Aid Bid Will Be Based On Income Loss – Fishupdate.com

Aid Bid Will Be Based On Income Loss Fishing Monthly Published:  15 January, 2003

THE Scottish Fishermen’s Federation is to argue for aid from the Scottish Executive based on anticipated lost income due to fish quota cuts rather than the effect of a drop in the number of days a vessel can spend at sea.

The federation is expected to make details of its aid bid public on Friday of this week

While the federation is not giving away details of its aid submission at this stage, it is anxious to promote the argument that while some may think the days limitation is going to be the problem for the fleet the crisis facing the industry lies in the fact that quotas and income have been halved, possibly for the whole of this year, despite what may be wishful thinking over a reappraisal of quota levels in mid year.

And as the SFF points out, you can have all the days at sea you like, but you have still only got access to half your income.

Financial aid would be proportionate to a vessel’s income loss and the loss estimation can be calculated by quota uptake patterns.

It is understood that around 150 Scottish vessels using whitefish mesh of more than 100mm will be nominated as the leading cases for assistance although the level of aid that might be paid out is impossible to quantify.

But cash would be only an interim measure leading up to what the industry feels must be an acceptable multi-annual cod recovery plan.