And About Time Too! By Alex Henry Baillister, Gott. reproduced by kind permission of The Shetland Times

Friday 19th July 1996

I read last week's front page lead item to find that the 'greens' are a-coming. It is possibly vexing that they had not been spawned a long time back. And what ideas are they proposing for the fishing industry that are so dastardly?

(a) Fishermen being paid to have a rest until stocks recover; the SFA secretary speaks about 'morality' - what could be more immoral than to allow the localised extinction of many fish species, as has happened in the past. On page six of the same paper no less than 11 lines were allocated to the fact (as in one) halibut was landed last week. I recall 30-35 years ago the small boat Pilot Us landing up to a dozen halibut each day at certain times of the year. How times have changed.

(b) Boats should not get bigger and better; ie smaller boats with more employment. The fleet can either be comprised of a few large pursers/mega-trawlers (with very well-off employees), or the opposite. I think most fishermen would prefer extra employment and steady moderate wages.

(c) The green~s only concern is for the fish; I would hope the fisherman~s concern would be likewise. No fish, no jobs.

(d) Use of square mesh nets; anybody with any wit would favour this. Is 110mm huge? I cannot see any difference between the sustainable yield comprising, for example, 80 large fish rather than 250 smaller ones. Remember the smaller ones will reach full maturity in a comparatively short time and there is the significant bonus of at least five per cent more yield during filleting.

(e) The fleet must be cut to protect the most valuable stocks. Okay, treat the fleet as sacrosanct, decimate the species, and who wins?

(f) Fishing boats should be tracked and policed by one Euro- force; the honest fisherman would have nothing to fear. Every other primary industry is governed, regulated or licensed to some degree so why not fishing?

(g) Destructive fishing gear banned or barred from, say, spawning areas. Surely no comment needed.

(h) No discards. Unanimous approval.

(i) Lighter, more controlled fishing to help end the worryingly unpredictable nature of the industry. Seems like good sense.

So what would this environmentalists~ nightmare result in? Moderate-sized boats, more employment, steadier fishing, no cheating, spawning areas protection, greater variety of species, no discards, more food (ie sandeels), larger fish, better prices. I think that fishermen could live with this.

Damn the environmentalists, their presence means we can no longer enjoy asbestosis, lead poisoning, pesticide residues, the Great London smog, and a long list of others. No odds, we are still enjoying BSE beef (people just crazy about it), Chernobyl mutton (no need to cook), and plenty of other pollution problems. Did you here the one about the fish off the Norwegian coast which were so high in metal residues that all fishing was banned (Shetland Times, January) ? A few of these filets would certainly be a heavy meal.

John Goodlad goes on to argue that fishermen have learned their lessons from the past. Have they? He agrees that sandeels were overfished in 1982 and all that was needed was a 1700 per cent reduction; then there was the fun and games with Norway pout, the herring ban, the lobster collapse, etc. A precautionary approach could well have prevented these fiascos. What~s the expression - ~closing the stable door after the horse has bolted~? And please don~t use seals as a scapegoat; man, seals and fish have always co-existed since time immemorial.

Over-reaction and exaggeration are always counterproductive and, far castigating them, fishermen should be embracing green ideas. I am sincere in my belief that the SFA has a very able secretary indeed with an exceedingly difficult task - he has to carry out a balancing act between the pressure of his members and the deviousness of politicians.

Finally, on a drive into Lerwick one day, I said; 'Look at the size of these fishing boats near the Shetland Catch.' There was a pause and my wife replied: 'But they're not as big as the St Clair'

I made no comment.