|
A secure and sustainable future for the
Scottish Fishing Industry is achievable, but not without a long-term
view being taken and important changes being made both to policy and
management. Continued social and economic hardship for parts of the
industry and dependent communities is unfortunately inevitable, at least
until stocks can be restored to sustainable levels. This is the view of
the independent expert committee set up by The Royal Society of
Edinburgh (RSE) in the first major investigation undertaken into the
future of this industry in Scotland. The report, which is published
today, Thursday 11 March, makes 35 key recommendations
covering the operation of the Common Fisheries Policy, the science of
fish stock assessment and the management of fisheries policy. It also
outlines measures to help the industry and the fishery dependent
communities.
Scotland has about 60 per cent of the
United Kingdom’s sea fishing industry and the preponderant part of the
pelagic and whitefish sectors. Much of the industry is profitable, but
the whitefish sector, which is concentrated in the North East and in
Shetland, is in serious trouble. The Common Fisheries Policy has failed
to protect adequately important species of whitefish stock and as a
result measures now having to be imposed threaten the livelihoods of
many in Scotland’s fishing communities. This prompted the Council of
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) to launch its independent Inquiry.
It was chaired by the distinguished biologist, Sir David Smith FRS, FRSE
and its members covered expertise in fisheries and environmental
science, statistical modelling, economics and business.
The Inquiry received a huge volume of
written and oral evidence from Scotland and from other countries; it
consulted widely and visited the main fishery dependent areas in
Scotland as well as the International Council for Exploration of the Sea
(ICES) and the European Commission. It finds that European scientists,
fishermen and policy makers share responsibility for the grave
difficulties being experienced by the whitefish sector. Had cod stocks,
for example, been maintained with fishing mortality no higher than 1960s
levels, the extra catch could now be worth some £80-100 million a year
to the Scottish industry. The report’s recommendations cover changes
to reduce centralisation and give greater involvement to the industry in
the decision-making process, improvements to the science of stock
assessment, the eventual abolition of catch quotas for the whitefish
sector and their replacement with a system of effort control coupled
with closed areas and gear regulations. It urges the industry to make
the most of the opportunities presented by the new Regional Advisory
Committees (RACs) so that, if successful, these can be given management
responsibility. A full list of the Committee’s recommendations follows
below:
Chairman of the
Independent Inquiry Committee, Professor Sir David Smith, FRS, FRSE
said:
The Committee
and I strongly believe that there is a sustainable and profitable future
for the Scottish fishing industry, but we recognise that securing this
will involve the taking of difficult decisions in the short-term.
European scientists, fishermen and policy-makers share responsibility
for the grave difficulties being experienced by the whitefish sector.
Our forward-looking Report makes key recommendations which seek to offer
solutions for an industry so important to Scotland.
| List of Recommendations: |
| The Origins of the Common Fisheries
Policy |
| We recommend that: |
| 1 |
Ministers endeavour to have the
existing 12 mile limits made permanent instead of being subject to
renewal every ten years. (para. 2.10) |
| 2 |
Ministers review the arrangements
for use of the Structural Funds in order to make maximum use of FIFG
and the other Funds for the economic diversification of fisheries
dependent areas. (para. 2.31) |
| 3 |
Ministers should reconsider their
position over the EU’s exclusive competence for conservation of
marine biological resources, with a view to getting this deleted from
the proposed EU constitution so that the principle of subsidiarity may
apply to fisheries, as it does to other matters. (para. 2.44) |
|
Economic and Social Impact |
|
We recommend that: |
| 4 |
Ministers and the financial
institutions should seek to negotiate an arrangement for debt
rescheduling and restructuring under which the demersal fleet is granted
a debt service moratorium for an agreed period. (para. 3.69) |
| 5 |
Ministers and the financial
institutions should examine the case for establishing a Fishing Industry
Finance Corporation. (para. 3.69) |
| 6 |
The Scottish Executive and the
Scottish fishing industry should jointly examine the industry’s
ownership structure to establish whether a regrouping into a corporate
structure would strengthen its ability to compete in the future. (para.
