Wednesday 7 November 2007

WWF Scotland's Helen McLachlan, in giving evidence outlining the measures for stock management and recovery to the committee jointly with RSPB, will set out a range of measures which, if implemented by the Scottish Government and industry, would give cod stocks a chance to recover and help protect the long-term future of fishing in Scottish waters.

Helen McLachlan, senior marine policy officer, said: "Recent signs of hope for the North Sea fishery are based on a slightly larger than normal 2005 year catch. However, this catch was only a third of the size of the best year classes in the 1990s. It is critical that this year class of fish, now still immature at age two, is allowed to survive until they can spawn and contribute to the population. We cannot afford this first sign of hope to trigger high levels of pressure on cod stocks as this will only deliver further deterioration of the stock."

"Government and fishermen have an opportunity to act now to help cod recovery and safeguard the Scottish fishing industry for future generations. Throughout 2008-9 we need to look at how fishermen can avoid catching juvenile cod in particular, and in doing so drastically reduce the number of fish being caught and discarded.

"A range of measures are critical. The Scottish Government and the industry should commit to extend the real time closure pilot and work with other member states to achieve meaningful closures for the protection of juveniles. A mandatory requirement for the use of square mesh panels in nephrops fisheries should be set and pilot whitefish trawl gear that will separate out cod from the rest of the whitefish catch.

Ms McLachlan continued, "The Government should be championing the introduction of bycatch quotas among fishermen and also commit to the use of onboard observers as standard practice in Scottish fisheries."