THERE are major differences of opinion in the Scottish whitefish catching sector as to future prospects, with some skippers optimistic after netting good earnings while others are deeply pessimistic.

This has been underlined to fishnewseu.com by a leading member of the Scottish industry who said that the different viewpoints among skippers were more marked this year than last.

And Robert Stevenson, the chief executive of the Peterhead-based North East of Scotland Fishermen’s Organisation said the fact that he had heard that about 50 vessels were applying for the parking scheme to take them out of fishing, was an indication of the lack of confidence in the future among some skippers.

Latest catch uptake figures show the manoeuvring and deals that are going on to try to keep the key whitefish and prawn grounds open as long as possible this year with, for example, the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation (SFO), the country’s biggest fish producer organisation now said to have six rather than five weeks of their North Sea haddock fishery left. And the SFO have secured another four weeks of North Sea prawns, giving them eight weeks to go in terms of catching this vital species.By contrast, the Aberdeen PO has 34 weeks of nephrops left on paper and the North-east PO 22.

In terms of North Sea cod, the SFO are said to have nine weeks left, the North-east PO three and Aberdeen, two.

Meanwhile in haddock terms, Aberdeen has 10 weeks and the North-east PO, 12.

Mr Stevenson said that while on paper, it would appear they had only three weeks to go in terms of North Sea cod, the figures were not accurate and for example did not allow for the camera cod element.

"I do not regard the cod situation critical as yet. I believe there are things we can do and options we can take to keep our cod fishery open. We would hope for some flexibility from Marine Scotland and hopefully, we would be able to avoid closure until the end of November."

Meanwhile, despite the resumption of Icelandic cod catching, Mr Stevenson said that Scottish cod prices had continued to be buoyant.

In terms of the white fish fleet’s economic outlook, Mr Stevenson said he felt more skippers were being "squeezed" this year than last.

Boats had tried to eke quotas out as long as possible to give skippers at least an 11-month fishery, but that was not going to happen for a good number of boats, in his view.

"Prices are holding up, but the general economic squeeze is being felt by more skippers."

And in terms of skippers’ attitudes, he believed that within his own grouping, there was a lot more optimism than pessimism. But looking at the Scottish whitefish sector as a whole, you were looking at a very divided fleet.

And the fact that 50 vessels were applying for parking was a sign of the times

"I would say there are 10%-15% of the whitefish fleet who are doing really well and 20% below them that are doing fine. But the third or so below that are just ticking over with those below them the ones who are struggling, underlined by the 50 vessels going for parking."