Fishermen blockade ship in mackerel war

Published on Tuesday 17 August 2010 18:01

ANGRY Scottish fishermen yesterday staged their second blockade of a Faroese fishing vessel in two weeks in an increasingly bitter dispute over imports of foreign mackerel landings into British harbours.

More than 50 fishermen manned the blockade, which police said passed peacefully.

The Icelandic and Faroese governments angered Scottish and other European fleets earlier this month by announcing autonomous quotas for mackerel, setting new limits which contravene scientific advice and are outside existing management agreements.

Scottish skippers have warned that the additional landings will endanger the future of the country's most valuable single catch, worth 135 million last year to the pelagic fleet.

Twelve days ago around 20 skippers and crewmen used cars and vans in an attempt to prevent the crew of a Faroese vessel from offloading almost 900 tonnes of mackerel at a Peterhead processing factory operated by local firm Lunar Freezing.

And yesterday the dispute escalated as more than 50 fishermen mounted a quayside blockade at the Buchan port to prevent a Faroese fishing boat, the Jupiter, from landing 1,100 tonnes of mackerel, bound for a processing factory owned by Fresh Catch.

Ian Gatt, the chief executive of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen's Association, said the quayside blockade was a symptom of the "sheer frustration" felt by fishermen over Scotland's most important pelagic species being "threatened at its core".

Speaking at the protest site, he said: "Our fishermen are making sure that this Faroese boat doesn't discharge its catch of 1,100 tonnes of mackerel. Mackerel is Scotland's most valuable stock and as such it has been managed very sustainably. But Faroe have set a quota for themselves three times higher than they would normally receive.

"We have great concern not only for the stock, but Scottish fishermen are the biggest stakeholders in the mackerel fishery and we have great concern for our future."

Ernie Simpson, one of the skippers taking part in the protest, said: "We are trying to do everything peacefully and legally. We don't want to go outwith the law. But we will take our protest as far as we can go legally."

The skipper of the Faroese vessel at the centre of yesterday's events condemned the protest. "This is not their job," said Emil Pederson. "This is a political matter.

"They seem to be peaceful, but they are stopping us from working.It's very strange that the police cannot stop this."

Scotland's main fisheries organisation, the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), urged the Faroese government to reverse its decision.

Bertie Armstrong, the SFF's chief executive, said: "Today's protest is indicative of the real anger on the quayside that a stock that has been carefully nurtured and sustainably harvested by our fishermen is potentially being put in jeopardy by the irresponsible actions of Iceland and the Faroes. It is vital that both countries return to the fold of sensible fisheries management based on already existing international agreement that ensures the mackerel uptake in the future is at a sustainable level. Otherwise there could be serious consequences for international fisheries management that will damage all stakeholders."