the European Commission in Brussels. Formal plans are expected to be tabled at the next Fisheries Council next month.

Mr Armstrong said that, in general terms, the proposals were welcome as a recognition that the survival of some parts of the industry was at stake.

But there had to be acceptance that the Scottish fleet has only recently emerged from restructuring and should not be disadvantaged by having done so.

He was also worried where the finance for the package would come from and what would happen if neither Westminster nor Holyrood were able to match funding available to other fleets.

He said: “That would allow parts of the fishing industry to collapse, never to recover.

“We have a history of creating conditions that are less than optimal for the UK fishing industry by not matching funding available to the other member nations.

“The Scottish fishing fleet is the third largest in Europe and it is imperative that we get support – otherwise our fishing industry could face the tragedy of an unplanned collapse.”

In Westminster, SNP fisheries spokesman Angus MacNeil, MP for the Western Isles, said the Scottish fleet should not face more decommissioning. But he warned little could be done by a Scottish Government whose hands were tied financially by a Westminster Government with little interest in the industry.

Aberdeen North Labour MP Frank Doran said that if there was general agreement in Europe on help with fuel for fishermen, he would “expect a British government to fall into line to prevent our fishing industry being put at a competitive disadvantage”.

Scottish Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead said he would put pressure on the UK Government to “provide some of the windfall it has received from high fuel prices to help the UK's fleets”. He warned: “It is vital that any EU support package is not tied to decommissioning and takes into account that unlike other countries our fleet has already downsized in recent years.”