Scottish fleet safeguards its future as depleted fish stocks rise again
Paul Kelbie, guardian.co.uk 23 Nov 08;
A few years ago the Scottish pelagic fishing fleet was on the edge of extinction. Over-fishing of herring and mackerel, the main targets of pelagic (open-sea) fishing, threatened to put the livelihoods of hundreds of fishermen in danger and bring financial hardship to many north-east coastal communities.
However, after several years of effort it appears herring and mackerel are once again back on the menu for consumers as stocks of both species have been, or are about to be, declared sustainable. This summer the Scottish pelagic fleet became the first in the world to win the right to carry the coveted Marine Stewardships Council eco-label for herring and it is expected that the mackerel fishery will follow suit in the new year.
While fears continue for other fish stocks within the North Sea the multi-million pound boats of the Scottish pelagic fleet operating out of Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Shetland are reaping the harvest of years of conservation co-operation. Although unused for some 10 months a year, the state-of-the art vessels can catch their designated quotas of mackerel or herring within weeks, a sure sign the crewmen claim, that there are once again plenty of fish in the sea.
'Mackerel is now one of the biggest fish stocks in the UK,' said Derek Duthie, Secretary of the Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group which represents about 25 boats, each with a crew of around 15 men. 'As an industry we recognise people don't just take what we see for granted, as far as how many fish there are in the sea and how sustainable they are, so we have been working on having our fisheries assessed by a certifying body under the Marine Stewardship Council standard.
'We had a North Sea herring fishery certified in May, and we expect our mackerel fishery to be certified early in 2009 - that assessment has been done and is going through its public phase of accreditation.
'It is an independent assessment of whether or not the industry can be sustainable and it looks into the scientific assessment of the stock and into the actual fishery itself and whether it has any adverse effects on the environment or the wider marine ecosystem.'
Mackerel is the second most valuable stock to Scotland's fishing communities with retail sales of fresh and frozen products worth more than £90m in the past year. However the true worth is probably many times more when the economic spin-offs from the processing, haulage and subsidiary marine industries are taken into account.
Although the mackerel catch has always enjoyed high export sales, home-grown consumers are increasingly turning to the fish. Mackerel has become popular among British consumers largely as a result of the health benefits to be gained from eating the oily fish rich in Omega 3. 'Mackerel as a dish is becoming extremely popular, consumption is definitely increasing,' said Nicki Holmyard of trade body Seafood Scotland.
Fortunately for consumers there are likely to be even more mackerel on supermarket shelves next year as, following independent confirmation that stocks are increasing, crews will get an increase of almost 33 per cent in the total allowable catch for mackerel in the north-east Atlantic and North Sea, taking it to some 605,000 tonnes.
However, even then the fishermen are unlikely to be at sea for more than about eight weeks over the year as they maintain their attempts to conserve stocks.
'Most of the boats and businesses are run by families with the next generation coming along behind us. We are in it for the long term, not for a quick buck,' said Alex Wiseman, owner of Kings Cross pelagic vessel and Chairman of the Scottish Pelagic Fisherman's Association. 'We don't want to be fishing mackerel for two years and then have nothing left.'
