Days at sea: from the fishers' mouths

After nearly 20 years of central European management the fishing industry is deep in crisis, a point emphasised by Scottish demersal fishermen during a study that investigated the breadth of their knowledge and its potential application to fisheries management. In the interviews fishermen were asked to proffer an alternative management system to the much-maligned total allowable catches. Fishermen were found to favour an effort control system (days at sea) and abolition of quotas. Many of the problems emphasised by the fishermen were found to mirror those highlighted by the European Commission in their reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. A 'days at sea' management scheme was seen by the fishermen to address many of these issues. However, if implemented a 'days at sea' scheme would bring additional conditions, unfavoured and unconsidered by the fishermen. The findings presented in this paper demonstrate that there is an urgent need to conduct further research in this field of investigation and that lessons can be learnt from other effort management schemes practised around the world.