The market at one of Europe's biggest fish-handling ports - Peterhead, Scotland. More than 6,000 boxes of multiple varieties speak of a healthy industry and healthy stocks. But not everything is as it seems. This is an industry locked into an unpopular, many say a failed, EU Common Fisheries Policy, that's now undergoing root reforms. At Nolan's fish producers, they enjoy good turnover from an increasing appetite for fish across Europe. They hope for more opportunities and fewer restrictions from the reform but they're not sure at all they'll get it. Brussels is a horse fair, a bit of give and take here and there. My own gut feeling is Scotland always fares badly. We all agree we need to have a sustainable fleet. But we're not going to encourage reinvestment in fishing as long as it's as unviable as it is now. The reform proposals include action against overfishing, ensuring sustainable and productive fish stocks, a ban on discards, and decentralised management. Some of Scotland's fishing community got a chance to air their grievances and views on CFP reform in a face-to-face with Scottish MEPs at the port. This is not a political game. I came to the conclusion a few years ago that nothing could be done, we had to come out of the CFP. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me the CFP can be reformed and it's worth sticking with. On the whole, I'm optimistic about it. I think there's a recognition that we've got to get this right. We only get the chance to reform the CFP every 10 years. Unless we seize this opportunity some fisheries around Europe will simply be in a state from which recovery may be impossible. But the key for some lies in the degree to which Brussels will hand over control. Here we have the chance to devolve the day-to-day management of fisheries back to Member States and then down to stakeholders themselves, to involve the fishermen. They know it's been a catastrophe micromanaged from the centre. The fishing areas of Europe's 90,000-plus vessels are clearly delineated. The industry accepts that fish stocks need to be sustained for future generations. Sustainability lies at the heart of CFP reform and of the EU's 2020 strategy for growth. The question is, what's the balance? Especially when the economic survival of communities that live and die by fish is at stake. Let's apply all our energies and resources to getting the fishing sorted out, instead of saying, 'What can you do other than fishing?' That's a cop-out. To me it's the beginning of the end. I understand environmental reasons, but people must be able to make a living. If you take away a whole community's livelihood, you must put something back. There's loads of fishermen that are too old to do anything else, so they'll spend their time in pubs drinking. Obviously, drug taking has got worse, the state of the town's got worse. Absolutely devastating. It just brings the community to its knees. No more cuts and restore some of the haddock fishing, because some of the fisher-guys that I know have said that the sea's brimming with fish. A different argument from those advancing environmental interests. Without getting stocks to their optimal levels the losses that could be faced are enormous. For example, there was a recent report that stated that if you just took 43 stocks and got them from their very low states now to their optimal levels, you could generate an extra 3 billion euros of landings. In the 18 years that David Isaac has been fishing Scotland's western waters, he's seen new boats erode his daily yield. Coupled to that, he fears, will be new EU regulations. The cuts that have affected the bigger boats in the UK are... They've just been hammered. And once they've finished doing them, they'll work their way down the scale until the focus will be on the inshore boats, which is gradually happening. He wants officials to take account of the loss of fishing ground from the start. All these huge areas of seabed that are being designated for wind farms. If we're losing that and we're losing ground to no-take zones, that's a double whammy. You get hit from either side. MEPs are acutely aware that reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is a vote-winner and a vote-loser. Debate will continue throughout 2012. It's timetabled to come into force the following year. You can find more information on CFP reform on the EP's website. Over the coming months, the Scotland Office of the EP is holding or participating in the following events: You can also get in touch directly with the EP's offices in your own countries.
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