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Bertie Armstrong |
A NUMBER of total allowable catch issues now appear to be “out of the way” at key fish talks in Brussels, a fishing industry leader said tonight.
However, the priority of achieving an acceptable days at sea structure for next year was still unresolved.
Bertie Armstrong, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation said that there had been progress on a number of allowable catch (TAC) levels.
His understanding was that a roll-over for West of Scotland herring had been achieved, rather than a quota cut
And megrim was also a roll-over for the West of Scotland.
“Lemon sole for the West of Scotland has actually gone up slightly and we also expect that Rockall haddock will end up at a much more beneficial level.”
Meanwhile, they also appeared to be heading for an increase in West of Scotland nephrops rather than a cut and his hope was that they could achieve something akin to the status quo for North Sea nephrops.
However, they were no further forward on the effort issue.
“The priority remains to achieve a sensible outcome on days at sea because there is little point in having fish to catch at a satisfactory level if you have no access to them.”
The European Commission’s willingness to drop their effort target by 5% was no more than a small step in the right direction, he said.
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