Official Report search · Parliament Workbench

Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2013

15 May 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill

McGrigor, Jamie Con Highlands and Islands Watch on SPTV

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, in relation to fisheries.

There is widespread recognition of the importance of aquaculture and wild fisheries to Scotland’s economy. In my region, the Highlands and Islands, fish farming helps to underpin many communities. The fact that farmed Scottish salmon has the much-coveted label rouge demonstrates its excellence. At the same time—as the minister stressed—Scotland, with its lochs and rivers, is a world-famous location for wild fishing.

As part of the European and External Relations Committee’s inquiry into the China plan, I recently visited the Marine Harvest processing factory at Fort William, which is a significant employer in Lochaber. I had not visited a salmon processing factory for several years, and the improvement in the quality of the fish over that time was plain to see. All Marine Harvest’s fish are processed in one factory, picked up by lorry, taken to Heathrow and flown out, which means that they can be in China in a very short time. The potential for growth in the Chinese market is great. The labelling on the boxes gives total traceability—it is possible to tell not only what cage on which site the fish came from, but which individual packed the box.

Given that there is no lack of transparency on that side of aquaculture, it is disappointing that, despite lobbying from many sides, the Scottish Government decided not to accept the well-thought-out amendments of my friend Alex Fergusson that proposed that sea lice data should be published on a farm-by-farm basis, as happens in Norway, Chile and Ireland. I invite the minister to explain why that lack of transparency does not exist in other fish farming countries.

A big theme in the stage 1 debate and the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee’s scrutiny of the bill and its report was the need for the wild fish and the fish farming sectors to work together more constructively. The bill represented an opportunity to improve working methods and public relations. People in the aquaculture industry to whom I spoke were not alarmed by the request for greater transparency, so why is the Scottish Government so intransigent on sea lice? That will leave the wild fish industry disappointed. Indeed, the Salmon & Trout Association is calling the bill a missed opportunity to protect and conserve Scotland’s wild fish heritage. Can the minister say something to relieve those concerns?

The disappointment stems from the Government’s failure to accept amendments at stage 2—and further amendments from Claudia Beamish at stage 3—that would have increased the amount of publicly available information on sea lice. Will the minister at least instruct Marine Scotland to analyse Scotland-wide sea lice data at a farm management area level on a quarterly basis, so that it can assess the performance on sea lice management and test the SSPO reporting system?

I think that all of us recognise that we want and need to achieve the sustainable coexistence of the wild fish and fish farming industries. That is what I have argued for throughout my time in the Parliament. We know that that can best be achieved when both sectors trust each other. It remains to be seen whether the bill will help us to make progress towards that aim, but ministers need to continue to strive to address the concerns of wild fishery interests, particularly in the west and north-west, where genuine concerns still exist about the decline in wild fish numbers and the reasons behind it. The Scottish Conservatives will continue to speak up on such issues, while supporting the sustainable growth of our aquaculture producers.

17:07

Search Hansard contributions

Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2013

In the same item of business