Sea Fisheries and End Year Negotiations

As an amendment to motion S4M-15031 in the name of Richard Lochhead (Sea Fisheries and End Year Negotiations), insert at end “; believes that the December 2015 EU Fisheries Council must ensure that quota allocations for species covered by the introduction of the discard ban in 2016 must increase substantially; notes the widespread concerns of the Scottish industry and processing sector regarding the difficulties of introducing a discard ban in a mixed whitefish fishery governed by quotas and relative stability; notes the importance of Marine Scotland applying enforcement and compliance regimes that are consistent for all EU vessels in Scottish fishing waters; expects the Scottish Government to avoid the gold-plating of regulations imposed on the Scottish fleet that would create both an uneven playing field and increase financial risk to the Scottish industry, and recognises that data-deficient fish stocks should be the subject of scientific research and not arbitrary quota changes”.