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Shetland fishers are near “boiling point” with frustration about UK vessels being regularly inspected in Scottish waters, while EU-owned boats are escaping similar scrutiny, it is being claimed.
Figures obtained from Marine Scotland under freedom of information (FoI) rules reveal UK vessels were boarded 104 times in Scottish waters during 2020 and on 492 occasions in 2019.
This is compared to 20 boardings of EU boats at sea in 2020 and 88 in 2019.
Boardings of UK boats in Scottish ports totalled 586 in 2020 (1,388 in 2019), compared to 51 for EU vessels (270 in 2019).