4m 1sLength

Eng/French/Nat As the European Union meets to discuss E-U fishing quotas, tensions are running high in a tiny Scottish fishing village where British fishermen are coming under threat from other European fleets. The port of Lochinver has attracted French and Spanish fishermen going for deep water fish. But the facilities at the port built with E-U money and the issue of foreigners fishing in local waters have raised the hackles of Scottish fishermen and the local community. The tranquil waters of Lochinver... From afar, it might seem like any other small fishing port, but for the local fishermen it has become a battle zone. What began four years ago as an experiment by the French to exploit nearby deep-water fishing grounds has developed into a permanent trade which has local fishermen fuming. The French have set their sights on deep-water fish unknown to the British palate which, unlike more common species, are not regulated by the E-U. While locals were once indifferent to the deep-sea trade, they are now realising they could be missing out on a lucrative new catch. They feel they are being squeezed on two fronts - first by E-U fishing quotas, and now by competition with the larger and more modern French and Spanish vessels using their harbour. The U-K fishermen blame Brussels for putting them out of work by imposing quotas on their catches, failing to stop foreign quota hoppers, and allowing them use of their harbour. SOUNDBITE: "These boats are doing their best in the work they've got, but the Spanish can come in and take three and four times the amount and never get spoken about. These boys do their job and they take too much, even a couple of boxes too much, and they get clobbered for it. They get fined left right and centre for it." SUPER CAPTION: Andrew McMahon, Harbour Auditor SOUNDBITE: "It's just a joke really. I mean, we go out there and our quotas are absolutely nothing. So you've got to go out there with no quotas, well next to no quota, and catch fish that you're not allowed to catch, come in and land them, land them back door or black, try to get rid of them. It's just a joke. Nobody could possibly survive with the quotas that they get. It's just totally impossible to survive." SUPER CAPTION: Steven Clarke, Local Skipper Some locals are incensed by what they claim are hidden subsidies from the Highland Council to encourage European vessels to set up in Lochinver. Five large French trawlers from Brittany regularly land their catch at Lochinver, while a Spanish company has also established a presence. Catches go several times a week on French, Spanish and British lorries to Brittany, the Basque country and beyond. Now even Scottish trawlermen are selling directly to Europe, and it's this latest trade which is dividing the community. SOUNDBITE: "It's fairer to the bureaucrats than it is to us. Them in their European... head fisheries offices in Europe, just don't understand the situation we're in." SUPER CAPTION: Ian Laurie, local fisherman It's the early hours of the morning and Du Couedic, one of the largest French trawlers, is bringing in its considerable catch. The last few years has seen a new 12 (m) million dollar harbour and market development built with EU money. But this too has caused problems, with accusations of better treatment for foreign fishermen. One French fisherman pointed out the advantages of using Lochinver as a port. SOUNDBITE: (French) "It costs much less to unload your fish in Scotland, and in addition you gain time for fishing." SUPER CAPTION: French fisherman As tensions over fishing rights rise in Lochinver, members of the European Union meet in Brussels to discuss the latest changes to E-U fishing quotas. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a66c873fb3608f48b156c79ff0dd68df Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork