This week the European Parliament has voted to keep resources within each 12-mile coastal zone as the responsibility of each fishing nation.
The current regulations are due to expire on 31 December of this year, which could have potentially opened up all coastal waters to vessels from across Europe.
The unanimous vote on a legislative report, drafted by SNP President Ian Hudghton, will ensure that Europe's fishing nations retain control of their coastal waters
After the vote, Mr Hudghton said, "There has been a very real threat that these water would be opened up for a free-for-all, and I am grateful that MEPs from across Europe have voted to prevent this from happening.
"The European Commission have themselves acknowledged that national control of coastal waters has been one of the few successes of the current CFP regime. Lessons should be learned from this and, as negotiations for CFP reform continue, we should look at more ways to return control to the fishing nations.”
