Trawlers protest over 'slaughter'

Cod is an important species to the industry

Fisherman in Peterhead are calling for a concerted campaign to prevent the wholesale "slaughter" of haddock stocks.

More than 70 skippers have ordered their boats back to the port amid growing concern that measures to protect North Sea cod are devastating other species.

The European union's exclusion zone off the west coast of Scotland came into force less than two weeks ago.

The emergency measures ban fishing vessels from more than 40,000 square miles of the North Sea until April in an effort to help revive cod stocks.

But last week BBC Scotland revealed the full extent of the damage that is being inflicted on stocks as fishermen fight for a share of the remaining catch.

Irreparable damage

Exclusive pictures shot on a trawler showing thousands of young haddock tumbling from the nets - over 90% discarded - dead and wasted.

Now skippers are taking action to safeguard their future.

The Peterhead fleet is calling on others to join their campaign to prevent irreparable long term damage to the haddock stocks and the collapse of the Scottish fishing industry.

John Buchan, who chaired a meeting yesterday at the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen in Peterhead, said skippers in Shetland and Yorkshire were poised to join his group's action, which also aims to press the Government for financial help.

There has been large scale slaughter of the haddock stock, which is our future.

John Buchan, Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fisherman

He said that the Scottish fishing industry was weeks away from collapse if haddock stocks continued to fall, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Mr Buchan called on the Government to provide short-term financial assistance to British fishermen during the ban period in order to safeguard the future of the fishing fleet.

He said: "In real terms, two thirds of the fishing grounds available to North-east fishermen are probably closed, which has pushed the whole fleet west into the grounds which are open.

"As a result, there has been large scale slaughter of the haddock stock, which is our future.

"We are not talking about years from now - we are talking about weeks. We are faced with a situation where we can no longer tolerate going out to sea."

Nightmare scenario

Prices for haddock have also plummeted in recent weeks to £10 for an eight-stone box, compared to the £40 needed to break even, Mr Buchan added.

He said: "The fish are not there to catch, we are doing irreparable damage to the stocks and at the end of the day, there's no market for fish anyway.

"The Government has been warned repeatedly that if they introduced these measures to conserve the cod, this would happen and the nightmare scenario has arrived."

The fishermen are expected to meet again early next week to discuss the next steps in their campaign.