The Prawn Ultimatum

[Telo]

Interesting article about west coast fishing in this week's Economist. Doesn't seem that long ago that we had Klondykers and Russian factory ships on the west coast, but since taking up sailing towards the end of the 90s we have seen fewer trawlers each year, almost non-existent on the Clyde these days and becoming gey rare in The West,. Just recently, we stopped in Mallaig over a weekend and were struck by how few fishing boats were in the harbour. The Mallaig Harbour Authority points out that it "remains a leading port on the West Coast of Scotland for prawn (nephrops) landings", but not much mention of fish.

Employment levels are in commensurate decline - it's not that long ago that you'd see fishing boats in Ardrossan and Irvine, yet, in 2010, the Scottish government reported only 15 fishermen employed on Scottish based vessels in North Ayrshire. Only in Argyll and Eilean Siar, Orkney and Shetland does employment in fishing stand at more than 1% of the local labour force, 1.27% and 3.81% respectively.

The above article says that "For the moment the consensus is that the nethrops fishery is not going the way of the cod and herring. But the fishermen report that the creatures wriggling in their nets are getting smaller and the competition for them more intense.

The article goes on to suggest that some of the remaining trawlers (by which I presume they include purse seine netters etc) could be given incentives to convert to creeling vessels in the belief that creeling is less destructive. Any "deep-pocketed piscophiles" here? Will the fish ever come back?

[Nick]

The article goes on to suggest that some of the remaining trawlers (by which I presume they include purse seine netters etc) could be given incentives to convert to creeling vessels in the belief that creeling is less destructive. Any "deep-pocketed piscophiles" here? Will the fish ever come back?

Creeling is surely less destructive to the seabed, but not necessarily to the prawn population. Overfishing is still possible.

Last year the Torridon Nephrops Management Group withdrew from the Marine Stewardship Council’s sustainable fisheries scheme after the MSC suspended the loch from its certification programme in January. The suspension came after fishing pressure in the area increased through additional creel-fishing boats being attracted to the fishery, many of which had not signed up to the voluntary management plan’s code of conduct for the fishery.

(At the time I believe this was the only certified sustainable prawn fishery in the scheme).

[ubergeekian]

The article goes on to suggest that some of the remaining trawlers (by which I presume they include purse seine netters etc) could be given incentives to convert to creeling vessels in the belief that creeling is less destructive. Any "deep-pocketed piscophiles" here? Will the fish ever come back?

Not for the foreseeable future, I fear. This is what happens when for years and years scientists say "Fish stocks are declining and on the verge of collapse", fishermen say "Nonsense - there's loads of fish" and politicians make a decision based on political expediency rather than facts. After ten years of moratorium the Grand Banks cod fisheries still haven't shown any signs of recovery, and the Scottish fisheries may well go the same way.

Twenty five years ago a pal of mine did his doctoral thesis (he's a control theorist) on fish stocks in the North Sea. I remember him saying then that the scientists were in despair at the greed of some fishermen and the stupidity of politicians. Unfortunately, fish don't breed just because people want them to.

The scallop fishing in Kirkcudbright seems to be holding up for the moment, but I hear it's not looking good; the northern half of the Irish Sea bed having been nearly as destroyed as that of the Firth of Clyde. There are serious problems with unlicensed gangs raiding the Solway cockle beds and the traditional haaf netters are under constant attack from commercial salmon fishing interests.

All in all, it doesn't look good. Small scale, local and sustainable is probably the only way any fishing is going to survive in Scotland.

[Telo]

This is what happens when for years and years scientists say "Fish stocks are declining and on the verge of collapse", fishermen say "Nonsense - there's loads of fish" and politicians make a decision based on political expediency rather than facts.

It's very depressing. I have great sympathy for those who brave the seas to put fish on our dinner plates, but I do not think that the industry or the fishing communities have been well served by their represenatives. I acknowledge that in recent years the SSF (the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation ) has accepted the need for conservation measures but for too long their leaders sought to deny every piece of scientific evidence, preferring instead to argue on the anecdotal experience of their members. Aside from the log-standing denials of reductions in the fish stocks, the industry was also up to its oxters in illegality, and even after the "black catch" trials earlier this year Bertie Armstrong was quoted as saying "The wrong doing happened, everyone owned up. The situation is completely changed now, the industry is in a different place....." Not through your leadership, Mr Armstrong. Oh, and another thing, they didn't own up, they were caught.

As the original quoted Economist article said, fisheries become easier to rescue when they near exhaustion. Until then, just keep pulling them out boys.

[Silkie]

Small scale, local and sustainable is probably the only way any fishing is going to survive in Scotland.

Sustainable is surely the only way to go - small scale and local undoubtedly help.