Hans J Marter

15 December, 2007

REPRESENTATIVES from the Shetland fishing industry are setting off on Sunday for the annual 'horse trading' marathon on quotas in Brussels.

Talks will begin on Monday with an agreement expected by Wednesday.

Shetland Fishermen's Association chief executive Hansen Black and chairman Leslie Tait will be in close contact with Scottish fisheries minister Richard Lochhead while in Brussels.

Mr Black said the UK ministerial delegation should resist any further reduction in the days at sea the European Commission is proposing for some of the whitefish boats.

"The UK whitefish efforts have been reduced by 70 per cent since 2000. There is no requirement for further restrictions in this sector," he said.

Bertie Armstrong, the Scottish Fishermen's federation's chief executive, added that any effort limitation proposals were totally unjustified, given that other "much more effective and targeted management measures" were available.

"The management objective is cod recovery. The evidence strongly suggests that such recovery is now underway in the North Sea and the aim remains to protect and nurture cod while continuing to sustainably harvest from other healthy stocks.

"We have argued long and hard for a more intelligent approach than the blunt instrument of days-at-sea.

"We have proposed and support innovative measures such as area closures and technical alterations in fishing nets to let unwanted fish go," he said.

Some North Sea quotas for next year have already been decided at negotiations between the EU, Norway and other states.

These include an 11 per cent increase in North Sea cod thanks to recovering stocks, a 10 per cent increase in saithe, a 15 per cent cut for North Sea haddock; and a 25 per cent reduction in whiting.

The North Sea herring total allowable catch has been slashed by 41 per cent, a measure the SFF believe to be unjustifiably severe.