Scotland has been a country where a big percentage of the population depended on the sea for a living or at least food. For years the number of fish in the waters around Scotland has been decreasing. Some measures have been taken to protect the remaining fish supply but the numbers continue to drop. What should be done is an intense argument. No matter what is done it is obvious the Scottish people whose life depended on fishing face change.

Living on an island where fishing was one of the most important sources of income it is devastating. My friends in Shetland who are fisherman most of whom have had to look for other ways to make a living. It is not uncommon for them to go fishing only to be disappointed.

Another reminder was last summer the number of sea birds around the lighthouse dropped because of the lack of food. The most significant sign was we had only a few puffins in residence last year and all of the sea gulls took off in the middle of summer.

The biggest concern is the cod supply as you will see in the two following articles. Once again this crisis hits me personally as one of my favourite meals is fresh cod baked in butter. I still can have it once in awhile but have to pay the exorbitant high prices that fishmonger must charge for what has become a rare delicacy.

Everyone who is interested in Scotland needs to pay attention to see how this issue is resolved as it could change the country forever.

COD CATCH BAN COULD KILL FLEET

SCOTLAND'S crisis-torn white fish fleet was last night facing a battle for its survival, after a powerful group of international marine scientists called for a total ban on cod catches in the North Sea and West of Scotland waters.

The advisory committee of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) is recommending, for the second year in succession, a blanket moratorium on cod catches to save fragile stocks.

But the scientists are also demanding zero catches of cod in mixed fisheries where cod is landed as a by-catch - effectively signalling the total closure of the North Sea and West of Scotland white fish fisheries.

.........

The report by ICES claims there should be zero catches of cod in Scottish waters until the stocks have had a chance to recover. North Sea cod stocks are estimated at 52,000 tonnes, about one third the recommended minimum level. The scientists are recommending a total ban until stocks recover to 70,000 tonnes.

THREE MONTHS TO SAVE FISHING, FINNIE WARNED

Scotsman Fri 3 Oct 2003

ROSS Finnie was last night warned he had just three months to save Scotland's fishing industry from oblivion.

The warning was delivered by Alex Smith, the president of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), in a speech at an annual dinner in Edinburgh, where the rural affairs minister was the guest of honour.

Mr Smith told Mr Finnie that he had "the toughest job in government" delivering a survival package for the industry at December's crucial meeting of the European Fisheries Council.

He declared: "Every fisherman in this room and every fisherman across the country is looking to you to save the Scottish fishing industry. The nightmare we are living in has got to stop.

"It will be no easy task. Nevertheless, I do feel reassured that, in you minister, we have an experienced hand representing us in these December negotiations who does care about our industry.

"You have been round the harbours; you've been on the markets; you know the carnage and despondency that has been inflicted on our industry. What a tragedy it would be if the deal in December resembles the deal done last year. Quite frankly, it just does not bear thinking about.

" Mr Smith claimed that in an industry where European bureaucrats were determined to save the cod at all costs, the divide between the European Fisheries Commission in Brussels and the catchers - and the gulf between "scientific rhetoric and observable abundance" - had never been greater. He said: "Talk to fishermen and they will tell you that the herring and mackerel are doing fine; that prawn and monk-fish abundance considerably exceeds quota opportunity. There are more haddock in the sea than we have seen for decades." But he claimed that the policy of continually cutting white-fish catches to save cod being landed as a by-catch of haddock and whiting landings was both counter-productive and ruinous.

He told Mr Finnie that, by the time the current decommissioning scheme was completed, the Scottish white fish fleet would have been cut by almost 50 per cent to try to save the fragile stocks of cod, a species which accounted for only 10 per cent of the fleet's total catch.

"If we are going to rebuild the cod stock then it can only be done by working together."

Mr Smith revealed that the SFF would soon be publishing its own cod-recovery plan, which would be based on excluding fishermen from "cod sensitive" areas, but allowing them to operate in tolerance zones already identified by the SFF, where haddock, prawn and whiting can be caught with less than a 5 per cent by-catch of cod.

Sharma

I love to hear from you so contact me by Email at sharma@sharmakrauskopf.com

You can find more articles in the archive under Island Miniatures/Lighthouse Letters.

I have three books which are directly related to this column. The Last Lighthouse tells how we bought our lighthouse, the day by day journal of a year at Eshaness entitled A Year in the Lighthouse and in Scottish Lighthouses our lighthouse is featured in the 31 lighthouses presented. You can find out more about these books and others I have written at my official author web site.