Hansard

This year, of all years, feels particularly pivotal as we debate the annual fishing negotiations. At the end of the year, it is always useful to reflect on the past year and, of course, to look ahead to future opportunities and challenges. At the end of this year, as the next stage of the discard ban commences, we stand on the brink of what could be a generational change for the fishing industry in Scotland.

It is said that the only thing that is constant is change, and that is certainly true of the regulatory framework within which fishing and marine management take place. What has not changed, however, is the hard-wired significance of fishing to our country. Individual livelihoods and the social fabric of many coastal communities depend on the industry in all its varied forms.

As the year of food and drink reaches its conclusion, it is fitting that we celebrate the international success story of Scotland’s seafood sector, which is the cornerstone of the incredible success of the wider food sector that we have all witnessed over the past few years. Scotland’s fishermen and seafood businesses are playing a leading role in strengthening our reputation as a producer of world-class food and drink, making Scottish seafood—from shellfish to white fish and mackerel—a prize product across the world.

The opportunities are there. Fish now accounts for almost 17 per cent of the world population’s protein intake, with per capita consumption of fish doubling from 10kg in the 1960s to more than 19kg today. Moreover, recently published statistics underline the economic importance of fishing to Scotland, with the value of landings up by nearly a fifth last year and revenues now worth more than half a billion pounds. As a nutritious, self-replenishing resource, seafood is and will be a key element of food security now and into the future.

Scotland is very blessed to have such a rich fishery on its doorstep. Our seas are the fourth largest of core European waters, and they make up more than 60 per cent of the United Kingdom’s waters. On average, around 4 tonnes of fish is taken from each square nautical mile of Scottish water compared with an average of around 1 tonne of fish per square nautical mile throughout the waters of the European Union. All of that underlines the importance of our role as custodians of what is a very precious resource. As we are borrowing that resource from not only our children but their children, we have a moral duty to manage it carefully and responsibly.

That is, of course, why this year’s negotiations are so important—and the good news is that they look promising. The scientific advice on our fish stocks, particularly our white-fish stocks, paints a very positive picture. We can expect increases in no fewer than 10 of Scotland’s top 15 white-fish stocks, which is great news and something that should be celebrated.

Of course, we have to take a moment to give credit to the Scottish fishing industry for the transformation in our fisheries, particularly the transformation in North Sea cod. As we all know very well, that fish used to be the altar on which the fishing industry’s fortunes were sacrificed. How far we have come. As I reflect on my time as fisheries minister, a post that I have had the privilege of holding since 2007, I recall how, back then, we were struggling with the old common fisheries policy and cod stocks were at rock bottom. We had to endure big reductions in quota and cuts to days at sea under the cod recovery plan.

Despite that, the fleets redoubled their efforts to help cod stocks recover. They worked with Government to implement a system of real-time closures at sea to protect the growing stock, and they fished with more selective gears and for bigger fish to allow more juvenile fish to escape and reproduce. We also developed new innovative schemes such as the conservation credits scheme, under which we awarded more time at sea in return for avoiding cod. All of that hard work, commitment and creativity by our fishermen, working with Government, has now produced dramatic results. The North Sea cod stock is now more than three times its size in 2006, and that is reflected in the scientists’ highest advised catch—now almost 50,000 tonnes—since 2002. The shift is truly momentous, and it is astonishing to think that North Sea cod is on a journey towards Marine Stewardship Council accreditation, something that was unthinkable less than a decade ago.

Given those positive developments, I find it ironic and sad that at this year’s council we might once again have to spend energy on fighting the provisions of the dysfunctional cod recovery plan, which is still in place. When we achieved the freeze on days-at-sea cuts in 2012, the Commission and the European Parliament objected not so much to the freeze itself but to the procedure that the council used to achieve it. Earlier this week, the European Court of Justice ruled against the council and annulled the 2012 regulation that gave effect to that effort freeze.

However, that is in the background, and we in this Parliament must not allow ourselves to worry about wrangles between the institutions in Brussels. We must focus on our national interest and the continuing success of our fishing communities.