Fresh call for mackerel fishing sanctions

Published on Monday 27 June 2011 17:56

FISHERIES minister Richard Lochhead will today make a fresh call for the European Union to impose sanctions on Iceland and the Faroe Islands in a bid to break the long-standing deadlock on mackerel quotas.

Both Nordic nations have refused to enter into an international agreement on the division of quotas for this year. Scottish fishermen's leaders have warned that mackerel stocks - worth 135 million a year to the Scottish pelagic fleet - will be decimated.

Mr Lochhead will press for the EU to put in place the sanctions it has been promising since last year at a meeting of the European Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg.

He said: "Disregard for conservation cannot be allowed to threaten the sustainability of Scotland's most valuable catch. The EU must act now. The onset of the mackerel fishing season means there is now an urgent need to apply these measures without delay.

"These sanctions need to happen alongside continuation of talks to put in place a new international agreement for the mackerel stock.

"Agreement cannot come at any cost and we will not give in to the bullying behaviour of Iceland and Faroes."