Cut in days at sea attacked

A DECISION to cut the number of days at sea for the fishing fleet “defies reason”, the Scottish environment secretary has said.

Richard Lochhead blamed legal barriers for the failure to prevent the cut, made as part of European negotiations in Brussels last week.

The SNP minister outlined the impact of the talks in a statement to MSPs at Holyrood. Despite initial progress on stopping automatic annual cuts in the “crazy” Cod Recovery Plan, Mr Lochhead said the European Commission decided there was no other legal way to deliver “vital breathing space”.