June 22, 2015 — New limits on trawling and sea-bottom dredging threaten jobs in a £50 million a year rural industry, the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation has warned, as a row between the Scottish Government and a key Scottish exporting sector threatened to escalate.
The federation claims that draft conservation orders for four west coast MPAs, announced earlier this month, go far beyond what had been agreed during months of talks with civil servants.
The SFF has demanded urgent talks with fisheries minister Richard Lochhead, now expected to take place next week.
SFF president Ross Dougal told the Sunday Herald that, following months of negotiations with the Scottish Government and its environment quango Scottish Natural Heritage, the federation reached what it believed to be an acceptable compromise.