Hansard

Yes. I will come on to that very important point on the shared stocks between the EU and Norway if the member will just hold on.

I mentioned that the first round of negotiations will take place next week. As Tavish Scott alludes to, we will decide at those talks only the quotas for those stocks wholly within the EU’s waters. To answer his point, the negotiations on the North Sea stocks shared between the EU and Norway, such as cod, haddock, whiting and saithe, have been postponed until a second round of talks that will take place early next year. That is not the first time that such delays have happened, but it is the situation that we will again face next year. All is still to play for.

Across many of those stocks, the situation this year, as often before, will be challenging. Unlike last year, the scientific advice for a number of stocks is for reductions in some quotas. That is a reflection not of the conservation efforts of our fishermen but of a lack of juvenile fish coming through, which is simply the way of things when dealing with a biological resource. However, within those circumstances, I am determined to negotiate the best possible deal for Scotland’s fishermen and their communities this month and to meet the many challenges coming down the line in the policy landscape in the months and years ahead.

On that note, just a few hours ago the final part of the common fisheries policy reform process was completed, when the European Parliament took its final vote. The new CFP will become law on 1 January 2014. There will be a ban on discards in the pelagic fisheries in 2016, and a ban on discards for all species by 2019. I am sure that all members are aware that that will transform fishing practices in our waters. The industry and other sectors who are involved are very much aware of that.

At last, an end to the wasteful practice of throwing dead fish back into the sea is in sight, and decision making can be brought closer to home, as we move away from the dreadful one-size-fits-all, top-down approach of the old CFP, which has been so damaging. I hope that decisions and plans will be taken forward on a more regional basis and will deliver more sensible and practical proposals for our industry.

As usual, our work will be cut out for us in the December talks as we fight to protect Scotland’s position. We will be guided, as ever, by three fundamental principles; first, our approach will be guided by the science on stocks and sustainability; secondly, we will protect the social and economic wellbeing of our industry and the communities who depend on it; and, thirdly, we will act in line with our commitment to achieve discard-free fisheries. Those principles are underpinned by our conviction that conservation and stability of stocks will deliver long-term economic health for the whole industry, onshore and offshore. That is our key message.

With a view to achieving all that, I have set key objectives for our negotiations. First, we need to minimise the burdens of the deeply flawed cod recovery plan. I will again demand a freeze in the days at sea that are allocated to Scotland. I will ask the European Commission to ensure that no more automatic cuts are permitted—otherwise our fleet simply will not have enough time at sea to catch its quotas.

Another aim is to secure a cod quota that reflects reality. In the North Sea, cod mortality is at its lowest since assessments started in 1963. Our fishers are seeing the stock in ever-greater numbers, and their findings are backed up by scientists. If we were slavishly to follow the long-term management plan for North Sea cod, which was set in stone a few years ago, we would have to agree to a 9 per cent reduction in the North Sea cod catch, which seems perverse given the stock’s increasing abundance year on year and the certainty that a quota reduction will simply serve to increase discards, which is the exact opposite of one of our key objectives and indeed of one of the European Commission’s supposed key objectives. The science shows that a modest increase in the allowable catch for North Sea cod will allow the stock to continue to grow in abundance and deliver a sustainable fishery for the long term. That is why I have pressed for the UK to make a moderate increase in the North Sea cod quota a top priority at next week’s negotiations.

Another key priority is to secure increased flexibility in where the fleet can catch its valuable monkfish quota, which will be vital in allowing our vessels to fish more efficiently and sustainably. Currently we have only 5 per cent flexibility; in my view we need at least 20 per cent if we are to make a genuine difference to how the fishery is conducted. I will work to ensure that the UK vigorously sticks to such a position throughout the talks, because it is important for a number of our fishermen.

In other areas, we need to begin the transition to a discard ban. If we are to run trials in which vessels can start to land all that they catch, which is the fundamental point of a discard ban, we need the Commission to provide fishermen with additional quota to cover the fish that they are currently forced to discard. The Commission must give us the tools to get on with the job of putting in place a sensible and practicable discard ban in our waters.

On the west coast fishery, in the talks next week I want to maximise our valuable hake opportunities and to secure the flexibility that I mentioned in relation to catching monkfish. We welcome the recent advice on increases in the Rockall haddock fishery, which is important to the west coast. In addition, we have worked hard over the past year to put in place rigorous cod avoidance measures on the west coast, to conserve stock and get it on the road to recovery.

I will press the Commission to ensure that our fishermen have the means and the flexibility to make the transition to a discard ban, identifying the issues and the solutions. Fishermen will clearly need additional quota if that is to happen. If Brussels refuses that, it will quite simply be planning for failure of the discard ban. We cannot allow that to happen. That is why, in negotiations earlier this year, I fought hard for regionalisation to be at the heart of the reformed common fisheries policy. We cannot have an effective discard ban unless the principle of regionalisation is adhered to and decisions are taken closer to home.

I am pleased to say that the process is coming to life. Regional groups for the North Sea and our western waters were swiftly established and regional plans for delivering on the discard ban are beginning to take shape. Having pushed for decentralisation from Brussels, I am determined that the Commission should provide the regions with the tools that they require if they are to make discards a thing of the past.

We always seem to face stiff challenges and difficult decisions at the end-of-year fisheries negotiations, but what those negotiations are all about—what they will mean in the real world for our fishermen and the women who work in the industry, what they can fish, how much they can catch, where they can catch it, how much time they will have at sea to catch it and all the consequences for the onshore sector—is never out of our minds.

I will ensure that Scotland’s priorities are uppermost in the minds of the UK ministers, and we will do our utmost to fight for Scotland’s interests right across the board. Our aim throughout the negotiations will be to build and maintain a strong platform for our industry offshore and onshore—a platform that will do justice to the resilience and ingenuity that are shown by our fishermen, and which will allow them to continue to thrive in 2014, by putting premium Scottish seafood on dining tables throughout Scotland and around the globe.

I move,

That the Parliament supports the Scottish Government in its efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for Scotland across the range of ongoing annual negotiations and agrees that the negotiated settlements must have at their heart the interests of Scotland’s fishermen and coastal communities while seeking to ensure the sustainable use of Scotland’s marine environment and its natural resources.

15:50