The Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (SIFT) has recruited a leading expert in the management of the Firth of Clyde fishery as a trustee and director in order to develop the collapsed fishery.
Dr Billy Sinclair, who was previously the chairman of the Clyde Inshore Fisheries Group, has joined the SIFT, a Scottish charity set up 2011 to promote economically and environmentally sustainable fishing industry, to help promote the Clyde fishery in the country’s largest inland sea.
The fin fish population of the Clyde, which used to support many of the coastal communities, has collapsed since trawls and dredges were permitted to be used within 3 miles of the coast in the early 1980’s. Some 72% of the remaining Clyde fin fish stock is now made up of whiting, 85% of which is less than the legal minimum landing size.
Dr Sinclair said: “I worked towards achieving a balanced fishery whilst at the Clyde IFG and now hope to continue towards that goal with SIFT, to bring tangible benefits to all sectors of the coastal communities around the Clyde. SIFT’s project represents a progressive model for a locally-managed sustainable fishery, something which will give ownership back to the relevant stakeholders.”
He added: “Part of the challenge is to restore the Clyde’s white fish populations so that the fishing industry can once again sustainably catch fin-fish like cod, haddock and herring. In recent years the majority of Clyde commercial fishing landings have been shell-fish. This dependence on shell-fish is a social, economic and environmental tragedy in what was once a world renowned fin-fishery.”
