Fuel costs hit fish industry
With Scottish boats unable to put to sea because of soaring fuel costs, the resultant failure of Scotland to fully catch its share of fish could result in the future reallocation of quotas by the EU to subsidised foreign fleets.
This will be just one of the many concerns that the SFF will highlight to Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead at a meeting in Aberdeen later today (12 May) to discuss the fuel crisis.
Bertie Armstrong, chief executive, said: “The obvious question is why fishing should be more deserving of support compared with other industry sectors such as road haulage.
“The answer lies in the unique nature of the industry. We are stewards of the sea, harvesting a natural and renewable resource that is allocated to the UK. If we fail to take our share because Scottish boats can’t afford to put to sea or are put out of business, then someone else will take our fish.”
An EU proposal is currently on the table advocating any unused quota from one member state to be allocated to other member states, raising the real fear of Scotland losing valuable catching opportunity if it is unable to take its allocation.
A five point action plan to help the Scottish fishing industry counter the effects of rising fuel costs was announced yesterday (Monday) by fisheries secretary Richard Lochhead, following a meeting with the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation in Aberdeen.
The measures include:
* establishing a task force to quickly bring forward steps to help the industry;
* providing immediate help to offset fuel costs, including £400,000 for the annual maintenance costs of life rafts on every vessel in Scotland and £300,000 for the cost of the warranties vessels must pay on their satellite monitoring equipment;
* seeking a meeting with the UK government to discuss wider issues of the impact of fuel prices;
* continuing to press the European Union to ensure a level playing field on subsidies;
* working with the industry to develop a fuel efficiency scheme, which will be available by September.
The membership and remit of the task force will be agreed at today’s meeting of the Scottish Fisheries Council, with a commitment to report by August on how to respond to the fuel crisis and by February next year on longer term issues.
Shetland Fishermen’s Association chief executive Hansen Black said the measures were little more then “tinkering around the edges” of a global problem, but he hoped that they could achieve something.
Source: Shetland News, TheFishSite News Desk
Tags: crisis, price rising, Scotland, UK