Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 02 May 2023
02 May 2023 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Highly Protected Marine Areas
I thank my colleague Beatrice Wishart for securing the debate and giving us the opportunity to discuss the subject of HPMAs.
Scotland is an island nation, and our marine waters are our last great commons, but they are under threat from decades of damage. It is commendable that the Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation allocates limited fishing licences for local shellfish, but 80 per cent of Shetland’s sea floor is in “poor condition” as a result of towed, bottom-contacting fishing.
Scotland as a whole is failing in its legal duty to maintain our seas to good environmental status. Disturbance of the seabed is widespread and total fish landings across Scotland are decreasing. Living seabed habitats—such as flame shell beds—that provide spawning and nursery grounds for fish have suffered catastrophic decline. That threatens not only fish, seabirds and marine mammals, but us humans.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-08651, in the name of Beatrice Wishart, on highly protected marine areas. The debate w...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
I thank those members who signed the motion that allowed the debate to be brought to the chamber. HPMAs are “a blunt instrument”. Those are not my words but...
Karen Adam (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing this debate to the chamber today and giving us all the opportunity to speak on the issues. I represent a number of coa...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
I thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing this important debate to the chamber. Marine ecosystems worldwide store and cycle an estimated 93 per cent of the eart...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The member is bringing his remarks to a close.
Brian Whittle
Con
Not to do so would mean that the Scottish Government was turning its back on those communities. 17:24
Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing this important members’ business debate to the chamber. Over the course of the consultation period for highly protected...
Brian Whittle
Con
Will the member give way?
Alasdair Allan
SNP
No—I will make progress, as there is very little time. Even on recent primary school visits, HPMAs have been the first thing that many pupils have wanted to...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing the debate to the chamber. This issue has caused great consternation in fishing communities. The Scottish Governm...
The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition (Màiri McAllan)
SNP
I understand deeply the member’s points, but I want to question how what she is saying reconciles with the fact that she was elected on a manifesto commitmen...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
That gets to the nub of the matter. This is not about protecting the marine areas—it is about how we protect them. That is done not from the top down but fro...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
The member will remember that, in 2016, this Government was elected on the principle of bringing in an inshore fisheries bill, which it fundamentally failed ...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
Absolutely. Managing our seas has to be devolved to local communities. They depend on the fisheries for their very survival and they need the fisheries to c...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness and Nairn) (SNP)
SNP
I warmly thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing the debate and the opportunity to speak in it to the chamber, and I congratulate her on her excellent contributi...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I join other members in thanking my colleague Beatrice Wishart not just for bringing this evening’s debate but for the tenacity that she has shown in articul...
Brian Whittle
Con
Does Mr McArthur also agree that the uncertainty that the proposals are causing is impacting the ability to recruit into the sector?
Liam McArthur
LD
I very much agree. I think that that was the point that Karen Adam made. Whether it is in relation to coming into the sector or people seeking to buy new ves...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I, too, thank Beatrice Wishart for securing the debate. I will start by supporting some of what she has said in her motion. We all know, and we all agree, t...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Due to the number of members who still wish to speak in the debate, I am minded to accept a motion without notice, under rule 8.14.3, to extend the debate by...
Ariane Burgess (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
I thank my colleague Beatrice Wishart for securing the debate and giving us the opportunity to discuss the subject of HPMAs. Scotland is an island nation, a...
Brian Whittle
Con
What species are in danger of extinction, and is that verified by neutral science, by any chance?
Edward Mountain
Con
Does that include crofters?
Ariane Burgess
Green
I apologise to Brian Whittle. I was being distracted by somebody else. Presiding Officer, “This is a crucial next step to aid marine ecosystem recovery in ...
Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP)
SNP
I cannot think of a more important issue on which to give my first speech from the back benches since 2018. I am delighted to be back. However, I am not deli...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I now call on the cabinet secretary to respond to the debate. 17:58
The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition (Màiri McAllan)
SNP
I thank Beatrice Wishart for lodging the motion. I also thank her and other members for their contributions today, and those colleagues who joined me in the ...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
Can the cabinet secretary give members a sense of how long it will take to read the responses to the consultation? How many responses did the Government rece...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
In an interview that I gave earlier, I noted that we have had thousands of responses. I am still working out how many of them are duplicates and how many wer...
Liam McArthur
LD
As someone who is working on a member’s bill to which there have been 14,000 responses, I feel the cabinet secretary’s pain and wish her good speed in gettin...