Agreed Fish quota expansion funds

Agreed Fish quota expansion funds : A scheme aimed at reducing the "abhorrent practice" of fishermen having to throw dead fish back into the sea is being extended, the Scottish Government announced.
Ministers will provide up to £400,000 to support an expanded catch quota scheme for 2011.
Unlike traditional quota systems, where boats have a set limit for the amount of fish they are allowed to land, forcing them to throw any excess into the sea, the catch quota system allows for all fish that are caught to be landed.The Scottish Government funding will cover the cost of buying and installing monitoring equipment for fishing boats, to ensure the scheme is being adhered to.

Scottish fisherman landed 60,000 tonnes - the equivalent of £68 million worth - of whitefish in 2009. But the total amount of catches was higher at 88,000 tonnes, with fish caught worth an estimated £101 million.As a result fishermen had to throw back some 28,000 tonnes of fish, valued at £33 million.

Rural Affairs and Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "The practice of discarding fish back into the sea, dead, is enforced on our fishermen through the EU's flawed Common Fisheries Policy. This is an abhorrent practice that fishermen dislike, and flies in the face of our attempts to manage fish stocks sustainably."


He added: "Catch quotas alone will not provide the solution to all the difficulties facing our fleets, and fundamental changes to the European fisheries policy are needed. However, what our catch quota scheme achieves is to combine environmental responsibility with income opportunities. Extra quota is available to those taking part in the scheme, which removes the need to discard viable fish."

Environmental campaigners at WWF Scotland welcomed news the scheme was being expanded.

Marine policy officer Dr Mireille Thom, said: "This funding from the Scottish Government is very good news as it will ensure that skippers who want to take part in the catch quota trials will not be held back by the cost of equipment. Catch quotas offer great promise in eliminating wasteful discards and these trials are the best way to explore the potential in extending them to other fisheries."

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