A SCOTTISH MEP has warned of the danger of a new Spanish Armada - in the shape of the country's powerful fishing fleet.
Conservative Struan Stevenson says that Scotland's traditional fishing rights could be transferred to foreign ownership under new rules currently under discussion in Brussels. A Green paper on the Common Fisheries Policy is now coming under scrutiny with a number of key amendments being proposed.
There was a very real possibility of trawlers from Spain, which has one of Europe's most powerful fishing fleets in terms of catching ability receiving equal access rights in the North Sea and off the West Coast of Scotland.
One of the proposed amendments could give Spanish trawler owners control of areas like the North Sea by opening traditional grounds to takeover by foreign companies.
Mr Stevenson, who is senior vice president of the European Parliament Fisheries Committee, said the proposal would mean access to fish stocks was no longer based solely on the criterion of historical catches.
He maintained: "While I am all for reforming the CFP, which has been a catastrophe for our fishing sector since its inception, I am determined to ensure that we don't open the door to a bargain basement sale of Scotland's fishing heritage. "If this rule is changed, Spanish fishermen could argue that they have equal access rights to our traditional fishing grounds in the North Sea and west of Scotland."
His views are shared by Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, who said: "One thing under consideration for the CFP is that these rights become tradable between nations and you can buy the right to fish elsewhere. "We would regard that as an extremely bad affair altogether and would be potentially threatening to the fishing communities around Scotland who've always fished in these waters."
Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
