HC Deb 26 November 1986 vol 106 c252
6. Mr. McQuarrie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to have discussions with the Scottish fishermen's organisations on the quota decision taken at the recent Council of Ministers meeting.

Mr. John MacKay

I met representatives of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation on 19 November, when we discussed among other matters the decision taken at the last Council of Ministers meeting enabling the Commission to close a fishery when the total allowable catch is exhausted.

Mr. McQuarrie

I hope that my hon. Friend will continue to meet the Scottish fishermen's organisations to discuss this matter. Is he aware that the proposal to grant power to EEC officials to ban fishing once an allocation has been exceeded is abhorrent to the fishermen in my constituency and in the rest of Scotland? Is he aware also of what will happen when TACs are exceeded by other member states? The answer is that the penal effect will bear only on Scottish fishermen who continue to look after their total allowable catch? Will my hon. Friend explain how compensation is to be paid and how the fish will be collected?

Mr. MacKay

The fishermen who came to see me expressed the same points as my hon. Friend has mentioned. If we are to conserve stocks and ensure that the total allowable catch is not exceeded, there must be some mechanism to ensure that those who exceed their quota are punished. The proposal is that the Commission will punish them in the following year by taking some of their catch from them and giving it to those who suffered because of the over-fishing. I think that that is sensible. It punishes the offender and compensates the person who suffers. Above all, it conserves the stocks.