3.69) |
| 7 |
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation
(SFF) and other representative bodies in the catching industry should
consider how they can most effectively come together to discuss issues
of stock conservation with government scientists and negotiate
effectively on management and regulatory issues. (para. 3.69) |
| 8 |
Consideration should be given to
early retirement schemes for fishermen wishing to leave the industry and
to resettlement grants, both of which are eligible for FIFG funding; and
that the resources of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish
Enterprise network as well as the EU Structural Funds be used to the
maximum extent possible to help retraining and the promotion of new
small business in fisheries dependent areas. (para. 3.69) |
| 9 |
The Scottish Processing and Marketing
Scheme should be enhanced and greater effort put behind broadening the
scope of traceability and branding. (para. 3.88) |
| The Science of Stock Assessment and its
Role in Fisheries Management |
| We recommend that: |
| 10 |
ICES should consider new
statistical approaches as alternatives to VPA for management of the
fisheries, particularly methods in which uncertainty (and hence
business risk) can be quantified. (para. 4.24) |
| 11 |
Fisheries Research Services (FRS)
should begin to develop methods for the use of commercial vessels to
aid fishery surveys and also how accurate recording of commercial
catches can best be achieved. (para. 4.38) |
| 12 |
ICES should convene a forum to
review IBTS design, fishing gear and methodology. Industry advice
should be sought, especially with respect to gear improvement, trawl
operation and how best to sample hard ground. Greater standardisation
across nations should be pursued. Assuming new procedures are adopted,
calibration should be addressed. (para. 4.38) |
| 13 |
The EU manage demersal fish stocks
so that fishing mortality is much lower than over the past 15 years,
aiming for a value of fishing mortality (F<0.4), corresponding to
removal of less than one third of the stock each year.(para. 4.82) |
| 14 |
ICES recommendations should aim to
promote and sustain recruitment so that there is a good spread of age
classes of females up to age 5 years old and over in demersal stocks.
(para. 4.82) |
| 15 |
The current TAC of 27,300t for cod
in the North Sea should be used as the starting point for a recovery
programme and should be fixed until Bpa (the safe minimum spawning
stock biomass) of 150,000t is attained. (para. 4.82) |
| 16 |
The by-catch of cod in other
fisheries should be minimised by ensuring the use of species selective
fishing gears; TACs should be supplemented by limits on effort and
designation of closed areas. (para. 4.82) |
| 17 |
Demersal stocks should be managed
as a mixed fishery with a single overall limit on effort and no
discarding, coupled with measures such as selective gears, protected
areas and real-time temporary closures to prevent over-exploitation of
individual species and immature fish. After the cod recovery
programme, TACs should be retained only to guide regulation of effort
and to ensure relative stability. (para. 4.82) |
| 18 |
Ministers should aim to restore
haddock landings from the North Sea to the long-term average values of
250,000t, given the importance of this stock to Scottish demersal
fisheries. (para. 4.88) |
| 19 |
Fisheries Research Services (FRS)
and ICES should urgently seek a valid method for assessing whiting in
the North Sea and the EU Commission should initiate a whiting recovery
programme. (para. 4.93) |
| 20 |
Monkfish around Scotland should be
managed through limitations on demersal sector effort rather than
catch quotas. (para. 4.96) |
| 21 |
The EU Commission and Scottish
Ministers should ensure that Nephrops fishermen adopt selective
gears that do not capture whitefish. Management should be vigilant
against diversion of effort from the whitefish sector into Nephrops.(para.
4.101) |
| 22 |
The EU Commission should ensure
the industrial fishery TAC should be decreased below the recent
reported landings and take account of interannual variation in
abundance of sandeels (para. 4.117) |
| 23 |
FRS should direct research at the
potential ecosystem effects of the fishery. (para. 4.117) |
| 24 |
The EU Commission should recognise
the vulnerability of deep-sea species and seek to regulate deep-sea
fisheries by effort control, as recommended by the ICES Advisory
Committee on Fishery Management (ACFM). (para. 4.121) |
|
Fisheries and the Environment
|
| We recommend that: |
| 25 |
The Scottish Executive should
consider some form of Environmental Impact Assessment for new ventures
by the fishing industry. (para. 5.6) |
| 26 |
The Scottish Executive and the
relevant funding bodies should provide increased investment in the
science required to understand marine ecosystem and to develop
realistic models of the marine ecosystem. (para. 5.6) |
| 27 |
The Scottish Executive should
ensure that forums (e.g. RACs and inshore management committees)
established for regional fisheries management should be tasked with
helping to implement environmental policy relevant to their region.
