UK ministers emerged triumphant from end-of-year fish talks in Brussels last night, having successfully fought off swingeing cuts in days at sea.
It is the second year in a row they have managed to avert a potentially devastating loss of fishing time for boats working in the North Sea and off the west coast of Scotland.
Scottish industry leaders also hailed the deal as an important victory, but remained cautious about the prospects for the fleet with many battles still ahead.
Quotas for some of the country’s most valuable catches, most notably mackerel and North Sea cod and haddock, will not be fixed until multinational talks in the new year.
Casting a shadow over the chances of a quick resolution for these is the long-running dispute over mackerel quotas shared between the EU, Norway, Iceland and Faroe.
The white-fish fleet also faces the difficult and looming challenge of a ban on discards, the wasteful practice of dumping dead fish back in the sea because it cannot be landed under the current rules, being phased in from 2015.
Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead was part of a UK negotiating team led by London counterpart George Eustice.
Mr Lochhead said the freeze in automatic annual cuts in days at sea, under an EU cod recovery plan, would remove the “huge anxiety” that had been hanging over the industry.
He described the rest of the deal, struck after two days of “gruelling” Fisheries Council talks, as a mixed bag.
Some proposed quota cuts were avoided, while others went unchallenged, as they were in line with scientific advice.
Mr Lochhead also took comfort from the European Commission “acknowledging” UK demands for a moderate increase in North Sea cod quotas in light of evidence of healthier fish numbers.
He said: “Securing the current level of days at sea is a relief for Scotland’s fishing industry and will offer stability in 2014. This means our fishing fleet can achieve a better balance between having quota to catch and enough days at sea to catch it.”
Other parts of the deal for fishing in 2014 include quota cuts for North Sea and west coast prawns, down 11% and 8% respectively, in line with scientific advice.
Rollovers were achieved for west coast whiting and North Sea skates and rays, instead of the 20% cuts that were proposed for these stocks.
The catch limit for west coast haddock is down by 5%, while hake quotas on both sides of Scotland are up by 18%.
Rockall haddock, up 22%, and North Sea and west coast megrim, increases of 8% and 20% respectively, were among the other stocks discussed.
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