Fishermen apply to get out

Fishermen apply to get out

A late rush has seen nearly 180 fishing boat owners apply for a scheme which will pay them to leave the industry.

The decommissioning scheme is being run by the Scottish Executive.

The scheme is a result of the crisis in North Sea cod stocks.

In December, the European Union decided to restrict cod catches in the North Sea by 45%, with haddock catches cut by half and whiting by almost two thirds.

Recovery plan

The agreement, designed to protect stocks, also meant fishermen would only be guaranteed 15 days at sea per month.

In March, the Scottish Parliament approved a £50m compensation package for the troubled fishing fleet from the Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition, despite strong opposition to the proposals.

The Scottish National Party and Tories attacked the aid package and described it as a redundancy plan, not a recovery plan.

They said the £40m allocated to decommissioning should be transitional money aimed at helping fishermen to keep their businesses afloat during the current crisis.

White fish fleet

The controversial scheme has attracted 177 applications.

It is not yet known how many are from Scotland's 180-strong white fish fleet.

The Scottish Fisherman's Federation said it was too early to assess the significance of the number of applications.