The proposal by SNP Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead that Scottish ministers lead the UK delegation in EU fisheries negotiations is to be applauded (May 26). And the idea that industry representatives be seconded to ministerial teams participating in these negotiations is also a sensible move, bringing on board considerable knowledge and experience.

The proposal by SNP Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead that Scottish ministers lead the UK delegation in EU fisheries negotiations is to be applauded (May 26). And the idea that industry representatives be seconded to ministerial teams participating in these negotiations is also a sensible move, bringing on board considerable knowledge and experience.

The current system, whereby landlocked Austria and Luxembourg have a greater say over Scotland's fisheries than Scotland is unsustainable. With about three-quarters of UK fish landings, Scotland should clearly lead the UK's ministerial delegation at EU meetings, just as Flanders does for Belgium, giving the industry the profile it deserves. Two recent events, the cut in days at sea at last December's negotiations in Brussels and in March of this year when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs decided to give away valuable prawn quota to Germany without consulting our own fishermen, confirm the need for this new approach The current fate of Scotland's fishing industry is one of the biggest failings of the constitutional settlement. We now know that our fishermen were described as being "expendable" when we entered the European Union and that attitude has been the hallmark of successive governments' treatment of the industry. The next stage of SNP policy should be to seek a meeting with the European Commission to discuss the impact of the Common Fisheries Policy on the industry.

Alex Orr, 35 Bryson Road, Edinburgh.