Speaking to the Buchan Observer, local trawlerman Jimmy Buchan said the industry was going through "one of the toughest times" he could ever remember and claimed further cuts could be the final nail in the coffin for the Scottish fleet.

Mr Buchan said: "The thing that drove me as a young fisherman was hope, and it's just not there any more. I have never seen so much despair within the industry in a long time.

"We are going through one of the toughest times I can remember and already they are speaking about even more cuts for the next year. We cannot live within the cuts which have had imposed this year, never mind adding more.

"They want to see effort and quotas reduced going into 2011 - its ridiculous! These proposals are coming from scientists yet our fishermen are are saying the seas are full of cod, but still there are more cuts in the pipeline.

"Is there a time lag between the scientists giving their opinion and what the fishermen are seeing in their nets getting to the decision-makers?



"About 6,000 miles of the North Sea is now closed off from fishing through Real Time Closures. The big problem with these RTCs is that they only affect the Scottish fleet - our EU brothers can fish through them.

"You tell me where the sense is in that? Are these measures to save our future generations or merely to give our European brothers the edge over us?"

Mr Buchan added: "We have serious problems in the industry at the moment that need to be addressed - and need to be addressed now before it's too late and there isn't any future to worry about."

Retired fisherman Ray Pirie (72), also feared for the future of the industry claiming the the decline had been gradually happening for the past ten years and saying it was"no surprise" to him.

He said: "When we got kicked out of Iceland - that was when the decline started, and it's been happening for the last ten years so it is really no surprise to me.

"Our last MP was a disgrace and wouldn't do anything to improve the state of the industry. This is not new.

"I'm not sure if anybody can survive with the quotas we are getting these days, and they are talking about cut backs? It's disgraceful that they can impose any more cuts than they already have.

"The decrease in younsters opting to make a living out of the fishing industry has also contributed to a decline."

Mr Pirie added: "There aren't the same number of vessels going out to sea now, so there aren't a lot of locals going into the industry anymore and the opportunities are scarce. Most people go into the oil industry now as that is where the money is."

Another local skipper, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was "frustrated and disheartened" with the fishing industry's regression, claiming there were significant divides in the fishing commerce.

He said: "The way I see it there are two sides of the coin - there are the purse nets who are extremely well-paid and don't feel the strain of the industry quite as much as the white fish and prawn skippers.

"A purse net skipper can earn as much as £70,000 for ten weeks of work. So there are very well off fishermen in Peterhead, it's not all bad.

"These skippers don't give the smaller boats, who struggle daily, a fighting chance in my opinion. There is a major divide in the fishing industry. The fact is it is not the same as it used to be. It's all about the European fleet now."