Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2013
10 Dec 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Fisheries Negotiations
There are wide areas of agreement on many aspects of the negotiations and it is right that the members who lodged the motion and amendments have highlighted them. Everyone now recognises that to catch too many fish would be the surest way to deny fishing communities a future, but to follow a prescriptive regulatory regime without paying proper heed to science can be equally damaging. That danger has rightly been highlighted today in relation to the cod recovery plan.
It is important that both the Scottish and British Governments approach the negotiations with the objectives of maintaining current effort levels and current good practice to manage fish mortality and that ministers seek to build a consensus for that approach among industry and environmental interests. Although the cabinet secretary told us the position on quotas that he proposed to ministers, it would be useful to know how far the various negotiating positions he outlined are common to both Governments.
Today’s debate is about the latest in a long line of annual fisheries negotiations, but it is also important in the context of the on-going reform of the common fisheries policy. The reformed CFP, which is due to start on 1 January, will be the third European fisheries policy to be considered in this Parliament since 1999—as Alex Johnstone reminded us—and the fifth in the past 40 years. We on the Labour benches have long supported objectives such as the regional control of fisheries and achieving long-term sustainability; other parties share those aims too. They are core objectives of the new CFP, as is an effective ban on discards at sea.
The difficulty is how such laudable aspirations can be turned into practical change in the real world. When I spoke in the CFP debate last year, I drew an analogy between how the European Commission manages its fisheries policy and the proposals that it actively promoted for a time in relation to the offshore energy industry. In the latter case, it wanted to replace a focus on outcomes and culture with prescriptive regulation, which would have increased the bureaucratic burden of box ticking but reduced the active engagement of all parties with the culture of safe working in a hazardous environment. The problem with fisheries policy reform may parallel that, as the regulatory mechanisms can become more important than the outcomes that they are supposed to deliver.
There is a broad consensus in favour of the regional management of fisheries in the European Union, but responsibility for marine biological conservation remains with the Commission in Brussels. The delivery of policy is devolved to regions such as the North Sea and the north-east Atlantic, but the content of that policy continues to be driven from the centre. That reservation of responsibility cannot be changed without amendment of the European treaties, so the question for the Scottish Government is how its impact can be managed.
Everyone wants discards at sea to end, but Bertie Armstrong of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation drew an analogy this morning with having a legal ban on traffic accidents in Europe—everyone would applaud that in principle, but enforcing it in a literal way could have unintended consequences. It would be useful to know the Government’s view on the best way to move towards complying with a ban on discards by 2019. The Scottish catching sector needs to be ready for implementation, but it cannot act in a policy vacuum.
That issue will not be settled this month, but it is bound to dominate debate in the months and years ahead, so it is important to go beyond the detail of catches and effort in the next 12 months—although that is important—and for ministers to give a clear view on how the new common fisheries policy can be made to work in the interests of having a sustainable and productive Scottish fisheries sector in the medium to longer term.
16:16
It is important that both the Scottish and British Governments approach the negotiations with the objectives of maintaining current effort levels and current good practice to manage fish mortality and that ministers seek to build a consensus for that approach among industry and environmental interests. Although the cabinet secretary told us the position on quotas that he proposed to ministers, it would be useful to know how far the various negotiating positions he outlined are common to both Governments.
Today’s debate is about the latest in a long line of annual fisheries negotiations, but it is also important in the context of the on-going reform of the common fisheries policy. The reformed CFP, which is due to start on 1 January, will be the third European fisheries policy to be considered in this Parliament since 1999—as Alex Johnstone reminded us—and the fifth in the past 40 years. We on the Labour benches have long supported objectives such as the regional control of fisheries and achieving long-term sustainability; other parties share those aims too. They are core objectives of the new CFP, as is an effective ban on discards at sea.
The difficulty is how such laudable aspirations can be turned into practical change in the real world. When I spoke in the CFP debate last year, I drew an analogy between how the European Commission manages its fisheries policy and the proposals that it actively promoted for a time in relation to the offshore energy industry. In the latter case, it wanted to replace a focus on outcomes and culture with prescriptive regulation, which would have increased the bureaucratic burden of box ticking but reduced the active engagement of all parties with the culture of safe working in a hazardous environment. The problem with fisheries policy reform may parallel that, as the regulatory mechanisms can become more important than the outcomes that they are supposed to deliver.
