Scotland could face further cuts to its fishing fleet if recommendations by the Prime Minister''s Strategy Unit are followed.
Leaked information to BBC Scotland indicated that the report, due to be launched March 25 at the moment that World Fishing was going to press, was recommending a further 15 per cent cut of the fleet capacity.
The project, the first major strategic analysis of the British fishing industry for 30 years, aims to develop a long-term strategy for the sustainable future of the sector taking into account the need for the sustainable management of marine resources, the diverse and changing circumstances of the fishing industry and the social and economic development of communities that depend on fishing.
Speaking to World Fishing, Hamish Morrison, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation said: "There is no need for further capacity reduction.
" At the moment fishing opportunity is in balance with fleet capacity. There is a miscalculation in the Government figures. They consider that the whole Scottish trawl fishery is catching white fish but this sector only represents 40 per cent. The rest are catching nephrops."
The Scottish white fish fleet has already been cut by 50 per cent over the last three years.
Although the report is to give advise and recommendations, some political figures have already expressed their concerns. Scottish National Party MP, Alex Salmond said: "The work of the Prime Minister's Strategic Unit on fishing is full of inaccuracies, and contrasts extremely badly with the depth of the report published recently by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which recommended more local control of fisheries."
