CALLS for more support for the region’s inshore fisheries were heard at Holyrood last week.
Around two-thirds of all fish and shellfish are caught in Scotland each year, and the Solway sustainably produced more than 5000 tons of cockles every year, worth over £5 million to the region’s economy.
Galloway and West MSP Finlay Carson believes that the industry’s financial benefits could be worth many millions of pounds if the Scottish Government got its act together.
Speaking in a debate on Scotland’s fishing industry at Holyrood, he said: “My home town of Kirkcudbright has been the centre of the Scottish scallop industry for a generation, with West Coast Sea Products leading the way.
“We must not overlook the importance of inshore fishing opportunities, which are vital to the rural economy.”
Mr Carson accused the government of failing to make ‘significant progress’ on improving inshore fisheries management with the lack of scientific assessments hindering the development of valuable resources while putting pressure on other stocks, adding: “What is the Scottish Government doing to support inshore fisheries when we’ve got opportunities with sea bass, with cockles and extending lobster fishing – and they completely ignore it.
“The Marine Directorate have done nothing in the last years to assist the inshore fishers.”
“It is imperative that every effort is made to support this industry during trade negotiations. The existing fisheries deal between the EU and the UK, while not perfect, took our sector out of the hated Common Fisheries Policy.”
