Tim Eagle MSP has written to the UK’s fisheries minister calling for a share of a new £360 million funding package to be based on the value of fish landed after it emerged Scotland will receive less than 8% of the total amount pledged.
The Labour UK Government announced £360m of investment through the new Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, but only £28m has been allocated to Scotland.
It means Scotland will only receive 7.8% of the total fund, with £18m going to Wales, £10m going to Northern Ireland, and the remaining total going to England.
That’s despite the Scottish fleet having double the catching capacity (vessel tonnage), lands more fish and generates more fishing income for the UK.
In August, Scotland took in almost £52m worth of fish, with Peterhead responsible for almost half of that total.
This compares to England, which took in £16m, Northern Ireland £2.7m, and Wales £550,000 in August.
Scottish Conservative fishing spokesman and Buckie-based MSP Tim Eagle, who has written to UK fisheries minister Angela Eagle, said: “This fund is a pitiful amount which doesn’t come close to the true scale that Scotland’s fishing sector benefits the UK.
“It is a drop in the ocean when almost 40% of fishermen are based here in Scotland, landing substantially more fish than anywhere else in the UK.
“The significant gap between the funding that has been made available to Scotland compared to Scotland’s overall output, is neither fair nor proportionate.
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“This peace offering that short-changes Scotland will do little to ease the anger that fishermen rightly feel towards Keir Starmer for surrendering our fishing waters to the EU until 2038.
“Once again, we are seeing this Labour UK Government undervalue our fishing industry.
“That is why I have written to the fisheries minister Angela Eagle, urging her to reconsider the funding split for the new Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, so that it reflects the true value of Scottish fishing against the wider UK industry.”
