Scotland: Fishing furore

David Eyre
Political Journalist, Politics Show Scotland

On Monday, First Minister Jack McConnell gave an interview to BBC Radio Scotland's flagship morning news programme Good Morning Scotland.

Cod remain in huge demand

Among the many points he covered, Mr McConnell claimed that there are thriving fishing communities in many parts of Scotland.

In Parliament on Thursday, Tory leader David McLetchie challenged the First Minister to name some of these thriving communities.

Mr McConnell managed to avoid highlighting individual ports, but he did say that Scotland's shellfish industry was enjoying some international success.

But prawn fishermen in the Fife port of Pittenweem disagree.

Fishing in decline?

The number of people working in fishing in the town has fallen from 240 in 1997 to just 146 this year.

And a report by Scottish Enterprise Fife predicts another 50 fishermen will lose their jobs next year.

Like most people in the industry, they are calling on the Scottish Executive to campaign for the end of the European Common Fisheries Policy, which they blame for the massive cuts.

That call even appeared to have backing inside the Executive, when junior finance minister Nicol Stephen, a Lib Dem whose Shetland constituency relies heavily on fishing, said he supported scrapping the CAP.

Some disagreement

But that put him at odds with the official Executive line of reforming the policy, rather than getting rid of it altogether.

After discussions with ministerial colleagues, he finally backed down.

Prawn fishermen in the Fife port of Pittenweem disagree

The dispute highlights the Scottish Government's difficult balancing act.

It has responsibility over fishing, but only has a supporting role to Westminster in negotiations with the EU.

It backs scientific reports which say Scottish boats need to be decommissioned to save stocks, but knows that it must also convince Scottish voters that it is fighting the nation's corner.

Politics Show

This week reporter Amber Henshaw travels to Pittenweem to find out what fishermen think about Mr McConnell's claims in Parliament and his Executive's policies on fishing.

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Tune into the Politics Show Scotland, on BBC One on Sundays at Noon, with reporter Amber Henshaw and presenter Glenn Campbell.

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