Minister attacks European Commission after fish talks

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Fishermen's leader Bertie Armstrong says the talks were a 'disaster'

Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead has attacked the European Commission after catch restrictions on Scottish fishermen were extended.

He said the process was "appalling" after talks in Brussels broke up with the UK delegation voting against the package of measures.

The quotas affect whitefish catches on the west coast and had originally been seen as a temporary emergency measure.

Mr Lochhead said that progress in other catch areas had been "soured".

Bertie Armstrong of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation said he had been "initially encouraged" by the EU Fish Council's decision not to "rush through" a new set of technical conservation rules.

But he added that the decision to continue with draconian catch composition rules for whitefish vessels on Scotland's west coast had resulted in a major blow for parts of the Scottish fishing fleet.

The whole process was absolutely appalling. The commission refused to negotiate. Richard Lochhead Fisheries Minister

Mr Lochhead told BBC Scotland: "The whole deal was completely soured by the fact they made some emergency regulations that were introduced earlier this year.

"They cemented them in the new regulations for the long term and that's very bad news indeed for those particular vessels on the west coast of Scotland affected.

"The whole process was absolutely appalling. The commission refused to negotiate and for the first time in memory the UK government agreed with the Scottish government that we had to vote against the fishing package on the table."

'Threats averted'

Mr Lochhead did admit it was not all bad news from the late night talks.

He added: "Many of the real threats that our fishermen were facing coming into these talks have been averted.

"For example our valuable prawn fleets are no longer facing the prospect of new draconian technical measures in 2010.

"And changes to fishing gear that would have impacted on both viability and safety have been averted."