Tag Archives: SFA executive officer Simon Collins
Fishing deals expected to net £750 million-plus catch for UK fleet in 2023
An earlier agreement between the UK, European Union and Norway covered six key North Sea fish stocks, including cod, haddock and herring, and access to other waters. The outcome of those talks was expected to deliver additional quota worth £213m to the UK fishing industry. Separate discussions with fellow north-east Atlantic “coastal states” will deliver an extra £256m of quota, while a deal with Norway adds another £5m, according to the government. >click to read< 08:54
Fishermen call for ‘shake-up’ of quota setting system
In response to the deal, which was finalised on Friday, Shetland Fishermen’s Associations have again called for the creation of an independent panel of experts to examine and evaluate stock assessments made by scientists from the International Council of for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The SFA’s executive officer Simon Collins said the agreed quotas bear “little of no resemblance of the abundance of fish observed on the grounds.” “We’re sick and tired of going through the same process every year. Wildly erratic stock assessments, often both ways, are held up as sacred truths,,, >click to read< 21:20
Cod outnumber rats and mice in the UK – Ministers urged to ignore ‘nonsense’ talk on North Sea cod
It comes after an influential body of marine scientists recommended a 10.3% cut in annual quota for the species – a staple of fish suppers in many parts of the UK, although haddock tends to be the preferred choice of consumers in Scotland. But the same scientists at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Ices) have also admitted that doubling the quota would mean an increase of 24% in the size of the stock by 2023. And Ices’ own figures suggest there are now around 285 million cod in the North Sea, up from 180m in 2018. SFA executive officer Simon Collins said: “There are many more North Sea cod than there are rats and mice in the UK, and almost four times more than the most common land mammal, the field vole. “And yet green NGOs (non-governmental organisations) constantly go around describing cod as ‘threatened’ or ‘endangered’ or at risk of ‘extinction’. “They should be ashamed of themselves for peddling such nonsense.” >click to read< 09:48
