Major fishing petition handed in

Campaigners Carol MacDonald and Morag Ritchie deliver the petition

Representatives from the Fisherman's Association and the Cod Crusaders have delivered the largest petition ever placed before the Scottish Parliament.

The document, signed by more than 160,000 people, was delivered by campaigner Carol MacDonald.

She called on MSPs to pressurise Westminster for a withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The Fisherman's Association said the CFP was an "obnoxious crime against the British nation".

During a heated session of Holyrood's public petitions committee, association chairman Tom Hay said: "There is absolutely no doubt the only way of rescue for the British fishing industry is through the restoration of national control by a United Kingdom Act of Parliament."

Public opinion

Carol MacDonald, of the Cod Crusaders campaign group, told the committee that if the executive would not support their campaign for a CFP withdrawal, they would "go it alone" to Westminster.

"Public opinion will prevail" in the forthcoming general election, she warned.

Ms MacDonald added that all the problems of the fishing industry stemmed from the CFP and the restrictions it placed on fishing.

If you've got a rotten tree you won't make it better by cutting off the branches Tom Hay Fisherman's Association

"For the past 33 years the CFP has not only let the fishing industry down but let dependent communities slide into further poverty and decline," she said.

"We cannot stress enough that this is a severe community issue."

Mr Hay said the real campaigning had to be done at Westminster, which controls UK fishing policy, but was angered when committee convener Michael McMahon told him he was "talking down" his own Scottish Parliament petition.

'Absolutely ridiculous'

He told Mr McMahon: "I think your attitude is absolutely ridiculous.

"For over 25 years the British fishing industry has been trying to sort out this problem by dealing with the symptoms that accrue from the problem.

"If you've got a rotten tree you won't make it better by cutting off the branches.

"You've got to get at the root of the trouble and the root of the trouble here lies in the principle of equal access to a common resource.

"The Fisherman's Association has researched this matter exhaustively with the most authoritative legal testimony in attendance."

The committee agreed to write to the executive with the details of the petition.