INDUSTRY leaders and fishing communities are gearing up to campaign against proposed changes to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which could throw open Scotland's lucrative fishing grounds to foreign trawler fleets.
Until now foreign fleets, including Spanish trawlers, have been kept out of Scottish waters by access rights, where catches are allocated on the basis of historical landings under the rule of so called "relative stability".
But the disclosure that the country's fishing grounds could be available to Spanish and other foreign trawlers under proposed changes to the CFP, put forward by Maria Damanaki, the European Fisheries Commissioner, has prompted fears that Scottish fishermen could be priced out of the market.
Damanaki has unveiled plans that opponents claim could see Scottish fish quotas for key species such as haddock, cod and langoustines being sold to the highest bidder anywhere in Europe.
Richard Lochhead, Scotland's Fisheries Minister, has warned that the proposed changes represent a "huge threat" to Scotland's fishing fleets. He told Scotland on Sunday: "It's concerning that the commission's proposals could allow our historic fishing rights to be sold off. This could see them end up in the hands of faceless multi-national companies, which would be bad news for Scots fishermen who would be priced out of the market.
"I believe national governments should continue to decide on the quota rights of their fishermen and we should not hand control to Brussels. We simply cannot allow fishermen to sell their quota to other countries, to the detriment of future generations."
Eilidh Whiteford, the SNP's Westminster fisheries spokeswoman, has also voiced her concerns. The MP for Banff and Buchan, home to the white fish ports of Peterhead and Fraserburgh, said: "Selling quota to Europe's highest bidders will erode Scotland's historic rights which in turn could spell doom for our fragile fishing communities."
Damanaki is calling for a system of "transferable fishing concessions" offering a one-size-fits-all system across the EU to cut the capacity of the EU fleet.
The plan calls for an expansion in the international trading of fish quotas - stating "a member state may authorise the transfer of transferable fishing concessions to and from another member state.
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