Hansard

Thank you. There is also the issue that NatureScot recommended that a wider area be protected but the Government has decided to go with the evidence of where the flapper skate eggs are that we know of. Work still needs to be done to find out where other sites could be, so we could flag up that issue and ask what has been done to identify where other breeding sites might be. This is a seriously endangered species that needs protection, but we must recognise that, as Angus MacDonald rightly said, the eggs were identified only because citizen scientists and divers had access to the area in the first place. There needs to be some balance in that. We can reflect all those points to the Scottish Government. The order is a negative instrument, so it does not require that we vote on it, but we can mention to the Government the points that the committee has raised. I remind members that the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee has yet to look at the technical aspects of the order. If that committee identifies and flags any issues, it will let us know. That concludes our committee’s public business for session 5. We will move into private session to consider our annual report, which covers the 2020-21 parliamentary year, and our legacy report, which covers the committee’s work throughout session 5 and will help to inform any successor committee in its future business. Before we move into private session, I should mention that this is very likely to be the last meeting of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee with its current members. I want to put on record my thanks to every single member who is before me now for the power of work that you have done, as well as my thanks to previous committee members for the great work they have done with us throughout the years. I also thank all the stakeholders who gave evidence and all those who work behind the scenes in the Parliament: our excellent clerks, our excellent colleagues in the Scottish Parliament information centre, the official report, broadcasting, security and everyone who has helped along the way. I would also like to single out two members who are retiring. Stewart Stevenson, who is not with us today, is a long-serving committee member. Angus MacDonald, who is with us today, has been on the committee throughout this parliamentary session and was on the committee in its previous form, in the previous parliamentary session. I thank them both very much for their dedicated service and wish them all the very best in their lives beyond the Scottish Parliament. Do any other members wish to comment?