Fishermen have received backing from communities on the Clyde after warning their livelihoods are at risk from proposed regulation, an industry body has said.

The Clyde Fishermen’s Association (CFA) has hosted meetings to make the public aware of the effect of changes to the management of marine protection areas (MPAs) and a planned regulating order. The association claims the new rules will economically damage villages and towns dependent on fishing.

It is also believed the regulation will increase depopulation in Argyll and Bute, which is currently running at 3.7 per cent.

Across the region the association said the changes could lead to the loss of 700 onshore fishing related jobs and a reduction of £26.6million in GVA, the measure used to value the goods and services produced in an area.

Elaine Whyte, secretary of the association, said: “At many events the unanimous public support and momentum was both visually and verbally expressed. So many local community members were not even aware of MPAs or the proposed regulating order until these events, let alone aware of the impacts they will have on their communities.”

The CFA believes it is being unfairly criticised by environmental groups, one of which is proposing a regulating order to improve fisheries management.

“In respect to science and management, we feel it is unfair for COAST, the Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (SIFT) and Revive the Clyde to claim that lack of leadership and poor management on behalf of the fishing industry and the Scottish Government have led to the Scottish public no longer eating Clyde finfish,” Ms Whyte said.

“They also point out that finfish stocks are depleted in the Clyde. Clyde fishermen don’t have the quota they once did to catch finfish, but they are present and increasing as science is showing.”

Charles Millar, director of SIFT, which has applied for a regulating order, believes it will improve the sustainability of the fishery and bring new jobs.

“The Regulating Order aims to boost the Clyde’s fishery which used to be rich and diverse, but is now essentially dependent upon prawns and scallops. SIFT believes that if fishery management measures of the sort that other countries have successfully adopted were used in the Clyde, then the fishery would benefit.

“The economic assessment of SIFT’s Regulating Order proposal is that it could bring over 100 new jobs to the Clyde’s commercial fishing sector and over 130 more to its recreational sea angling sector,” he added.

Howard Wood, chair of COAST, said: “MPAs are the first glimmer of hope for our inshore waters in decades. Let’s not allow the short term interest of one fishing sector to override the wider interests of west coast and island communities.”

More than 420 people from Stranraer, Largs, Campbeltown, Islay, Tarbert, Carradale and Troon attended the CFA's meetings.