There is a broad consensus in favour of the regional management of fisheries in the European Union, but responsibility for marine biological conservation remains with the Commission in Brussels. The delivery of policy is devolved to regions such as the North Sea and the north-east Atlantic, but the content of that policy continues to be driven from the centre. That reservation of responsibility cannot be changed without amendment of the European treaties, so the question for the Scottish Government is how its impact can be managed.
Everyone wants discards at sea to end, but Bertie Armstrong of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation drew an analogy this morning with having a legal ban on traffic accidents in Europe—everyone would applaud that in principle, but enforcing it in a literal way could have unintended consequences. It would be useful to know the Government’s view on the best way to move towards complying with a ban on discards by 2019. The Scottish catching sector needs to be ready for implementation, but it cannot act in a policy vacuum.
That issue will not be settled this month, but it is bound to dominate debate in the months and years ahead, so it is important to go beyond the detail of catches and effort in the next 12 months—although that is important—and for ministers to give a clear view on how the new common fisheries policy can be made to work in the interests of having a sustainable and productive Scottish fisheries sector in the medium to longer term.
16:16
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-08540, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on the end-year fisheries negotiations.15:39
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment (Richard Lochhead)
SNP
We meet after what has been another eventful year for our important fishing industry.We started this year by breathing a sigh of relief after the negotiation...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
Will the cabinet secretary update the Parliament on the status of the European Union-Norway talks?
Richard Lochhead
SNP
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 ro...
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
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...
Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I enjoy the annual opportunity to participate in this debate, with its traditional role of sending the minister off to the European fisheries negotiation wit...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
The EU fisheries talks next week may not agree much. The continuing failure of international discussions involving the EU, Norway, the Faroes and Iceland wil...
Angus MacDonald (Falkirk East) (SNP)
SNP
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 ...
Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
There are wide areas of agreement on many aspects of the negotiations and it is right that the members who lodged the motion and amendments have highlighted ...
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
PG Wodehouse used to have Bertie Wooster insist that Jeeves had some fish when a particularly knotty problem had to be dealt with, so I naturally had fish fo...
Christian Allard (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I declare an interest, in that I have worked for the past 20 years in the Scottish fishing industry in Aberdeen, in North East Scotland, the region that I ha...
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
As a member for North East Scotland, I am glad to speak in the debate and to support the Labour amendment. The common fisheries policy was set up to address ...
Rob Gibson (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP)
SNP
I am pleased to take part in the debate. The end-year fishing negotiations are vital to many communities that I and many other members represent. The Scottis...
Tavish Scott
LD
Alex Johnstone started his contribution by saying that this annual debate is Parliament’s way of sending off the minister with great support. It did not alwa...
Stewart Stevenson
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Tavish Scott
LD
I will just finish my point. Monkfish is the most valuable species to the Shetland fleet, being worth approximately £4 million out of the £60 million of fish...
Stewart Stevenson
SNP
Like those of Tavish Scott, my constituents are heavily dependent on the fishing industry. I wonder whether, in light of the fact that our minister is one of...
Tavish Scott
LD
I do not in any way doubt the cabinet secretary’s involvement or his expertise, as he has taken part for many years. However, my knowledge of the process has...
Alex Fergusson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
Presiding Officer, I sometimes think that we ought to recall Parliament on Christmas day to hold this debate, such is the degree of good will that emanates f...
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
This time last year I stood in the chamber to debate the annual EU fisheries negotiations, and I expressed concerns about the state of our shared European fi...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Before I call the cabinet secretary to close the debate, I once again remind members that the debates this afternoon are on a follow-on basis. Members who wi...
Richard Lochhead
SNP
Once again, this has been a helpful and useful debate prior to the end-of-year bun fight that takes place in Brussels every December. These annual fisheries ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Eight minutes.
Richard Lochhead
SNP
Okay. Eight more minutes or eight minutes altogether?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Eight minutes in total.
Richard Lochhead
SNP
Thank you.The talks between the EU and Norway are therefore crucial; let me now turn to members’ comments on the cod recovery plan. Lewis Macdonald made a ve...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
The cabinet secretary will be well aware that, in going into negotiations, the more priorities that one has, the weaker one’s position. A number of members h...
Richard Lochhead
SNP
I am happy to confirm that, as I alluded to in my opening remarks, I will not support any deal that leads to any cut in days at sea for the Scottish fleet. I...