9 March, 2007

THE SCOTTISH Fishermen's Federation has welcomed the Cod Symposium which starts in Edinburgh today (Friday).

Chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: "We warmly welcome the EC review of its cod recovery plan that was adopted in 2004 and now agreed by all of us as failing to do its job.

"Scotland is a primary European player in the mixed fisheries of the North Sea - the Scottish fishing zone covers 25 per cent of European waters - and we hope very much that one result of the debate will be to inform the public in a more balanced way the true picture of Scottish fisheries.

"Cod stocks are the subject of the symposium and we will address it most seriously, but it is important to note that the main target stocks of the Scottish fishing industry are in robust good health.

"Secondly, the regulation makers and the fishing industry have a joint responsibility to ensure the sustainable harvesting of fish - an irreplaceable component of humankind's food supply.

"The new cod recovery plan when it arrives must allow the successful and sustainable mixed fishery in the North Sea to continue, or we will fall into the 'not in my backyard trap' by supplying our needs with fish caught by people using methods over which we have no control, and worse, shipped to us over thousands of miles in energy hungry freezer containers.

"This symposium marks the start of a process of great significance for Scottish and European fishing. The stakes are high."