25 April 2012

The Scottish fishing industry has welcomed the unanimous vote by the European Parliament  Fisheries Committee in support of trade sanctions against countries that engage in unsustainable fishing practices.

It is hoped that the resolution at yesterday’s (24 April) meeting will ease the way for the introduction of trade sanctions by the EU against Iceland and the Faroes in response to their massive unilateral quotas for mackerel that lie outwith any international management agreement.

2 April 2012

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation played an important briefing role in a visit to Peterhead last Friday (March 30) by MEPs and UK shadow fisheries minister, Fiona O’Donnell, MP.

At a lunch hosted by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, the MEPs Chris Davies, Ian Hudghton, and Struan Stevenson, heard from fishermen, seafood processors and other business representatives about their main concerns over current fisheries management measures and the path the current reform process of the Common Fisheries Policy may take.

18 March 2012

Speaking before the European Council of Fisheries Ministers on Monday and Tuesday, SFF Chief Executive Bertie Armstrong said:

“The problem we now have is that the public campaigns to highlight the discarding of fish, for example the “Big Fish Fight” have, by using simple messages to correctly draw attention to it, left the impression that the solution is simple too – just ban it. 

23 February 2012

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation has welcomed the move today by the European Commission to use emergency powers to reduce and avoid excessive discarding of haddock in the West of Scotland.

Under the previous “unworkable” catch composition rules, which governed the proportion of the various species that could be landed, fishermen had no option other than to dump large quantities of marketable haddock back into the sea despite having a catch quota for the species.