Researchers will look at the how the downturn has affected the industry, examining issues such as quotas, the cost of fuel and how the price of fish has been affected.

In recent months a number of seafood companies have reported encouraging financial results in spite of the recession, indicating that - along with most other food producers - it has so far managed to escape the worst effects of the credit crunch. The situation was summed up by a Birds Eye executive told a seafood conference in March that he would rather be selling fish fingers than cars.

This new research which began yesterday was commissioned by the Scottish government and will be carried out by the Sea Fish Industry Authority, but its findings will be studied in the rest of the UK.

Scottish rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead said the results could help to shape the future of the Scottish fishing industry, which now provides the main catching capacity in the UK.

He told a press conference: 'The tough restrictions imposed on the fleet this year by the EU, combined with the global economic situation, are undoubtedly making life challenging for some of our fishermen.'

The study has been welcomed by the Scottish Fishermen's Federation whose members have seen white fish prices drop in recent months, partly due to heavier imports of cod and haddock from Iceland.

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