Skippers “vindicated” says SFA executive after fishing talks

SFA chief executive Simon Collins. 

The executive officer of the Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) has praised the increase in quotas for fishing crews claiming it is a “vindication” for skippers. 

Talks concluded on fisheries between the UK, Norway and the EU meaning quotas on such species of fish such as cod, haddock and whiting, among others. 

The total allowable catch of cod for 2023 has increased by 63 per cent on 2022, to 21,652. 

Haddock and whiting has increased by 30 per cent, while saithe has increased by 19 per cent and plaice by six per cent. 

However, the quota for herring has decreased by seven per cent to 396,556. 

SFA’s executive officer Simon Collin’s said: “This is absolute vindication for skippers who have always argued that swingeing cuts to cod quotas in recent years were excessive relative to the abundance of the stock seen on the grounds.”

He said that previous claims that cod stocks were facing ‘extinction’ was far from the truth and in fact the “opposite was true”. 

 He added: “The agreed quota increases also announced today for other species such as haddock, saithe and whiting mean a more viable future for Shetland’s family-owned fishing fleet, on which the well-being of our whole wider community depends.”