Moving towards reform

When it comes to changing long standing policy across the EU, the pace of change is inevitably slow and the competing concerns and interests that must be juggled is a complicated task to say the least. Yet change does come and with the recent publication of the European Commission’s proposals for changes to the Common Fisheries Policy, we are finally getting closer to seeing fundamental changes to the system of fisheries management take place.

The CFP as it currently stands is rightly regarded universally as an unmitigated failure which has failed both to conserve fish stocks and protect the livelihoods of fishing communities. That fundamental change to it is needed has been accepted for some time and that is something we are now moving closer towards.

However, the European Commission’s proposals contain measures which are both positive and negative for the industry in Scotland and as such we must continue to push for a better deal to be reached.

The Scottish Government and the fishing industry in this country have long been calling for a more regional basis to fisheries management to replace the annual negotiations in Brussels which sees land-locked Luxembourg hold more sway than Scotland. The Commission’s plans seem to accept the need for this decentralisation and that is something which is to be warmly welcomed providing it is properly implemented.

The Scottish fishing fleet has been leading the way in Europe when it comes to conservation measures such as using selective fishing gears, real time closures of breeding grounds and perhaps most significantly with the introduction of the catch quota scheme which sees vessels receive a larger quota allocation in return for landing all the fish they catch without any discards. It sees skippers catch less, but land more.

Nobody wants to see the abhorrent practice of discarding perfectly good fish to comply with EU regulations brought to an end more than the fishing industry itself. However, simply proposing a blanket ban on the practice as the current European Commission proposals do takes no account of the challenges of fishing in a mixed fishery, where several types of fish are caught in a single catch. A more radical change to current practice is needed if we are to avoid the CFP simply repeating the same old mistakes in introducing ill-fitting, top-down decisions to the fishing industry. The only real way to solve the problem of discards is to work the fishing industry to find solutions that are practical and can work in a mixed fishery, not to issue central diktats which could prove counter-productive in the long run.

Also of great concern is the threat posed by the proposal that international trading of fishing quotas should be expanded. In time this would almost undoubtedly see a handful of large multi-nationals end up controlling the bulk of all fishing quotas and ruin businesses and fishing communities in Scotland and further afield. It is a measure which must be vigorously resisted or areas like Banffshire & Buchan Coast could see the heart torn out of our fishing communities.

In all there are both good and bad elements to the proposals that have been put on the table, but the fact that reform will take place at all is perhaps the biggest positive. There are two years of negotiation ahead to improve upon what has been proposed and ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. The Scottish Government has already made our views clear and in the coming months and years it is more essential than ever that Scotland’s voice is heard in Europe.