The annual horse-trade of fish stocks, where European fisheries ministers argue over how long and how hard vessels can fish, was concluded in December. Media attention focussed on the reaction of fishermen’s representatives and the impact on the Scottish fleet. Few commentators, and even fewer journalists asked if the deal was sustainable, and followed the advice of the fisheries scientists. But in Scotland at least it did feel as if we had made some progress, albeit modest.
2013 could be remembered as the year of the fish. We saw the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and a move towards long term management agreements based on sound science, and rules to phase out the scandal of dumping unwanted fish at sea. Perhaps the biggest change is that Governments must now use environmental and social criteria when handing out fishing opportunities, creating an unprecedented incentive for boats to fish in ways which don’t damage our seas. Of course, all of this requires Scotland and its Ministers to have the will, and the muscle, to monitor and enforce these new rules.
But back to the CFP ‘deal’. The outcome was the usual mixed bag. The good news is that more stocks will be harvested at Maximum Sustainable Yield, and there will be trials to help Scotland transition to being ‘discard free’. The bad news is that much more needs to be done, as the pace of reform is never fast enough to bring a quantum change.
We recognise that Scottish fleets have made substantial changes in fishing gears and practises to reduce the by-catch of cod and other species in the North Sea. This is paying off with cod stocks slowly increasing. However, there is no room for complacency – Holyrood must keep up the good work, and Westminster and Brussels must make other Member States follow suit. The situation on the West coast is much more concerning – cod biomass remains very low, yet cod are still caught and many discarded.
RSPB Scotland’s vision is for fisheries which are discard free, with minimal bycatch of non-target species including seabirds; it is perhaps a surprise to many that European fisheries do catch large numbers of seabirds. We want a future where boats catch sustainable, high quality catches and bring pride and profit to their home ports. We support low impact fisheries which operate within laws to protect marine ecosystems, and we want serious management measures to protect Scotland’s emerging network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
The Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead said recently that he wants people the world over to equate ‘Scottish seafood’ with words like quality and sustainability. I absolutely agree, and we have a few ideas to help us get there: for example the mandatory use of the most selective fishing gears and onboard cameras that will show off the very best of Scotland’s fleet and sustainable fishing methods. We also need some MPAs where conservation is the overriding objective. That will give consumers and supermarkets the confidence to applaud these boats, and the Scottish approach to marine conservation, and, most importantly of all, buy the fish that sustains many coastal communities.