Declaring that the Scottish Government is working to minimise the negative impact of the Cod Recovery Plan, the Scottish Government / Marine Scotland has just sent out the press release below.
Government press release on ‘days at sea’ allocations
Marine Scotland has announced days at sea allocations for West Coast fishermen that will help to keep the fleet at sea throughout this year.
The Scottish Government has listened hard to the concerns of fishermen. The need to allocate days at sea comes from the EU’s dysfunctional Cod Recovery Plan (CRP) that controls vessels’ time at sea even when they catch very little cod. The Scottish Government has been continually calling for the CRP to be substantially amended. The Government will call for the European Commission to take action to:
- Allow for the swift exemption from time at sea controls for vessels that catch very little cod, particularly where fishers are able to document low catches;
- Remove the rigidities in the plan which prevent EU Member States from moving their allocations of time at sea between different sea areas so that days at sea can be better targeted on low cod impact fisheries.
Days at sea allocations for west coast prawn vessels will be equivalent to 95 per cent or more of the hours spent at sea on the west coast in 2009-2011, with a minimum rate of 110 days . The Scottish Government hopes to be able to return allocations to 100 per cent in 2014-2015 if uptake this year is managed as anticipated.
These allocations mean that nearly 70 per cent of the west coast prawn fleet will either continue to be exempt from days at sea altogether or will face no reduction. The remainder will face a reduction of no more than 5 per cent in their normal time.
The Government will also help skippers affected this year by reductions in time at sea. Skippers will be offered a new opportunity to become involved in paid science work connected to inshore fisheries and the marine environment on the west coast. This opportunity will be open to all skippers, but the Government hopes that the initiative will be of particular interest to skippers operating locally on the west coast by serving to make up income potentially lost from a reduction in their fishing time.
Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
“I have been meeting with fishermen from around the country to listen to their concerns. It is important for the west coast fishermen to have their time at sea to catch their prawn quotas.
“The situation with the Cod Recovery Plan is extremely frustrating. I have been calling for changes to be made and will continue to do so. We need greater flexibility to manage the fisheries that move around our coast and I believe these prawn boats, which catch so little cod and have already put in place their own conservation measures, should be exempted from cod controls altogether.
“This year’s allocations mean that some boats will experience a reduction of up to 5 per cent in the time at sea they have used in recent years. However I’m pleased that we are able to offer all skippers the opportunity to undertake paid science and research work. This will have the double benefit of making up potential income lost by vessels from a reduction in their time at sea while also giving us a better understanding of the fish stocks off the West Coast, allowing us to better manage a sustainable fishery for the future.”
Background information in the press release
- In relation to prawn fishing on the west coast, the allocation for each vessel based on the west coast will be a number of days equivalent 95 per cent of their average annual time at sea in 2009-11, with a minimum allocation of 110 days at sea.
- Vessels based on the east coast will receive an allocation for west coast prawn fishing equivalent to 85 per cent of their time at sea in 2009-11, with no minimum allocation.
- Scottish fishing vessels are able to count their time at sea in hours, so vessels going to fish for a day are able to use any hours unused in that day during a future voyage. If a voyage during a day takes 14 hours, for example, then 10 hours may be used on another occasion. A vessel receiving an allocation of 120 days, for example, in fact receives 2880 hours, which is equivalent to 205 fourteen hour voyages.
- The increased use in 2012 was caused by an influx to the west coast of vessels normally more active in the North Sea. They moved because prawn fishing grounds in the North Sea were less abundant last year. In general, North Sea vessels are more able to go to the west coast than the other way around (because the west coast vessels are smaller, sometimes older and not always able to cope with conditions in the North Sea).
Immediate response
In terms of the recent distress amongst the west coast nephrops fleet – and locally here in Kintyre and the Clyde – we note that the ‘days at sea’ allocation for the west coast prawn fleet is, at 110 minimum - a long way short of the 180 days minimum they say is their minimum overall survival base.
We note too that the east coast fleet is being given 85% of its total days at sea in 2010-11 to fish for prawns in in west coast waters. The east coast boats’ entirely legal effort in west cast waters this year knocked the bottom out of the west coast boats’ survivability.
However, as in its press statement above, the government says: ‘These allocations mean that nearly 70 per cent of the west coast prawn fleet will either continue to be exempt from days at sea altogether or will face no reduction. The remainder will face a reduction of no more than 5 per cent in their normal time.’