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THE Scottish White Fish Producers Association (SWFPA) says it is outraged at the contents of a letter from the EU Fisheries Commissioner to Scottish MEP, Struan Stevenson on the subject of West of Scotland haddock.
Mr Stevenson wrote to Commissioner Damanaki on 15th July saying it was imperative she become familiar with the situation of west coast haddock, urging her to intervene so that an appropriate level of opportunity could be set for 2012.
Both ICES and STECF, the Commission’s own advisory body, had previously stated that applying the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) framework for 2012, three years ahead of schedule, would deliver a Total Allowable Catch in 2012 of 10,200 tonnes, a fourfold increase from the current TAC of 2005 tonnes. They also both mentioned that the current catch composition rules (30% cod, haddock and whiting) which were applied in 2009 should be removed.
However, there is obviously thinking within the Commission that applying a 25% TAC constraint and setting a corresponding TAC of 2505 tonnes is the correct route.
In the her response to Mr Stevenson the Commissioner stated: “I would support a proposal for an increase in the TAC for 2012 although I could not agree to the four-fold increase that would be implied by setting a TAC in 2012 that corresponds to the (MSY) fishing mortality.”
SWFPA Chief Executive Mike Park said: “The Commissioner’s response to Struan Stevenson is beyond belief. My members have endured relentless pressure from the Commission and various Commissioners on the need to reduce fishing pressure to MSY levels.
“The fishing campaigner, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has plead with the Commissioner to solve the problem of regulatory discards, and she has agreed that we should do all we can, yet here we have an opportunity to set a level of catch that aligns to the highest MSY principles and she believes it is appropriate to set the TAC at an artificially lower level, with the result that discards will increase.
“If the Commissioner is truly committed to resolving the issue of discards, including regulatory discards, then she needs to understand that setting artificially low TAC’s in a mixed fishery does nothing other than lead to an increase in the level of discards. We therefore have to be clear that failing to set the appropriate TAC for area VIa haddock in 2012 is a declaration to the public at large that as far as the Commission is concerned it is business as usual. The banner may say we want to ban discards but if we truly want to solve the problem then it has to start here.”
Mr Park adds that the SWFPA will be writing to Commissioner Damanaki requesting a meeting at the earliest opportunity.
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