Responding to the release yesterday (3 April) of the first detail on the European Commission’s review of measures to hasten cod recovery, Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said:
“These proposals will require careful and detailed study but on initial reading it looks as if they have taken heed of some of the recommendations made at last year’s Cod Symposium in Edinburgh and the subsequent meetings of regional stakeholder groups.
“The output from the symposium pointed towards the need to move away from impractical targets and adopt instead a more flexible and workable approach – this seems to have been acknowledged in the Commission’s new proposals.
“It is also encouraging that a fundamental part of the EC plan includes the Scottish industry-led conservation initiative of real time closures to protect spawning and juvenile cod, plus the requirement for the national control of the number of days that boats are allowed to fish, permitting regional measures that will provide incentives for cod recovery.”
