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| Fishing report 'ignores reality' | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| A dire warning about the future of fish stocks is a doomsday prediction which ignores reality, a Scottish fishing body has said. | A dire warning about the future of fish stocks is a doomsday prediction which ignores reality, a Scottish fishing body has said. |
| An international team of scientists, writing in US journal Science, said stocks could collapse within 50 years if commercial fishing is not curbed. | An international team of scientists, writing in US journal Science, said stocks could collapse within 50 years if commercial fishing is not curbed. |
| The UK Government is considering its response to the warning. | The UK Government is considering its response to the warning. |
| The Scottish Fishermen's Federation said strenuous efforts were being made to make fishing in the UK sustainable. | The Scottish Fishermen's Federation said strenuous efforts were being made to make fishing in the UK sustainable. |
| SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong said the mistakes in the report came from "extrapolation" of current circumstances into the future. | SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong said the mistakes in the report came from "extrapolation" of current circumstances into the future. |
| He said: "We have the strongest objections to the superficial nature of this report. | He said: "We have the strongest objections to the superficial nature of this report. |
| No complete ban | No complete ban |
| "It takes a ridiculously long timescale and does not mention the efforts being made in Europe to recover stocks as quickly as we can. | |
| "It is a doomsday prediction that ignores the reality of what the world is actually trying to do to remove the ills that it describes." | |
| Mr Armstrong said much was being done to halt the decline of marine biodiversity. | Mr Armstrong said much was being done to halt the decline of marine biodiversity. |
| He added: "With respect to fisheries there has been much effort made to make exploitation of a natural renewable resource sustainable and that is where we are approaching now." | He added: "With respect to fisheries there has been much effort made to make exploitation of a natural renewable resource sustainable and that is where we are approaching now." |
| The international study said supplies of fish such as cod were under threat from over-fishing and habitat destruction. | The international study said supplies of fish such as cod were under threat from over-fishing and habitat destruction. |
| UK Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw said the warning represented the biggest global environment challenge after global warming. | UK Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw said the warning represented the biggest global environment challenge after global warming. |
| 'Alarmist scaremongering' | |
| But he ruled out a complete ban on cod fishing, saying a "zero catch" would see "the end of all fishing in the UK". | But he ruled out a complete ban on cod fishing, saying a "zero catch" would see "the end of all fishing in the UK". |
| Richard Lochhead, the SNP's fisheries spokesman, said: "This report is alarmist scaremongering that is largely irrelevant to Scottish waters where the vast majority of stocks are booming and some are even at record levels. | |
| "Of the key stocks in our waters, the situation facing North Sea cod is by far the exception rather than the rule. | |
| "The reason why cod stocks have changed has yet to be identified although global warming is now being seen as a major influence on that particular stock and fishermen can't exactly be blamed for that." | |
| He said it was encouraging that fishermen were reporting an increase in cod stocks. |