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Richard Lochhead |
SPEAKING ahead of the start of the annual fishing quota negotiations in Brussels, which are due to begin today, the SNP's Shadow Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead MSP has called proposals by the European Commission to cut the number of days Scottish vessels can spend at sea by a quarter 'unjustifiable'.
Speaking today, Mr Lochhead said: "Any cuts even remotely similar to the scale being proposed by the European Commission would be completely unjustifiable and bankrupt our white fish and prawns fleets.
"It would be utterly shameful if UK Ministers and Brussels allowed Scotland's fishing to be denied access to the healthy stocks in our seas such as haddock and prawns in the name of a Cod Recovery Plan that the EU has already labelled as failure.
"As this is likely to be Ross Finnie's last ever fisheries negotiations he must do everything he can to prevent his time in office being remembered as a time when he sat back and allowed Scotland's fishing communities to be wiped out by the UK Government and Brussels."
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Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
