Fishing chiefs last night urged the governments in Edinburgh and London to stop politics getting in the way of helping their industry to survive one of its biggest challenges yet.
The plea came at the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) annual dinner in Edinburgh, just over a month before European fisheries ministers meet in Brussels to decide the catch rules for next year.
But a new ban on discards is also looming, with many white-fish skippers fearing it is unworkable in their mixed fishery.
SFF president Ross Dougal said the industry needed full governmental support now more than ever, and not the distraction of any political “point scoring” in the current debate over more powers being handed to Holyrood.
He added: “We will work closely with the governments of the day, looking for the best outcome for the Scottish fishing industry.
“We expect to see what governments can do for fishing and not the other way round.”
The SFF has already had its say in the Smith Commission consultation on greater devolved powers for Scotland.
Mr Dougal said: “We are fully supportive of the Scottish fishing minister taking the lead in fisheries negotiations where appropriate, but equally it is important that governments on both sides of the border work closely together so as to ensure the best possible deal for the fishing industry.
“The SFF’s only focus is on what is best for the catching sector and all our associated onshore industries, and this should be the priority of our governments too.”
He said the SFF had also been taking a lead role in recent scientific initiatives, while its management of observer programmes was having a “tangible impact” on stock assessment and fisheries management.
And while he praised the support of both the Scottish and UK governments in helping to achieve the recent EU Council decision to allow a roll-over of mackerel quota to mitigate the impact of Russian sanctions, he warned: “The landing obligation, or discard ban as it is known, is without doubt the single biggest threat facing our industry today.
“Our mackerel and herring fisheries will be the first to feel its impact on January 1, 2015.”
Discards are to be phased out between 2015 and 2019, and fishermen will be obliged to land at least 95% of what they catch.
Last night’s guests included Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead, who revealed that new EU Fisheries Minister Karmenu Vella had already been invited to Scotland to see the complexity of Scotland’s mixed fisheries at first hand.
Mr Vella took up his post on November 1, replacing Maria Damanaki.
Announcing his potential visit to Scotland, Mr Lochead said: “If the landing obligation is fundamentally changing the way we fish, then it’s obvious to me that we have to rethink the fundamentals of how we manage fishing.
“I pledge to work with the industry, with the European institutions, with the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and with all other interests to make this obligation work for our fisheries.
“Last month, I met the outgoing commissioner and stressed the need for member states and the (European) Commission to show joint leadership in developing – without delay – new fisheries management approaches.
“If we don’t take the opportunity to find solutions that are fit for this decade, we’ll fail our fishermen and our stocks.
“Coming to Scotland would be a great opportunity for the new commissioner to see and hear for himself the challenges involved in implementing a discard ban in a mixed fishery like we have in Scotland’s waters.”