MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK's fishermen 2020 cod quotas halved: ”extremely challenging year”

Mike Park of the Scottish White Fish Producers' Association (SWFPA) said the next year would be “extremely challenging”.

The number of cod which can be legally caught by the UK's fishermen will be halved next year. It was agreed in the early hours of Wednesday at Brussels talks on fishing quotas for 2020.

Prior to those discussions, representatives of Scottish trawler-men agreed to a 50% reduction in the cod catch in an effort to preserve stocks. The UK government said that in order to protect the future of the industry it had to fish sustainably.

Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said: “The reduction in the total allowable catch for North Sea cod will have a serious economic impact on the Scottish white fish sector next year, and will present major practical difficulties for the fleet.

”We welcome the commitment to review and update the stock assessment model for North Sea cod, reflecting the changing distribution of cod in the North Sea, most likely as a result of climate change.“

Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing, who was at the talks in Brussels, added: ”With Brexit about to happen it has been clear the EU is already prioritizing other members over the state about to walk away.

“That is perhaps unsurprising, but coupled with the challenging scientific advice, it has made this a difficult two days.”

Britain is preparing to leave the Common Fisheries Policy regime as a result of Brexit. Mike Park of the Scottish White Fish Producers' Association (SWFPA) said the next year would be “extremely challenging”.

Speaking on the BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland program, he said: “It's a stock that's quite prolific in the northern North Sea.

”There's been significant changes over the whole of the North Sea but essentially next year that will cause the fleet problems which is now our focus to try and resolve that.

“In the next year, as the UK prepares to leave the Common Fisheries Policy, it is vital that the right scientific work is done to improve our understanding of the current status of the stock to enable better decisions to be taken on fishing opportunities for 2021.”

Speaking after the talks concluded, UK fisheries minister George Eustice said: “This year there has been some very challenging science for cod stocks in many parts of the North East Atlantic and we have responded to conserve stocks.

”I know that some of the quota reductions will be very difficult for some sectors of the industry and there has been considerable debate this year about the importance of by-catch allowances to support the delivery of the discard ban.

“However, we also know that to protect the profitability of fisheries in the future, we must fish sustainably today.”

The talks have resulted in small increases in the allowable catches for North Sea ling and skate, as well as the relaxation of some proposed control and management measures.

Last year, the UK government set out its plans for the future of fishing after Brexit. It said devolved nations would have a say in setting annual quotas for third countries, but the environment secretary's decision was final.

It intends to move to a system of quota management which it believes will guarantee a fairer share of the fish in UK waters for UK registered boats.

The rules of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy will continue to apply until December 2020.“ Mr Eustice claimed some of the challenges faced by the UK fishing industry had resulted from EU rules.

He said: ”Some of the problems have been exacerbated by the fact that the EU's outdated method for sharing quota between member states means that the UK gets a very small share of the cod in our own waters.“

Marine sustainability group Open Seas said in a statement: ”Devastatingly this decision commits to yet more overfishing in the coming year. Quota for North Sea cod has been set roughly 30% above scientific advice.”