This would include the establishment of marine protected areas. (para.
5.12) |
|
The Role of Aquaculture |
|
We recommend that: |
| 28 |
Further research should be carried
out into the substitution of fish oil in farmed fish diets with plant
oil as a means of promoting sustainability of industrial fisheries. (para.
6.29) |
| 29 |
Scottish Ministers should consider
how research with ‘new species’ such as cod can be supported to
enable the diversification of Scottish aquaculture production. (para.
6.29) |
| Managing Scotland’s Fisheries for
Sustainable Development |
|
We recommend that:
|
| 30 |
Ministers should press the EU
Commission to set a timescale for a review of the RACs so that
transfer of some management responsibilities to them can be
considered. The fishing industry should seize the opportunities
presented by RACs to demonstrate a responsible role in fisheries
management. (para. 7.18) |
| 31 |
The EU Commission should replace
the present system of catch quotas for the demersal sector and Nephrops
trawl fisheries with effort control (days at sea) and closed
areas. The present system of catch quotas would, however, continue for
the pelagic sector. (para. 7.62) |
| 32 |
The EU Commission should phase in
this new system over the lifetime of the cod recovery plan; during
this time the current system of catch quotas should continue alongside
the evolving effort control system. Thereafter TACs should be set only
as guidelines for these sectors. (para. 7.62) |
| 33 |
The UK fisheries departments, in
collaboration with the fishing industries, should undertake a
wide-ranging review of the existing system of quota management having
regard to the state’s responsibilities for the conservation and
management of the fisheries, on the one hand, and the financial
viability of the industry, on the other. (para. 7.54) |
| 34 |
Scottish Ministers should
establish inshore management committees on a local scale, led by the
industry, and should follow an integrated approach to fisheries and
the environment. (para. 7.70) |
| 35 |
Scottish Ministers should seek to
bridge the gulf between fishermen and scientists and should consider
our alternative proposals for restructuring the institutional
arrangements for fisheries management as set out in Chapter 7. (para.
7.88) |
| Notes for Editors |
|
The
Inquiry
Instigated by the Council of The
Royal Society of Edinburgh and Chaired by the distinguished Biologist,
Sir David Smith, The RSE’s independent inquiry has sought to identify
what steps might be taken to secure the future of the fishing industry
in Scotland. The Inquiry’s principal objective has been to make an
assessment of the extent to which controls imposed on the Scottish
fishing industry are scientifically robust. Scotland has the largest
part of the United Kingdom’s sea fishing industry and many of Scotland’s
more remote communities, especially around the North East coast and in
Shetland, are heavily dependent on it for their livelihood. Concerns
over declining fish stocks, especially of cod, have led to severe
restrictions being imposed under the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
and concerns exist over the long-term viability of the Scottish fishing
industry. The Committee met for the first time on Tuesday 27 May 2003 at
The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street Edinburgh.
The Committee has traveled to the North
East of Scotland to Shetland, Inverness, Pittenweem, the Western Isles
and Copenhagen to take evidence from broad range of individuals and
organisations connected with the industry.
|
|
Committee Membership
The membership of the Committee,
with expertise in marine biology, fish stocks, environmental issues,
statistical modelling, social science, business and economics includes:
Sir David Smith FRS FRSE, (Chairman) former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of
Edinburgh University and former President of Wolfson College, Oxford
Professor Ian Boyd FRSE, Director of the NERC Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St.
