Impact of mackerel talks failure to be discussed in Aberdeen – Fishupdate.com
Impact of mackerel talks failure to be discussed in Aberdeen Published: 22 February, 2012
A MEETING, due to take part in Aberdeen on Friday, will reveal the major impact the failure of the EU to land a mackerel deal with Iceland and the Faroes is likely to have on the Scottish industry.
At the meeting, the North East Scotland Fisheries Development Partnership will be given reports from a number of bodies underlining the serious impact of the situation.
Peterhead Port Authority, for one, is highlighting the critical impact of the breakdown of negotiations. And, despite the ports successful year in 2011, they fear the mackerel fiasco could have a considerable knock-on effect. Meanwhile, they observe, the demersal sector is severely hamstrung by the difficulty of sourcing quota at a reasonable price.
The Scottish Pelagic Processors Association (formerly the Herring Buyers Association) is going to raise concerns over the breakdown of the talks preventing Faroese boats from landing in Scotland an issue that will be a major blow to processors wishing to handle fish outwith the usual times it is being landed by the Scottish boats.
Seafood Scotland are going to look at the current challenges facing the processing sector in the northeast, suggesting ways in which the fishing and processing sectors can work together cooperatively to overcome these, and highlighting a number of new opportunities.
Finally, the Scottish Pelagic Fishermens Association is due to voice opposition to a number of practices employed by Iceland and the Faroes, particularly the fact that Icelandic white fish vessels are permitted to catch pelagic species such as mackerel, and that the Faroes have invited vessels from China, Peru and Russia to take part in their mackerel fishery.