Hansard

I agree that land managers play an important role in conserving and improving riparian habitats. We will discuss such matters as we develop work on land management contracts. I acknowledge the importance of maintaining support for land managers who do such valuable work.

Euan Robson—I nearly said Ewan McGregor—mentioned the location and relocation of fish farms. We must closely consider that issue and assess the impact of escapes on wild stocks. NASCO, in collaboration with the Scottish and international salmon farming industries, has held workshops and symposia at which location and other issues have been addressed.

Euan Robson talked about the Tweed and several members mentioned the good figures from the Tweed and rivers in the east of Scotland. We welcome those figures, while accepting that a lot of work remains to be done. I pay tribute to the work of bodies such as the River Tweed Commissioners, which plays a hugely valuable role in conserving salmon in the Tweed. Euan Robson also mentioned Gyrodactylus salaris, which is an ever-present threat. The forthcoming bill on aquaculture and fisheries will deal with some of the issues, but a task force has been set up specifically to consider Gyrodactylus salaris and will report at the end of March.

There is a limit to what any one country can do. We must remember that salmon have a fantastic life history, involving migrations of epic proportions to places such as the west coast of Greenland. Scientists from around the north Atlantic agree that the survival rate of salmon at sea is much too low. We cannot legislate for that on our own in the Scottish Parliament, or even in the UK or EU contexts. The issue is truly one—there are others—in which international co-operation is necessary. For that, an international approach by a strong international organisation is needed.

Thankfully, such an organisation exists. I am delighted that several key players in the NASCO family are in the public gallery to listen to the debate and hear the tributes. The organisation not only exists, but is based in Edinburgh. NASCO exists as a result of the Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean, an international treaty that was made under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Scotland is not a signatory to the convention, but it participates fully in the organisation's work.

NASCO has an enviable reputation among fisheries organisations for getting things done. Fishing for salmon in international waters is now a thing of the past. The Greenland fishery has been restricted to a subsistence fishery for internal use and there has been no Faroe Islands fishery for several years. NASCO's contracting parties have agreed to adopt the precautionary approach to fisheries management. NASCO has developed agreements, protocols, guidelines and resolutions to address issues such as fishery management, habitat protection and restoration, and sustainable wild salmon fisheries and aquaculture.

NASCO has a strong working relationship with the fish farming industry in Scotland and internationally in exploring ways of ensuring sustainable wild salmon stocks and aquaculture. NASCO's international Atlantic salmon research board, in which contracting parties and non-governmental organisations work together, aims to develop research programmes that involve international co-operation. NASCO works towards international collaboration in addressing the threat to salmon by the parasite Gyrodactylus salaris, which has been responsible for the extinction of salmon in more than 40 Norwegian rivers. Obviously, we do not want it here.

NASCO has achieved a great deal. I take this opportunity to say how pleased we are—I am sure that members agree—that NASCO chose Scotland and Edinburgh as its home. We congratulate NASCO on the fine work that it has done during its childhood and adolescence and, now that it has come of age, we wish it every success for the future.