Andrews
Professor Stephen Buckland, Professor of Statistics and Director of the Centre for Research into
Ecological and Environmental Modelling, University of St. Andrews
Mr Edward Cunningham
CBE FRSE, Chairman, Business Options Ltd
Professor Gavin McCrone CB FRSE, (Vice-Chairman) Vice-President of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh and Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh
Management School
Dr Malcolm MacGarvin, Environmental Consultant & Company Director
Professor Alasdair McIntyre CBE FRSE, Former Chief Scientific Officer, DAFS Marine Laboratory,
Aberdeen
Professor Monty Priede FRSE, Professor of Zoology, University of Aberdeen
Professor Randolph Richards, Director of the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling
Mr David Symes, Reader Emeritus, University of Hull
|
| Inquiry Remit includes: |
| - |
an assessment of the scientific
approach and the level of scientific support underlying present and
likely future controls imposed on the Scottish fishing industry,
including: a comparison with other fishing nations; the impact of
improvements in catching technology; and the effects of practices
such as industrial fishing |
| - |
a consideration of role of
aquaculture in the industry, and especially in terms of its
potential for replacing some of the reduction in the catch of fish
such as cod |
| - |
a critical examination of the
socio-economic impact of the declining fish catches and of the
controls on the industry on the Scottish communities affected
(including relevant sectors of the fish processing industry) with
particular reference to the likely effects of the control measures
now being implemented |
| - |
the formation of recommendations on
how a viable sea fishing industry can best be maintained in
Scotland. |
| Funding |
|
The Chair and Members of
the RSE’s independent Committee have given their time to the work of
the Inquiry voluntarily, without any charge. The RSE acknowledges
financial support from:
|
| - |
Aberdeenshire Council |
| - |
Aberdeen City Council |
| - |
Clydesdale Bank |
| - |
J Sainsbury plc |
| - |
Highlands and Islands Enterprise |
| - |
Scottish Enterprise Grampian |
| - |
Shell U.K Exploration &
Production |
| - |
Shetland Islands Council |
| - |
Western Isles Council |
| Evidence |
| A list of those from whom written
evidence was received is available in the report Appendix 2 and copies
of their evidence is available in pdf format on the RSE website |
| A list of those from whom oral evidence
was taken is available in the report Appendix 2. |
| Visits undertaken by the Committee in
the course of the Inquiry in 2003 : |
| 12 June |
Highlands and Islands
Enterprise seminar on "Fisheries-dependent communities – what
future?", Inverness |
| 4 August |
Sea Fish Industry
Authority, Edinburgh |
| 11 August |
Committee Meeting at
Aberdeenshire Area Office, Peterhea |
| 12 August |
Visit to Peterhead Fish
Market and Fraserburgh harbour and International Fish Canners (Scotland)
Limited, Scofish Limited Processors (Pelagic) (Fraserburgh) and Scottish
Fishermens Organisation (Fraserburgh) |
29 September -
1 October |
The
Shetland Seafood Centre and the North Atlantic Fisheries College,
Shetland, as well as the Island of Whalsay |
| 1-2 October |
North Atlantic
Conference, Shetland |
| 8 October |
Committee meeting at
Highland Council Office, Inverness. |
|
Moray Firth Partnership and Association
of Salmon Fishery Boards seminar on Salmon Fisheries in the Moray Firth,
Inverness. |
| 9 October |
Lochinver harbour |
| 10 October |
International
Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen |
| 13 October |
Fishermen's Mutual
Association (Pittenweem) Ltd, Pittenweem and Pittenweem Fish
Market |
| 23 October |
Foundation for Science
and Technology workshop on Scotland and the Common Fisheries Policy,
Edinburgh |
| 3 November |
Committee Meeting at
Scottish Enterprise Grampian, Aberdeen |
| 4 November |
Fisheries Research
Services Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen |
| 5 November |
United Fishing
Industry Alliance conference, Edinburgh |
| 21 November |
Western Isles
Council, Stornoway |
| 10 December |
European Commission
Fisheries |
|
|
| Availability of the
report & its summary |
| The
report and its summary will be made widely available. Electronic
versions of it are available on the RSE’s website (www.royalsoced.org.uk)
or in hard copy from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).
ISBN: 0 902198 98 X
©2004 The Royal Society of Edinburgh |
|
Please contact:
Dr Marc Rands
Policy Officer
The Royal Society of Edinburgh
22-26 George Street,
Edinburgh EH2 2PQ
Email: evidenceadvice@royalsoced.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)131 240 5000
|
| Other
Independent
RSE Inquiries |
| Other recent independent Inquiries
undertaken by the RSE include: |
| - |
Inquiry into Foot & Mouth
Disease in Scotland - July 2002 |
| - |
The Scientific Issues Surrounding
the Control of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) in Scotland – June
2002 |
| - |
Encouraging Resolution: Mediating
Patient/Health Service Disputes in Scotland – June 2002. |
|
