Green hijack will put fish industry in red
Call to halt ‘catastrophic’ conservation zones
FISHING leaders have called for the plug to be pulled on eco zone plans as they accused the Greens of hijacking them.
They say Scottish Government proposals will be catastrophic and could put the embattled industry into the red.
Highly Protected Marine Areas under consultation would close at least 10 per cent of Scottish waters.
Commercial and recreational fishing would be banned along with seaweed harvesting and shellfish cultivation.
Scotland’s existing network of Marine Protected Areas already covers 37 per cent of its seas.
Scottish Government ministers insist the new plans will conserve ecosystems, with economic and social benefits. But the Scottish
Fishermen’s Federation said plans for HPMAs “have been hijacked by the Greens and will push the fishing industry into the red”.
They have proposed two pilot projects to assess the impact of the plans before any final decisions are made. SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said: “The Government wants to close a further 10 per cent of our waters to fishing vessels with no evidence whatsoever that doing so will achieve ministers’ vague conservation aims, nor any attempt to understand the effect of displacing the fishing fleet.
“The underlying assumptions are that fishing is damaging to the environment and stocks degraded.
“Neither is justifiable and, in fact, the Government’s own indicators show that sustainability of commercially fished stocks is on a continuing upwards trend.”
The SFF said instead of entirely dismissing the concept of HPMAs, it has proposed two pilot areas are designated to allow the Scottish Government and other parties to work together to assess their impact before further areas are restricted.
Macdonald added: “SFF is urging the Scottish Government to have a radical rethink on this.
“The proposals will have a catastrophic impact on the fishing industry and coastal communities that depend on it for jobs.”
SFF’s views come after waves of criticism from fishing bodies and island communities.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We will be working closely with the fishing industry and other marine users.”