Meeting of the Parliament 09 December 2014
I am delighted, if a little surprised, to be speaking in this debate. The detonation of a weather bomb and the consequential disruption to flights has meant that my colleague Tavish Scott is marooned in Shetland. Given the vital importance of the fishing industry to Shetland and of these negotiations to that industry, Tavish Scott’s absence from this debate is a loss. I know that he would want to extend his apologies to you, Presiding Officer, and to colleagues for his absence.
I was struck by the fact that almost one quarter of all fish that is landed in the UK is landed in Shetland. More fish was landed in Shetland in 2013 than was landed in Wales, England and Northern Ireland put together. Although I do not pretend that the figures for my constituency in Orkney match those for Shetland, it is nevertheless a sector that is vitally important economically and socially to the islands that I represent. These negotiations, and those that coincide with them, matter a great deal.
This year, unlike last, most of the deal appears already to have been done. The EU-Norway negotiations settled last week and the Faroese access agreements were settled earlier today. According to the SFF, there will not be a lot to fight about next week in Brussels. Those are perhaps famous last words, but as someone who bears the scars of the round-the-clock negotiations and middle-of-the-night compromise agreements from back in the day, I certainly welcome the situation and concur with the cabinet secretary’s description of previous processes as “bun fights”.
Of course, that is not to say that there will not be challenges. In a sector that is so varied, that has gone through so much change and that operates in such an environment, one would expect nothing less. Perhaps one of the most obvious challenges, certainly for the demersal fleet, is the implementation of the discard ban, which colleagues have referred to.
Next month, the Scottish Government will implement a discard ban on the pelagic sector. A basic minimalist plan is in place. With a clean fishery, where mackerel and herring swim and are caught in mid-water shoals, the discard ban is relatively straightforward, but that cannot be said for Scotland’s white-fish fleet.
From January 2016, the industry will have to live with a fishing practice that logic suggests is entirely correct and desirable. Landing all fish rather than throwing valuable quota species over the side is absolutely right, but the devil will assuredly be in the detail, as Richard Lochhead acknowledged. Landing everything that is caught at sea in a mixed fishery within the existing quota system is fraught with risks and could lead to disastrous consequences for some of our demersal fleet.
I recognise that Marine Scotland has changed its perspective on implementation and that the hard line appears to have softened, which is to be welcomed, but a discard ban for the white-fish fleet must be realistic. It should start not with four species—cod, saith, haddock and whiting—but instead with just haddock. Once a comprehensive assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the ban on haddock and the financial consequences for the vessels are clear, further steps can and should be taken. I urge the cabinet secretary to accept that approach and to work with the industry to deliver a ban that can work not just in principle but in practice, which I believe is a shared objective of many of the environmental non-governmental organisations.
At present, the consequences of a ban are simple. If quotas are not significantly increased, boats will go out of business, as they will run out of quota as they land all the fish in port—cod is the obvious example of that. An increase in quota and a land-all policy would have implications for vessel design, operation and capacity. Three quarters of the vessels in the Scottish fishing fleet are over 20 years old, and many are much older and need to be replaced. That is a nationwide problem, and the Government should look to assist with vessel replacement by utilising the European maritime fishing fund. The industry should be encouraged to look again at vessel design, new engine types and fuel mixes as well as other innovations that are aimed at reducing carbon burn. I welcome Marine Scotland’s acknowledgement that the issue must be addressed, although perhaps the cabinet secretary can make clear where he stands on that.
The Faroese access agreements have been finalised in London. Sadly, the unfair deal that rewards the Faroese for illegal fishing of mackerel is set to stay until 2019. No one in the Scottish pelagic catching or processing sector thinks that it is a good deal. The agreements are meant to be reciprocal, but there seems precious little gain for our fleet and processors. The Faroese said that their waters are teeming with mackerel. It is therefore puzzling that, instead of fishing in their coastal waters, the entire Faroese pelagic fleet has fished right up to the Scottish coastal limits. Imagine the outrage if the reverse was happening. There seems to be no upside for our pelagic and demersal sectors in the reciprocal arrangements, which is something that the cabinet secretary might need to take forward.