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Hans J Marter
27 January, 2007
SCOTTISH pelagic fishermen will have to pay back around 50,000 tonnes of herring
and mackerel quota over the next six years.
The UK government and the European Commission have now reached an agreement,
which will see every tonne of herring caught over quota, and around 75 per cent
of mackerel, being repaid.
The settlement follows a massive investigation into black fish landings between
2001 and 2005, which culminated into raids on a number of pelagic fish
factories, including Shetland Catch.
With the current price of mackerel being around £650 per tonne, the value of the
repayment is around £32 million.
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive yesterday (Friday) confirmed that a deal
had been reached.
He said: "Scottish Executive officials have engaged with their counterparts at
the European Commission. These discussions have taken account of factors
including potential socio-economic impacts of payback and the need to protect
those not involved in illegal activity.
"A Commission Regulation should be published shortly setting out the terms of
repayment until 2012.
"In the case of herring, a tonne-for-tonne payback will be required. For
mackerel, given TAC (Total Allowable Catch) fluctuations between the period when
the overfishing first occurred and the TAC in 2006, repayment will be around 75
per cent of the total over-quota tonnage."
The payback time was backdated to early 2006, when the mackerel fishing for
Scottish and Shetland boats was severely restricted.
Yesterday the Shetland Fish Producers' Organisation said the settlement would
bring hardship to the local industry, but they remained optimistic for the
future.
Chief executive Brian Isbister said last night: "It is going to create hardship
for the industry in the short term, but we hope that as a consequence of the
management regime that is in place now, we will result in a better industry with
a long term future."
He said he did not know how much the local PO had to pay back as the details
have not been released by the Scottish Executive yet, but industry insiders say
that about 50,000 tonnes for Scotland as a whole would be realistic. Shetland's
share could be as high as 40 per cent.
Mr Isbister added: "With a repayment scheme in place that people can understand,
we can at least manage ourselves through the next few years, and hopefully
benefit from the increased quota for mackerel."
An unnamed industry insider added: “The industry regards this as the first very
important step in regaining its reputation.”
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