Scottish trawlers are to have access to Faroese fishing grounds for the first time in four years.
This country’s white-fish boats will be allowed back into the area from April 1 as a result of the mackerel quota deal agreed by the EU, Norway and Faroe this week.
They have been banned from Faroese waters since 2010 because of a long-running battled over quota allocations for the shared north-east Atlantic mackerel stock.
But that will change from the start of next month and the Scottish White Fish Producers Association (SWFPA) said it provided a “hugely welcome financial lifeline” for many of its members.
SWFPA chief executive Mike Park said: “The deal with Faroe has been a long time coming, yet still comes at a welcome time when many of our members continue to feel the full effect of other financial pressures.
“The vessels previously removed from this fishery represent the most heavily invested of all our sectors and the freedom to operate across a range of fishing opportunities was always paramount to their success.
“The Faroese fishery was a major feature of their operational plans”.
Wednesday’s quota deal for 2014 gave Scottish fishers access to 2,000 tonnes of white-fish species including cod, haddock and saithe in Faroese waters, helping to mitigate the impact of cuts in North Sea.
Among skippers welcoming a return to Faroe is Peter Lovie, of Whitehills, who said: “This is really good news, given that only seven days ago we thought the prospects of a deal with Faroe had evaporated.
“I used to fish a fair amount of time in Faroese waters and it has been really difficult to operate profitably since we lost access.”
Mr Lovie, skipper of the Endeavour IV, added: “I’m really pleased that we can now return to some semblance of normality.”
Scottish pelagic industry leaders are less happy, however, as this week’s deal allows Faroese boats to catch much more mackerel in EU waters than before.
Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association chief executive Ian Gatt said: “We are bitterly disappointed that Faroe has received access to fish 29% of their own mackerel quota in Scottish waters, which equates to a much higher tonnage than under the previous arrangement.
“Our industry is calling upon the Scottish Government to introduce a robust control and compliance regime that ensures that this access provision is not abused in any way.”