I was choked with laughter when I read two articles on the same page of the Press and Journal today. A classic story of the British (and what’s worse, in this case, Scottish) giving Johnny Foreigner a telling off whilst there is a gaping hole in compliance with our own rules.
The first story involves the Icelandic and Faroese governments increasing their quotas of Mackerel fishing by, in some cases, threefold.
Tory MEP Struan Stevenson described the Icelanders and Faroese as like “Viking raiders”. The SNP Fisheries Minister Richard Lochead said that the boost to their quotas was “wholly unacceptable” and that it risked damaging well-managed stocks of fish.
On the same page, the very next story refers to six Scottish skippers and the Lerwick based Shetland Catch Limited who, between 2002 and 2005, illegally landed £15 million worth of so called black fish, i.e. over and above their quota.
Now, like many others, I disapprove heartily of the European Union fishing quota policy. I realise that fish stocks have to be conserved, but I think that Scottish fishermen have been treated shabbily, because they have always been represented in Brussels by an English fisheries minister who knew nothing and cared even less about the Scottish fishing industry, for which he did not even have responsibility!
But before Stevenson and Lochead go running off at the mouth about these foreigners, I think it would be a good idea to check that the reporting of it is unlikely to end up on the same page as the above story. It really makes them both look a tad foolish. Mr Lochead’s assertion that the Scottish fisheries were well managed was hilarious, given the positioning of the two articles, and Mr Stevenson’s comparison with Viking raiders is a tad on the silly side. I really thought that being rude to our nearest neighbours was Jim Murphy’s job!
The Scottis
h Fishermen’s Federation insisted that the incidents of millions of pounds worth of illegally landed fish had nothing to do with the current quota debacle. They claimed that it was all years ago a “drop in the ocean” as it were..... But then they would wouldn’t they?
Honestly if these six were all on the hey diddle diddle, who’s to say there are not many more out there (like in the House of Commons) at it?
I don’t think if I were Icelandic or Faroese that I would be terribly convinced that this wasn’t just another example of a typically British attitude. Canting hypocrisy is the phrase that comes to mind.
The first story involves the Icelandic and Faroese governments increasing their quotas of Mackerel fishing by, in some cases, threefold.
Tory MEP Struan Stevenson described the Icelanders and Faroese as like “Viking raiders”. The SNP Fisheries Minister Richard Lochead said that the boost to their quotas was “wholly unacceptable” and that it risked damaging well-managed stocks of fish.
On the same page, the very next story refers to six Scottish skippers and the Lerwick based Shetland Catch Limited who, between 2002 and 2005, illegally landed £15 million worth of so called black fish, i.e. over and above their quota.
Now, like many others, I disapprove heartily of the European Union fishing quota policy. I realise that fish stocks have to be conserved, but I think that Scottish fishermen have been treated shabbily, because they have always been represented in Brussels by an English fisheries minister who knew nothing and cared even less about the Scottish fishing industry, for which he did not even have responsibility!
But before Stevenson and Lochead go running off at the mouth about these foreigners, I think it would be a good idea to check that the reporting of it is unlikely to end up on the same page as the above story. It really makes them both look a tad foolish. Mr Lochead’s assertion that the Scottish fisheries were well managed was hilarious, given the positioning of the two articles, and Mr Stevenson’s comparison with Viking raiders is a tad on the silly side. I really thought that being rude to our nearest neighbours was Jim Murphy’s job!
The Scottis
h Fishermen’s Federation insisted that the incidents of millions of pounds worth of illegally landed fish had nothing to do with the current quota debacle. They claimed that it was all years ago a “drop in the ocean” as it were..... But then they would wouldn’t they?Honestly if these six were all on the hey diddle diddle, who’s to say there are not many more out there (like in the House of Commons) at it?
I don’t think if I were Icelandic or Faroese that I would be terribly convinced that this wasn’t just another example of a typically British attitude. Canting hypocrisy is the phrase that comes to mind.
Pics: Iceland fisheries vessel; Mr Lochead; Mr Stevenson
