Fishermen plan parliament protest

Dozens of boats are tied up in Peterhead harbour

Scottish fishermen are set to lobby the Scottish Parliament for financial assistance to safeguard the future of their industry.

The move was agreed by nearly 300 fishermen at a meeting in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire on Monday.

They want compensation from the Scottish Executive if they have to voluntarily tie up their boats while complying with new EU restrictions on fishing.

The fishermen have agreed to organise a flotilla of boats on Wednesday between Aberdeen and Peterhead to publicise their cause.

John Buchan: "crisis"

They will also send a delegation to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday in a bid to lobby support from MSPs.

Peterhead skipper, John Buchan, chairman of the Fishermen's Action Committee who organised the meeting, said: "We need help and we need help now to tie boats up.

"Not in two months time, not in two weeks time, we really need it now."

Mr Buchan said it was crucial that fishermen showed a united front over the issue and added: "It affects us all, we are all in it together.

"We must unite together to face this crisis. Just now I am pleading with you to show unity. If there is no future for you, there is no future for your families."

English support

A small group of fishermen from Whitby in North Yorkshire also travelled to the meeting at Peterhead Community Centre to offer their support.

Yorkshire fisherman Richard Brewer said: "We support what you are doing 100%. If there is any action to be taken we want to be part of it."

The meeting was also attended by Richard Lochhead, the SNP fisheries spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, and David Davidson, Conservative MSP for North East Scotland.

Rhona Brankin: "no guarantees"

Both said they would be raising the issue of financial assistance in the Scottish Parliament.

But Scottish Fisheries Minister, Rhona Brankin said the Scottish Executive could not make any promises on payments to fishermen.

"I can't guarantee anything at this stage because we've only just received, last week, the proposals from the Fishermens' Federation.

"But we are looking at them closely and we do understand that it is difficult times in the fishing industry."

Fishermen first tied up their boats on Friday, saying the action was necessary to protect stocks in the North Sea.

Action criticised

More than 40,000 square miles of water have been closed until April 30 after the EU imposed new restrictions to help revive cod stocks.

They say the new rules have forced many to catch undersized immature haddock in viable fishing areas, putting further pressure on depleted stocks.

Robert Milne: "devastating effect"

The fishermen said boats would remain tied up for seven days before the situation would be reviewed.

But their action has attracted criticism from fish processing workers who say the self-imposed ban is endangering jobs and businesses on their side of the industry.

Robert Milne from the Scottish Fishmerchants' Federation said: "This will have devastating effects on my members.

"But I have got to ask, if the price of small fish had been high last week, would the fishermen have been taking this action this week"?