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A third round of negotiations to try and achieve an international mackerel fishing deal for 2012 concluded on Friday, with further negotiations planned to resume in January. The talks included the EU, Norway, Faroe Islands and Iceland.
Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “Following more marathon talks to try and reach a new deal for mackerel fishing in the year ahead, it’s disappointing we have not yet come to an agreement. However, it’s vital that dialogue continues and I welcome that further talks will take place next month, as we pursue every opportunity of securing an international deal to safeguard the future of the stock.
“Mackerel is the Scottish fleet's most valuable stock. It is in all the interests of all parties for the fishery to be both profitable and sustainable, which is why the Scottish Government has been clear that our priority is to seek a new agreement to protect the stock in the long-term and therefore the viability of our pelagic fleet – however we cannot do a deal at any cost.
“The longer we continue without a coastal states agreement, the greater the threat to the mackerel stock. If fishing continues at the levels we have seen over the past two years, we face the possibility of the stock falling below safe limits as early as 2014. We cannot afford to let this happen.”
Statistics for 2010 indicate that mackerel remains Scotland's most valuable catch, worth 113 million pounds to the Scottish economy.
In 2011 the Faroe Islands unilaterally set themselves a mackerel catch of 150,000 tonnes, up 75 per cent on 2010 and more than five times their internationally agreed share in 2009. Meanwhile, Iceland, who caught very little mackerel prior to 2008, set their own increased TAC of around 147,000 tonnes earlier this year.
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