Plans have been unveiled to set up a permanent memorial to Aberdeen’s fishing industry.

The Aberdeen branch of the Fishermen’s Mission is consulting the local community to gain support for a memorial to the city's former fishermen.

Although Aberdeen has a proud fishing tradition and there is still fish processing activity in the city, there are now no fish landings, with Scottish whitefish landing and selling activity now mainly centred on Peterhead.

Fishing was a major industry in Aberdeen up until the 1970s when the industry declined as a result of the closure of traditional fishing grounds in Iceland and the Faroe Islands coupled with the rapidly escalating cost of fuel.

In 1914 the industry is said to have employed as many as 19,000 people in the city, at sea and onshore.

Douglas Paterson of the Fishermen’s Mission said: “The idea came from the local advisory committee in Aberdeen and they felt strongly that there should be some form of memorial in the city to the industry in general and also to the guys who lost their lives at sea.

“It is still at the early stages. We are trying to gauge public and business opinion as to whether this is a project they would support. Clearly what we plan to do will depend on how much money we can raise going from £10,000 up to a major memorial which would cost around £200,000. It really depends on what people want.”