SNP Council Group at Comhairle nan Eilean, strongly support the continued calls from MP Angus MacNeil for the UK Government and Scottish Government to pressure the EU to remove the requirement for boxes of spurdog to be dumped at sea.
It is almost impossible to imagine the anger that must be felt by fishermen when these fish, which are unavoidably caught in their nets, require to be discarded. Despite the fact that our European markets which this fish could be provided to, import the very same species from the west Atlantic, the EU requires our fish from the east of the pond, be dumped, dead, back into the sea. A simply deplorable situation.
Independent Norway by contrast, in 2007 introduced a ban on “targeting” the species. Importantly it also provided an exemption to small coastal vessels, enabling them to land unavoidably caught spurdog provided that live specimens were returned to the sea. An eminently sensible practice.
The Scottish Government to its credit has recently approved an application from a number of Outer Hebrides fishing boats (with support from SFO) to engage in fishing trials aimed at developing further avoidance methods and providing evidence to support ending the practice of discard. Details of the successful application are expected be available directly.
We urge the UK and Scottish Government to press the EU to adopt the sensible and practical Norwegian approach highlighted above, while further scientific evidence on the species is gathered.
Councillor Donald Manford
