Hansard

I welcome today’s debate in advance of the end-of-year fishing negotiations. It gives us the opportunity to speak in the interests of Scottish fishing and to demonstrate the lead that Scotland is taking in delivering sustainable fisheries. Of course there is much more progress to be made, but the level of co-operation between the fishing sector and environmental organisations such as RSPB Scotland and WWF is encouraging.

Scotland’s fishing sector employs in the region of 5,000 people in the catching sector and supports key employment in supporting sectors. The fish processing sector can be vulnerable and although our produce is sent all around the world, we could do more to support our sector at home by increasing seafood consumption. Despite being an island, we are not big consumers of our produce and there could be greater promotion of seafood. This year, I supported Sainsbury’s switch the fish campaign to promote more sustainable consumer choices, and it is encouraging to see the extent to which our supermarkets support seafood.

However, more can be done. For example, I would like greater emphasis to be placed on seafood on school menus. The health benefits of eating fish are clear and more could be done to promote it as an affordable and sustainable part of the Scottish diet. Our coastline and seas produce world-class produce, and we have a responsibility to ensure that there is a legacy for future generations.

The industry has a significant base in Scotland but operates throughout the UK, with a common regulatory system and a UK network of harbours and fish processors. It is also an industry in which onshore operations and exports are dependent on Europe. The resource is shared, and the end-of-year negotiations are key to achieving sustainable management.

The lack of a resolution to the continuing difficulty with north-east Atlantic mackerel, which has been caused by the unacceptable behaviour of Iceland and the Faroes, will again delay decision making on key North Sea stocks. The situation is becoming increasingly intractable. More and more, sanctions are becoming the only option, which is not a situation that anyone wants. It is not helpful to our fleets to have such delay and uncertainty, and it is bitterly disappointing that another year has passed without a resolution to the situation being achieved. The fishing opportunities for 2014 need to be completed as soon as possible to provide some certainty, not just to the fleets, but to the onshore sector that is dependent on their business.

On the setting of North Sea cod quotas in the new year, it is important that the Scottish and UK Governments put forward a strong case to roll over the quota and not to implement the planned 9 per cent cod recovery plan cut. The cod fishery is one of our most valuable—its value is in excess of £20 million. The cod recovery plan was a response to concerning stock levels, but it needs to be reformed. Last September, the European Commission produced proposals for a new plan, but since then there has been a lack of action. The cod recovery plan is inflexible and, perversely, risks hindering conservation measures. It proposes a 9 per cent cut, but the scientific advice indicates positive stock recovery, points towards the sustainability of a rollover and identifies the potential for the quota to be revised.

We can be proud that the Scottish sector has been at the forefront of developing sustainable fishery measures. In a mixed fisheries sector, that is challenging. Conservation credits and the cod catch quota scheme have been developed successfully, with the focus on the reduction of discards. In responding to the demands of a mixed fisheries sector, there needs to be flexibility in the discards plan. The upcoming proposals for discussion on effort control or days at sea are equally important. The wrong decision could have the effect of increasing discards, which we are all united in trying to address. As the briefing from WWF and the RSPB states, although the scientific advice indicates that a rollover plus up to a 10 per cent increase in quota could be implemented, there are risks attached to any increase. Any arguments for an increase in quota must involve a strong commitment from the industry—and evidence to show—that discard avoidance is increasingly being achieved and that removals and discards will not increase. Good progress has been made on cod recovery, and that cannot be put at risk.

Going into the December negotiations, the focus will be on the west coast fisheries, nephrops and monkfish. Some of the headline figures for agreement present challenges for the Scottish sector. Although there is a proposed increase in the northern hake quota by 49 per cent and 20 per cent for the west coast, proposed cuts of 5 per cent for west coast haddock, 20 per cent for west coast whiting and 25 per cent for west coast and North Sea monkfish are all on the table. In addition, a 10.5 per cent cut in North Sea nephrops—or langoustines—is proposed alongside a reduction of 8.5 per cent in the west coast fishery.

Those are challenging proposals, which are driven by the move towards achieving maximum sustainable yield and the forthcoming discard ban. That was always going to be difficult to achieve in a mixed fishery. Although the upcoming negotiations do not address the implementation of the discard ban, it is starting to have an impact on quota setting. The conditions are challenging for the west coast and, as the WWF-RSPB briefing sets out, a greater emphasis must be placed on the need to build a vision for the west coast fleets that moves towards sustainable, high-quality catches of a mix of species.

Cod needs a chance to recover, but it is still being caught and discarded. As much as possible, we need to eliminate cod capture in smaller-mesh fisheries and make sure that it is selected out in larger-mesh fisheries. Those measures will play their part in helping to deliver a better, more secure future for fishing communities that rely on that sector.

The discard ban will require effort and planning. The public outcry over discarding at sea was understandable, but we must ensure that the ban does not lead to an increase in onshore discarding. Minimising bycatch is essential, and Scotland has been at the front of new technology. However, investment is needed in science and manufacturing. A lot of good work is going on in our universities and colleges, but we need to ensure that there are strong commercial opportunities and that knowledge transfer takes place.

As the cabinet secretary said, regional decision making will be key to the success or otherwise of a discard ban. We need a commonsense, flexible approach with a deliverable timescale that responds to the demands of a mixed fishery. The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation makes a pragmatic argument that that must lead to an increased quota, but any move in that direction must be balanced with the priority of maximum selectivity and discards minimisation. That detail needs to be ironed out.

As this year’s negotiations take place, we will move into the implementation phase of the reformed common fisheries policy. Although the headline principles have been established, much in relation to how they will be achieved is to be determined. Today, the Scottish Fisherman’s Federation raised concerns about the final decisions on regionalisation and maximum sustainable yield. I seek assurances from the cabinet secretary that we will have meaningful regionalisation and that it will be possible to test that properly.

Labour’s amendment recognises the importance of regionalisation and of reducing discards, issues that provide the backdrop to decisions that are being taken at the December Council of Ministers meeting.

I move amendment S4M-08540.3, to insert at end:

“; as part of the ongoing implementation of the reformed common fisheries policy, supports the drive toward regionalisation in European fisheries management, and believes that every effort must be taken to ensure that Scotland’s fishing industry is ready to implement the discard ban”.

15:57