(c) shetlandfishermen.com
As an admittedly ill-informed reader of the original report in Fishing News that Pelagic (open-sea) catchers were angry about this, I thought why don’t Scottish fishing boats have to land all their catch in Scottish ports given that their owners benefit from the same economic infrastructure and services – roads, schools, hospitals and so on – as the rest of us. I take it bigger profits can be made landing your catch in foreign ports and using foreign processing plants. Consequently, a significant proportion of fish caught in Scottish waters are supporting the economies of other countries. Further, owners will have to have a least 50% of their crews resident in the UK. Again, referring back to the benefits of living in Scotland, I’m puzzled as to why owners are not obliged to have 100% or near that of their crews living in and paying taxes in Scotland.
http://fishingnews.co.uk/news/scottish-vessels-must-land-55-of-catches-in-scotland/
Talking-up Scotland 
I found it strange that the SPFA state in the article that there are only 4 processing factories in Scotland whilst the Processors state there are 5 fairly large such factories. So.. I decided to check the Scottish Government website where it is stated that there are *200* processing plants of various sizes throughout Scotland, employing a 7,000 strong workforce. I now find it even more strange.
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Sorry, forgot to post that link
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Business-Industry/Food-Industry/Seafood/processor
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Thanks for that Finn. Informative. I suspect the owners are greedy ******* employing cheap labour and caring little for their own communities
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Hi John – Hi Finn.
Yes – this strikes me as an excellent move by SNP Scottish Govt. – The licences are being awarded to the vessel owners (or vessel owning companies) and they should be able to demonstrate how they are not just personally benefitting from the business opportunity but also routinely spreading those benefits around the local community. Too often under London rule no such connection has been made.
I forget the guys name – I think he became a Lord – was it Thompson? – He was a Canadian businessman who acquired The Scotsman and also STV. He famously described STV as “A licence to print money” and for years got away with pulling out virtually all the revenues and running the channel on a load of low-budget crap. Milord couldn’t believe his luck that such an attrocious system (with ALL the advantages on the station owners’ side) had been allowed to be instituted. Of course – you and I know that that is the UK elite’s way of making and maintaining their inordinate wealth.
So this proposed development in the fishing vessel licence process is further excellent work by the SNP Scottish Govt.
Another bit of good news (carried, amazingly, in the Scotsman) is that French cheese wholesaler Desailly has arranged an initial shipment of 5 Scottish cheeses to show at its big trade event next week – SNP Scottish Govt Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing was quoted: “I would like to congratulate Clarks together with the specialist cheese producers on this success which speaks volumes about the quality of the produce they are offering and once again highlights the esteem with which Scotland’s food is held internationally.”
Further evidence of the continuing strengthening of the Scottish economy found in the Aberdeen Airport August figures reported today:
Aberdeen International Airport has reported an increase in total passenger numbers for August 2017 with continued increases in both domestic and international passenger numbers. A total of 292,607 passengers travelled through the airport, demonstrating a 3.1% increase when compared with the same month last year where 283,739 passengers travelled through.
The airport opened the first phase of its three-year-long transformation project earlier this summer with new international and domestic arrivals facilities as well as the new Northern Lights Executive Lounge being made available to passengers. This initial phase of the project increased the total terminal space by 50% which is allowing for construction of the project’s second and third phases to get underway.
This growing confidence in the Scottish economy is being demonstrated by real hard-nosed bussiness people making real investments here (see below) because they have confidence in how the SNP Scottish Govt is handling their economic brief by doing the day job very assiduously indeed (Take note BritNat fanatics):
Ryanair have announced that they will be launching a new leisure route to Malta from Aberdeen in April 2018. The route announcement follows on from the introduction of three other sunshine destinations earlier in 2017, with the new Malta route set to join the popular routes of Malaga, Alicante and Faro in the Spring.
Quietly getting on with building the (fairer) economy of the new Scotland – that is the hallmark of this SNP Scottish Govt.
Cheers, ludo
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Hi Ludo
You’re a mine of useful and encouraging information.
Thanks for adding this
John
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