Welcome breakthrough for Hebridean fishermen

We welcome and acknowledge the enormous step forward that has secured by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Fisheries, Richard Lochhead. Issues were raised (as per letter below from Cllr Donald Manford) and Richard Lochhead responded rapidly resulting in great outcomes for the Hebridean fishing industry.

As highlighted in the letter by Cllr Manford dated 17th September 2013, the Norway experience is cited where for small coastal fisheries, if dogfish were caught unavoidably, the live fish were returned to the sea and the remainder permitted to be landed to avoid discards.

Richard Lochhead has allocated significant resources towards a training scheme for fishermen on the use of equipment to facilitate robust scientific research in order to contribute to the information available on the species concerned. The participants of the course will now see the benefits of taking part in the training and will have the opportunity to benefit from this research .

We wholeheartedly thank Mr Lochhead for opening opportunities that have been denied to us previously and his willingness to respond so promptly to our raising of identifying methods in which to achieve more benefits for the Western Isles fishermen.

In  order that more fishermen can benefit from these opportunities, we request that the minister extends the training opportunities he made available earlier this year

// //

Hebrides Today brings you the latest news from the Western Isles