Battle to Beat New Call for Cod Ban

SCOTLANDS embattled trawlermen yesterday began a new fight to save their livelihood after fresh calls for a total ban on cod fishing in the North Sea.

The countrys fishing fleet has been devastated by the quota cuts ordered by Brussels bureaucrats in recent years, with many skippers forced out of business and their boats scrapped.

Experts advising the European Commission have been seeking a complete cod ban since 2001 and have now renewed their demand, saying it is the only way for the species to recover from over- fishing.

It would also allow young cod to mature properly, they say. But fishermen fear the move would be the final nail in the coffin for the Scottish fleet.

Industry leaders yesterday sat down for talks in Luxembourg with fisheries ministers, the first stage of negotiations leading up to the annual end-of-year quota allocations.

It was the first time the SNP Executive had been represented in European talks and Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead pledged to fight the fishermens corner energetically.

Mr Lochhead, who said he wanted to see radical changes in Scotlands favour, has given the industry leaders a direct say in the talks for the first time by having executives from the Scottish Fishermens Federation in his support team.

Scotland is sidelined far too often, said Mr Lochhead.

The expert advice to the European Commission comes from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, a Danish- based group of marine scientists.

As well as demanding the complete ban on cod fishing, it has called for huge cuts in the quotas for haddock and plaice.

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