SCOTTISH FISHING LEADERS CONDEMN OCEANA REPORT

Scottish Fishing Leaders Condemn Oceana Report

Scotland’s fishing leaders have launched a fierce rebuttal of Oceana’s latest report, accusing the environmental NGO of pursuing an agenda aimed at “putting fishermen out of business.” Representatives from the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and the Shetland Fishermen’s Association said the group’s findings amount to “anti-fishing propaganda,” built on oversimplified science and sensational claims that distort the realities of sustainable fishing. They argue that Oceana’s recommendations ignore decades of collaborative work between scientists, governments and the fishing industry to responsibly manage fish stocks and protect marine ecosystems.

Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said: “Consumers need to know that eNGOs such as Oceana exist to put fishermen out of business by campaigning for a total ban on legitimate fishing activity.

“Its annual report is a stepping stone towards that eventual goal in that it attempts to undermine the attempts of negotiators in the UK, Europe and Norway to reach fisheries outcomes that balance nature, food and people.

“As ever Oceana is guilty of massive, desktop over-simplification of complex dynamics – combined with emotive, impact-seeking language – that are just not recognised by those who work in hard in the real world to find practical solutions.

“It also ignores much more significant forces that affect the marine environment, including climate change, pollution and, increasingly, the impact of offshore wind projects.

“The reason the fishing industry has annual science advice is because of the complexity of many natural processes we have no control over.

“Calling for an ecosystem-based approach to management by 2027 is laughable when global experts have been working on this for over 20 years with only limited progress so far. By setting unachievable targets for governments, Oceana is setting them up to fail, because it wants them to fail.

“We put a huge amount effort and expertise into working with scientists and managers in governments to make things better, and we’d prefer not to have to waste our precious time having to respond to ill-informed assessments and unrealistic recommendations such as those from Oceana’s latest ‘report’.”

Shetland Fishermen’s Association executive officer Daniel Lawson said: “Oceana is an anti-fishing group which regularly publishes sensationalised reports denigrating the fishing industry and wilfully misrepresenting UK fish stocks.

“Commercial fishing is a perfectly legitimate activity that has been successfully carried out sustainably for centuries, bringing employment and a healthy food source with a very low carbon footprint to millions of people.

“Island communities such as ours depend on the fishing industry for jobs and income, impossible to replace given the lack of available alternatives.

“Fishing is a complex activity that cannot be reduced to simplistic sloganeering dreamed up by corporate lobbyists, who rely on driving sustainability scare stories for their funding.

“It is hard for fishermen – who contribute in many ways to scientific data collection, regularly partner in sustainability projects, and rely on productive seas for their livelihoods – to be lectured from afar by anonymously funded foundations who make no practical contribution to the sustainability of fish stocks, and who never show their faces in our coastal communities.

“ICES advice – such as that recently released for cod and mackerel – often relies too heavily on assumption and is undermined by scientific uncertainty. Single source advice, which ICES itself often admits is less that convincing, should not be relied on completely to give an accurate account of fish populations – which are also majorly impacted by factors such as global warming, natural predation, and marine developments such as offshore windfarms.

“We have also urged governments to set lower quotas than advised for species such as haddock and whiting in recent years, because they are similarly mismatched with the reality of stock abundances found at sea.”

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