A vision of how Scotland can reap the benefits of taking control of its own fisheries management was set out in detail today.
Fisheries secretary Richard Lochhead told a major international conference in Edinburgh that the time has come for the EU to repair the damage caused by the broken Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
Discards - the practice of throwing dead fish back into the sea - is widely regarded by skippers, environmental experts and scientists as one of the CFP's biggest flaws.
At present European regulations mean that fishermen have little choice but to throw away much of the fish they catch.
Well over a third of all cod caught in the North Sea and West of Scotland is thrown away. North Sea whitefish discards are worth around £60 million a year - a problem which is greatly compounded when the actions of other non-Scottish fleets are taken into account.
Addressing the Inter-RAC Conference today, Mr Lochhead said: 'The Commission has admitted that CFP is broken and in need of a major makeover.
Its remote micromanagement and insensitive regulation make it arguably the most ill thought out European policy currently affecting Scotland.
'Scotland is now leading the debate on how its replacement will best serve the interests of fishermen and our environment. We are in the process of drafting a detailed response to the CFP Green Paper.
'We already know that Scottish fishermen lead Europe in taking ground breaking conservation measures and they can be trusted to deliver if awarded additional responsibilities. Just imagine what could be achieved if we were masters of our own destiny.
'It is important that greater powers are returned to Scotland. Our guiding principle throughout next year's CFP negotiations is simple: decision making must be returned to Scotland where it belongs. But we can't wait for 2013 for radical changes - we need changes now - before it's too late for our fishermen and fish stocks.
'On discards, in return for taking less fish from the sea in the first place, our fishermen should be allowed to land more of what they do catch rather than be forced to dump it over the side of the boat. For reducing overall fishing effort, our fishermen should be rewarded by being allowed to land and sell much of what is currently thrown overboard. We need to stop simply regulating what is landed ashore and instead concentrate on what is actually removed from the sea in the first place. That means moving to catch quotas away from the current failed system.
'Today I have taken that message direct to the European fisheries officials. It is an utter disgrace that our fishermen are being forced to dump high quality and marketable fish back into the sea - hundreds of millions of pounds wasted and unnecessary pressure on our stocks due to the crazy rules of the CFP.
'Deciding how to best manage our seas once we regain control of fisheries policy must be done in partnership with the industry which is why our consultation on the future of the CFP is so important. We are in the middle of a storm caused by a broken CFP and low quayside prices, but by working together we can navigate our way through it.'
Should people be 'stimulated' to eat white fish alternatives to cod?
