A No vote is the best way to protect the Scottish fishing industry, according to the industry spokesmen for the three unionist parties.
Highlands and Islands Tory MSP Jamie McGrigor, Shetland Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott, and Mid Scotland and Fife Labour MSP Claire Baker have signed an open letter arguing the benefits of staying in the union.
They said Scotland fishes “considerably more than its quota” by getting access to fishing grounds in other part of the UK, something that would be lost with a Yes vote.
The letter states that the ability to buy and lease quota from the rest of the UK will be lost with separation and this would be, in the words of Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong, “arguably the most significant problem of separation” for the industry.
They point out that more than 50% of scallop landings by Scots vessels are from outside Scottish waters and much of the prawn catch is from waters off North Shields in England.
The three spokesmen said an example of the advantages of the UK was when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs transferred 100,00 kilowatt days (days at see multiplied by the power of the vessel) to the Scottish fleet to save the west coast prawn fleet “following mismanagement by the Scottish Government”.
“With separation an independent Scotland would have to enter negotiations on a whole range of issues with both the rest of the United Kingdom and the European Union,” the letter said.
“The Scottish Government have yet to indicate what their red line will be and by opening up quota negotiations it would only be natural for fishing nations such as Spain to see negotiations as the opportunity to better their own lot.”
North-east SNP MSP Christian Allard said: “This is a quite incredible claim by the No campaign, many of whom are the very same people who have such a terrible record on supporting Scottish fishermen.
“The fact is that Scotland’s fishing sector has been let down for far too long by successive Westminster governments and was infamously described as ‘expendable’ by the UK Government.”