Hansard

One thing that can definitely be agreed by all interested parties is that there is a general consensus that cod stocks are recovering in the North Sea. That is good news all round, although it has to be noted that WWF Scotland and RSPB Scotland warn that any departure from the cod recovery plan in Scotland must include evidence that the counterproposal is in line with scientific advice and will deliver better—or, at the very least, no worse—outcomes for the stocks in question.

However, we also have the recent report from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, which states that quota cuts imposed to save cod from extinction could actually be harming the North Sea, because the species is now so strong that it is eating too many other fish. The ICES report talks about the “abundance” of cod in the North Sea. According to scientists, because cod is top of the food chain, its increasing numbers are having an impact on haddock, herring and whiting numbers. A moderate increase in the total allowable catch for cod would indeed be welcome.

What should be of concern to RSPB Scotland is the scientific evidence that sand eels, the staple diet of many of Scotland’s sea birds, are also being eaten in alarming numbers, although thankfully we no longer see the Danes coming in and hoovering up sand eels on the Wee Bankie and other areas in the North Sea as they did in past decades. As our knowledge of marine ecosystems increases, it is becoming more apparent than ever that species’ interactions are complex and if a predatory fish stock such as cod increases its numbers, there is a knock-on effect on the populations of the prey, which includes other fish and shellfish.

Although scientific evidence shows that the picture is looking promising in the North Sea, the picture is not so great in the west of Scotland, where cod biomass remains low, yet cod continues to be caught and discarded. Both the RSPB and WWF call for greater efforts to avoid cod in the west of Scotland, which they say is vital. They also call on us to place a much greater emphasis on the need to build a vision for the west coast fleets in which boats can move towards sustainable, high quality catches of a mix of species, which they say will result in the more secure future for fishing communities that Claire Baker alluded to. The west of Scotland cod stock is not recovering and is estimated to be just more than 3,500 tonnes. The target is 22,000 tonnes.

It is worth stressing, though, that Scottish fishermen have made substantial changes to help cod recover, with the conservation credits approach incentivising change by giving more time at sea to vessels that undertake conservation measures. In addition, the amount of cod discarded by Scottish white-fish trawlers has declined by two thirds since 2008.

There is good progress in the Western Isles, thanks to Marine Scotland and the Scottish Government listening to local fishermen. For the first time in a number of years squid has been caught off the Western Isles and has been available for islanders to buy. The first squid were caught in the first week of November, landed at Stornoway harbour at 8 pm on the Wednesday night, sold locally the next day and served in Parisian restaurants the following evening. Squid is mainly winter fishing in the north Minch. The boats can target it with a proper squid net and it does not affect their days at sea. That is very welcome news for fishermen in the Western Isles.

Until now, fishermen were prohibited from catching squid west of Scrabster under the west of Scotland cod recovery measures, but now the restrictions have been relaxed, which has given a much-needed boost to the local fishing industry. I am pleased to report that by using the specialised squid nets, fishermen are landing clean catches and there is no or very little bycatch.

Squid fishing in the Western Isles is just one example, but there is a great deal of potential to develop it. Although it is still at a very early stage, it could become very important to our fleet. There are further examples of the range and quality of Scottish seafood.

I had hoped to have time to go on to the issues of excessive spurdog—or dogfish—off the coast of the Western Isles and the resultant bycatch, ending discards, and the benefits of regionalisation. However, as always, time has got the better of me.

I wish the Scottish Government and officials well with their end-year negotiations next week and look forward to the outcome of the second round of EU talks with Norway in January.

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