SWATHES of Scotland's fishing industry will be bankrupted without increased flexibility on quotas, according to leaders.
The Scottish White Fish Producers' Association (SWFPA) and Shetland Fishermen's Association (SFA) support the European Union's (EU) proposed ban on discarding perfectly good fish. But they say member state governments need to wake up and assert their authority over the European Commission on the issue.
With only a marginal quota increase for haddock and potential reductions for species such as cod and whiting in prospect, the fishermen's representatives say the European Commission officials are apparently dismissive of serious impediments to the introduction of the discard ban for the main white fish stocks in January 2016.
The SWFPA and the SFA believe that fishermen will be put out of business unless there is a rethink of how fishing opportunities are set.
Mike Park, chief executive of the SWFPA, said: "We call on the governments of all member states to recognise the serious dangers of allowing a ban to go ahead without significant additional changes to the management regime and the way they set catch limits."
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