FISHING AND AQUACULTURE REPORT: A new sea of opportunity

After years of Brussels mandated quota systems, discard policies and the decline in many of our traditional ports, there is a sense of urgency among fishermen.

Earlier this month the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation called for just a nine month "bridge" rather than an extended negotiation period after March 2019 to smooth the exit from the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

It is, says Bertie Armstrong, a "common sense" approach. "There is no legal mechanism for running on the CFP for a transition period – that would involve us, a new coastal state, asking the EU to continue to govern our waters and graciously receive the thick end of £2 billion over the transition, leaving our place at the grown-ups’ table empty. Norway, Iceland and the Faroes would die of gleeful laughter."

While assuming this does not automatically mean taking an excessively hard line with the remaining EU fishing members, Armstrong has emphasised that there is strong public support for the stance taken by the industry: one which he says represents a "sea of opportunity".

According to a YouGov poll commissioned by the Federation, almost two-thirds of the public believe that access to UK waters should be blocked or limited for EU fishing boats after Brexit. Thirty-two per cent say vessels must be allowed in only under strict rules while 27 per cent think they must be kept out.

And according to research undertaken by the industry the full value of catches taken by non-UK, EU vessels from UK waters could increase the direct output of the UK catching sector by 50 per cent to around £1.2bn per year and trigger an expansion in UK economic output and employment worth about £2.7bn and 30,000 jobs.

"Brexit was undoubtedly a major political earthquake in this country, but for those fishermen, who have lived inside the straitjacket of the Common Fisheries Policy for too long, it has brought hope and expectation," says Armstrong.

"In practice, exit from the CFP will lead to the restoration of control of our seas and the creation of a practicable management system that does not involve an enforced giveaway of almost 60 per cent of our stocks."

He added: "As a coastal state like Norway we will then be in a position to conduct annual negotiations on access to those waters, but critically from a position of strength and not weakness."

Fishing is an industry that for many lies over the horizon but for business and the supply chain in Scottish communities – and throughout the UK – it’s a crucial source of income. According to government figures, in 2016 UK vessels landed 701,000 tonnes of sea fish with a value of £936 million with large increases in key pelagic (migratory) and shellfish species, while for white fish such as cod and hake, stocks have
recovered to levels unheard of just a decade ago.

For Scotland, these figures can be drilled down with special reference to key areas that include the north-east and, increasingly, Shetland. There £284m worth of fish and shellfish are caught, contributing £310 million to the local economy.

This, a fact which will surprise many, is four times more than North Sea oil brings to Shetland and means that more finfish are landed there than in the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

The seafood industry dominates the local economy, and says Shetland Fishermen’s Association executive officer Simon Collins: "The UK industry is very much slanted toward this part of the world. If you look the UK sea area a quarter of those fish are caught within 50 miles of where I am sitting."

Collins, based in Lerwick and looking out on islands preparing for gale force winds over the winter stresses that the industry there is innovative, thriving and very much up to date, with an infrastructure that includes a range of sizes of boats, many with sophisticated on-ship devices monitoring the catch and an electronic auction process that is triggered while the trawlers are still on their way back to port.

He believes that Shetland’s – and Scotland’s – fishermen are among the country’s best examples of entrepreneurship. And with super trawlers of more than 70 metres with yards of flat digital monitors and rooms with toilets replacing shared cabins costing some £20m, that’s perhaps not so surprising. Though it’s still a dangerous business, says Collins – and one which the community knows intimately.

"Take the herring and mackerel boats: a third of the UK fleet is Shetland based and they are still family businesses with shareholder crews.

"These are local people with good business plans who persuaded the banks to invest while they as fishermen were taking on risk in the pelagic fishing industry.

"The value of that catch has grown in the past couple of decades so it has become a virtuous circle for the enterprising fishermen of Shetland and the east coast of Scotland.

"They saw the opportunity of the fact that pelagic fish would be worth something and if you look now at mackerel, it’s not just the biggest value species in the UK but in the whole of the EU."

Mackerel fished in Scotland is now sold in countries that include Japan, Poland, China, Nigeria, the Baltic states and the Ukraine – so it’s perhaps fitting that two mackerel are depicted on the polymer £5 note issued last year by the Bank of Scotland.

Collins is in accord with Armstrong regarding the benefits to the UK taking control over its fishing rights post Brexit and highlights the positive economic case. "This is not an EU dependent market; it’s very international already while the investment is locally driven and with a high value catch you can plough that investment back into the business."

Like Armstrong, he says the desire to break free of the constraints of Brussels is not simply about getting back what is Scotland’s by right but rather about
re-establishing a sense of equitable trading – and agrees that the need for sustainability is paramount.

"Broadly two thirds of the fish caught in UK waters is taken away by EU vessels so we are looking for a more sensible rebalance of natural resource, one more in line with what would be normal in other fishing nations," he says.

"The current system is so beset with inertia that it would take years to change. We want the crucial decisions to be taken by people who are close to the industry – and we don’t have that sway over the European Commission – so bringing it closer to home is going to make it much more efficient and we will get better management out of it.

"There are a lot of young people coming into the industry, the training courses are full and for the first time in a couple of decades people are regarding the fishing industry as a serious career option," he says. "We currently have a wonderful opportunity with an industry in good state which can sustain jobs in many places that you otherwise wouldn’t expect to find them."

Bertie Armstrong of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation concurs: "Iceland and Norway have different but successful fisheries management regimes and a much better record for sustainability – that is what we must insist upon for our indigenous industry."