Argyll and west coast prawn fishing under serious threat from EU proposals

There has already been a lot of concern about the impact on Argyll and other west coast fishing communities of current EU proposals to close down fishing for cod, haddock and whiting in west coast waters.

But, in a move that would hit the Argyll fishing industry particularly hard, there are also proposals to modify the nets used by the tiny prawn boats so that cod and haddock could escape. Prawn boat skippers say that the proposals are impractical and that, if implemented, they would see around 300 prawn boats have no option but to tie up for good.

Prawn fishing is now the bread and butter of many small communities and of many small-scale fishermen in Argyll, as it is elsewhere on the west coast. The economic and social impact of its loss or serious reduction would be devastating. it would  embrace jobs in onshore processing and in haulage.

Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Government Fisheries Minister, describes the proposals  as ‘outrageous’.  He is today (Tuesday 16th December 2008) attending Europe’s annual fisheries negotiations and will vigorously oppose the proposals.

Bertie Armstrong, CEO of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) says: ‘We recognise that the west coast cod, haddock and whiting stocks are in a poor state and action is needed to aid their recovery. But the langoustine stock is in a healthy state and the proposal for separator grids for the fishery, which is the bread and butter of the west coast fleet, will effectively close fishing down on the west coast. This would be politically and economically unacceptable and will be opposed at industry, Scottish and UK Government levels’.

Mr Armstrong is calling into play the credit the SFF has accumulated over the past few years. He says: ‘Scottish fishermen have pioneered a series of initiatives that have delivered tangible results in terms of stock conservation. We are calling on the EC to give due recognition of our efforts and to accept our alternative conservation proposals’.

The option put forward by the SFF is the use of more selective trawls, enabling whitefish to escape from the net whilst still retaining the valuable langoustine catch.

Richard Lochhead’s negotiations in Brussels today are crucial for Argyll.