News / Scott and Lochhead clash over mackerel
FISHERIES protection officers have inspected yet another Faroese super trawler, as the political pressure on Marine Scotland grows.
On Friday morning, the 95 metre pelagic trawler Næraberg was escorted into Lerwick harbour by fisheries protection officers.
Scottish fishing minister Richard Lochhead confirmed late on Friday that so far the vast majority of Faroese fishing trips in waters off Shetland had been inspected by Marine Scotland.
Of the 17 vessels inspected only one was detained. The case against the skipper of the Christian I Grotinum, Pall Klein Rasmussen, has been continued without plea until 9 December at Lerwick Sheriff Court.
Lochhead strongly refuted claims by Shetland MSP Tavish Scott that Marine Scotland was not doing its job on behalf of the Scottish pelagic industry.
Scott had earlier on Friday lashed out at Marine Scotland accusing the agency of letting down the industry.
Following a four year standoff over fishing rights in the north east Atlantic, Faroe secured a significantly increased quota of 156,000 tonnes of mackerel this year, and is allowed to catch almost 50,000 tonnes of this in EU waters outside the 12 mile zone around Shetland.
Scott said: “I was against the deal, it was a bad deal, it was shockingly badly negotiated deal by the EU.
“The Faroese are fishing up to our beaches, so I am very clear that we were sold out by the EU.”
He added: “And the protection agency has not been doing its job on behalf of our industry.
“Our industry has been clobbered in the past and, no doubt, had to be dealt with appropriately under EU regulation. But how come there is one rule for our industry and another rule for the Faroese?
“It is time that the fisheries protection agency is doing its job on behalf of the Scottish and the Shetland fleet, and there is little sign of that happening at the moment, which is why local people are irate about this.”
But the fishing minister said that the MSP’s claims were “completely false”.
“Officials in Marine Scotland Compliance have been involved in a concerted effort to monitor Faroese vessels fishing in our waters,” Lochhead said.
“They have conducted 17 inspections to date out of a total of 21 completed Faroese voyages. This is a significantly greater rate of inspections than is generally carried out on Scottish vessels.
“I therefore have every confidence that we are effectively handling this issue, and in the resources and expertise we are devoting to it. We will continue to monitor the situation.”
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