Boat Scrapping Grant Takers Well Short Of Original List – Fishupdate.com
Boat Scrapping Grant Takers Well Short Of Original List Fishing Monthly Published: 19 August, 2003
ONLY 37 of the 69 skippers offered decommissioning grants under the Scottish scheme have so far accepted scrapping cash, with Thursdays deadline for acceptances under the scheme coming up fast.
Meanwhile, there have been 157 applications for transitional aid, according to the Scottish Executive.
George MacRae, secretary of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association said it was clear that there were going to be skippers drawn from the decommissioning reserve list given the level of acceptance from the first round of offers.
What impact that will have on the overall decomissioning picture has yet to be known, because it could well be the number of primarily white fish vessels geared to catching cod taken out will be significantly less than anticipated.
But the clear picture is that decommissioning is a tolerable evil and some skippers are being forced out by the banks, there is no doubt about that.
There are very few who would choose to leave the industry by choice.I think it is a matter of financial necessity geared to outside financial pressures and how the Scottish Executive will look at this situation overall remains to be seen.”
But at the end of the day there was no doubt there would be a significant catching capacity left in the industry after decommissioning.