10 December, 2007

THE UK fishing minister should negotiate hard to protect fishermen from sever cuts to the mackerel quota, according to northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael.

In Thursday's fisheries debate in the House of Commons, Mr Carmichael said the importance of the pelagic fleet to Scottish fishing communities could not be overestimated.

The European Commission has proposed that the North Sea herring quota be slashed by 42 per cent, with mackerel facing a nine per cent cut.

Mr Carmichael told fishing minister Jonathon Shaw said he was concerned about a "substantial disjunction" between the ay the scientists and the fishing industry viewed the state of the pelagic stocks.

"The mackerel stock if of particular importance to the pelagic fleet, and if a cut is made where none is necessary, its impact would be particularly severe," he said.

"An obvious compromise could be made on mackerel. The minister may not be able to get what the industry wants, and I accept that there are difficulties in that. Will he negotiate from the position that there needs to be a comprehensive review of the science? There is precedent for that.

"Will he also negotiate some in-year flexibility for the fleet, because experience tells us-I think particularly of the situation that faced monkfish fishermen in south-west England a few years ago-that as the year progresses it can become apparent that the science on which the quota and the TAC was based was not accurate, and that there is an abundance of fish.

"Such is the importance of mackerel to the Scottish pelagic fleet that every effort should be made to ensure that any cuts are absolutely necessary in the interests of sustainability, and can be revisited in the course of the year."

After the debate, Mr Carmichael said: "The two main challenges facing Jonathon Shaw and Richard Lochhead in Brussels will be winning the argument over days at sea and protecting the pelagic fleet's future.

"I believe that Jonathon Shaw understands that and I hope he is successful. It is in everyone's interest that he should be."