The protesters from Arctic Sunrise say cod is at risk

A protester jumped into the sea 40 miles off Unst in front of two trawlers on Monday morning with a sign saying: 'Stop battering cod'.

Greenpeace claim over-fishing could cause stocks of cod to be completely wiped out.

The Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) chief executive Bertie Armstrong said it was "beyond irresponsibility".

'Wiped out'

The Greenpeace swimmer in a survival suit held onto a buoy in front of the Scottish trawlers Carisanne II and Demares at about 0800 BST.

The swimmer was later picked up by a Greenpeace inflatable boat.

On Saturday, a Greenpeace swimmer had disrupted another boat.

Willie Mackenzie, Greenpeace campaigner onboard the organisation's ship Arctic Sunrise, said: "The plight of the North Sea is stunningly simple, if fishing for cod is allowed to continue, cod will be wiped out.

'Not clever'

"For some inexplicable reason, politicians and the fishing industry have ignored this fact, so we've been forced to take action to save cod in the North Sea."

The SFF's Mr Armstrong told the BBC Scotland news website: "Why they have picked on Scotland is beyond me, we are the best example in Europe of taking action.

"This is beyond irresponsibility, it's not big and it's not clever. They are taking risks with other people's lives.