SCOTTISH Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead sailed into a storm of protest last night after banning trawlermen from trading their catch quotas outside the country.
Industry leaders fear the shock moratorium could stop skippers getting bank backing for their businesses and threaten livelihoods.
They are angry it was introduced without warning and worried that an already complex system could become even more difficult for fishermen to navigate.
One insider said there was even a suspicion that Mr Lochhead’s move was connected to the independence campaign and the looming referendum.
Quotas – the amount of fish vessels are allowed to land legally – can trade hands for tens of millions of pounds.
They are used as collateral against loans and overdrafts by skippers and boat owners.
Mr Lochhead and fellow SNP government ministers regard fishing quotas as a “national resource”.
He is concerned at an apparent increase in the number of them being bought and sold and information that “suggests” they are becoming concentrated in fewer hands.
He claims trading in quotas has pushed up prices – making it almost impossible for up-and-coming skippers to break into the industry.
A 12-week consultation on the issue is due to start later this year.
In the meantime, Mr Lochhead has imposed a unilateral moratorium on the transfer of fixed quota allocation units (FQAs) outside Scotland.
He said: “It is a matter of the highest priority for the government that Scotland’s fishing quotas are managed in the national interests and that we safeguard access to them for active fishermen.”
But industry leaders believe Mr Lochhead has plans to reallocate quotas – a move they say would make a complicated problem worse.
Michael Park, chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association, said skippers had already received e-mails from banks asking them exactly what impact the transfer ban would have on their finances.
Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, was angry at the “unilateral slam-shut” of introducing a moratorium without warning. He said: “When that happens, it makes investors and users extremely nervous.”
Simon Collins, executive officer of Shetland Fishermen’s Association, said: “Quota, being the most valuable part of an operation, is put up as collateral.
“Once doubt is cast over whether you have that from one month to the next, financiers, banks, just walk away and you are left with real problems.”
Comment, Page 30