Struan Stevenson, the UK Conservative Fisheries spokesman in Europe, says the arrival of foreign boats into UK waters makes a mockery of the conservation measures imposed on Scottish fishermen.

Struan Stevenson: Calling for action

Two years ago the sea around the outcrop of Rockall, west of the Hebrides, was taken out of Britain's fisheries jurisdiction because the island is uninhabited.

According to Mr Stevenson that has allowed the Russian klondykers unprecedented access to traditional haddock grounds.

Mr Stevenson is now calling for the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, of which Russia is a member, to take action.

However a spokesman for the Scottish Fishermen's Federation dismissed the MEP's intervention as political opportunism.

He said fishermen had been complaining about Rockall for years and that the Scottish Executive had brought the issue to the attention of European fisheries ministers last Friday, with some success.