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The £27 million package of support for the fishing industry demonstrates Scottish Executive commitment to a sustainable prosperous future for this important industry, Rhona Brankin said today.
Commenting on the biggest ever investment in the industry, the Scottish Fisheries Minister added:
The proposed £25 million decommissioning scheme is not a distant prospect – it will open by June – but it will have long-term benefits;
There are cheap, simple and highly-effective measures fishermen can take now which would reduce discards of juvenile haddock by 70 per cent over the year – compared to the minimal conservation benefits of tie-ups; and
The Executive is still in dialogue with the industry – and is prepared to apply a degree of flexibility within the £26 million available to the catching sector.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Ms Brankin said:
"A week ago, I stood in this Parliament and announced a £27 million package – the biggest ever investment in the Scottish fishing industry. The Executive is committed to a sustainable, prosperous future for this important industry – I believe that the £27 million package announced last week demonstrates that commitment.
"At the heart of the £27 million package was a £25 million decommissioning scheme. The scheme is intended to remove around 20 per cent of the capacity of the Scottish whitefish fleet. Vessel owners will be compensated for surrendering their vessel and licence. The scheme will help not only to balance capacity with fishing effort but also ensure a more secure economic future for the remainder of the whitefish fleet.
"The problem has been about the short-term rather than the long-term. In particular, parts of the industry and the Parliament have expressed their disappointment about the absence of any short-term tie-up assistance.
"There is confusion about when the £25 million decommissioning package will begin to take effect. But that is not some dim and distant prospect. We want to open up the scheme in June of this year. Its implementation is a short-term matter, but I believe it has long-term benefits.
"I described last week the range of adjustments to fishing gear that I thought were necessary to tackle the short-term problem of the killing and discarding of excessive numbers of small haddock. Three cheap and simple measures – banning lifting bags, reducing extension pieces and moving the square mesh panel – will enable significantly more small fish to escape from nets.
"On the basis of the scientific data, drawn from trials conducted with Scottish boats, we estimate that the impact of these measures would be a 70 per cent reduction in discards over the full year.
"A tie-up scheme inevitably has only a limited impact, but these measures will have a sustained effect. Next year, we will reduce the amount of fish thrown dead over the side by around one-third.
"So, the Executive's approach in the short term is to get gear adjustments made as soon as possible – voluntarily for a few weeks and then by legislation – and at the same time to follow up as a matter of urgency the longer term approach – that of decommissioning.
"On that basis, the Executive believes that haddock stock can be protected and that fishermen can earn an income. It was on this basis that we reached the conclusion that a temporary tie-up scheme would not be an effective way forward or represent the best use of taxpayers’ money.
"No-one will be surprised to learn that when I met with industry representatives on 13 March the question of the tie-up was raised. I am bound to say that I find some of the industry’s new-found enthusiasm for tie-up rather hard to understand. It was one of the first options raised by the European Commission as a response to the Cod Recovery Plan. At that time the industry flatly rejected it.
"However, it would appear that minds had changed. What the industry proposed was a tie-up of up to 150 boats (out of 500 Scottish boats with the white-fish sector) over a four week period at a cost of £6,000 per boat per week – a total cost of £3.6 million.
"The decision now for the Executive is whether, having regard to the views of Parliament, that expenditure of £3.6 million for a one month tie-up can be justified in terms of value for money. In other words, we are being asked to make a short-term economic subsidy rather than support a policy of investment for sustainability.
"For the long term, and that is what matters most, I would much rather invest in the kind of sustainability that decommissioning would support, particularly since decommissioning is widely accepted as a means of achieving both the conservation goals and the economic goal of a viable industry.
"To reduce significantly the money available for decommissioning would put at risk the objectives already agreed by the industry for a 20 per cent capacity reduction, and I have heard no strong arguments about why we should do that.
"Significant sections of the industry agree with this. I have letters from all the main West Coast fishermen’s organisations making it clear that, if it comes to a choice between decommissioning and tie-ups – they favour the former.
"Having said all of that, we did make some progress in our meeting with fishermen. We have already made £1 million available for a new partnership between scientists and fishermen. Involvement of the industry in this programme will begin as early as tomorrow.
"In addition, I have agreed with the industry that we should explore options for a degree of re-balancing within the overall amount available. We are considering with the industry ways of extending this partnership approach. We will open immediate discussions with the industry to look at ways of getting the industry involved in conservation research, gear trials and vessel charters.
"I genuinely believe that this is the right way forward. We will engage active fishermen in conservation. We will draw a wide range of fishermen into our conservation efforts, involving them at the earliest possible stage – to get the right approach and to get fishermen buying in to process.
"In summary, we have listened very carefully to the views of Parliament. We believe that the £27 million package is a practical one that will – with some minor adjustments – provide support for the industry in the long term and will allow fishermen to make a living in the short term."
News Release: SE0672/2001
15 Mar 2001
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