This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Veracious II to be decommissioned
14/01/2005
Following discussions with fishing industry representatives, aid organisations and the UK government, the Executive has reluctantly concluded that the last vessel in the 2003 scheme to reduce capacity of Scotland's white fish fleet was unsuited to South East Asia.
The Veracious II will be decommissioned.
Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie said:
"The Executive is exploring every means possible of supporting communities affected by the Boxing Day tsunami.
"As part of that effort we extended the deadline for the 2003 decommissioning scheme to consider carefully whether the Veracious II might, as we and others had hoped, make a useful contribution to the aid we are providing to Asian fishing communities.
"The overwhelming advice from aid agencies and fisheries experts is that this vessel would not be suitable to help fishing or other needs in South East Asia.
"We have been in detailed discussion with fishing industry representatives over this matter.
"We will continue to work closely with our fishing industry to identify effective ways of providing assistance that will be appropriate to the affected communities."