Chamber
Plenary, 20 Dec 2006
20 Dec 2006 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Thirty years ago, I voted in the House of Commons against the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976, which introduced protection orders. The Government at the time claimed that protection orders would be granted only in return for increased access, but I predicted that, in many cases, that would not happen. In fact, the opposite has happened. Rather than increased access, there has been decreased access in many areas and, in some areas, no access at all. That situation has resulted in protection orders being referred to by many ordinary anglers as exclusion orders. I have campaigned for 30 years for the repeal of the 1976 act. After the Scottish Parliament was set up, I welcomed the repeated firm commitments to repeal the 1976 act that the Scottish Executive gave to the Parliament.
I remind the Parliament of those specific commitments. In August 2001, the Executive published a consultation document that announced a review of freshwater fishing. The document, which is signed by the then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Rhona Brankin, states:
"We propose to undertake the review by 2003, aiming to repeal the 1976 Act and replace Protection Orders with a new system when an opportunity arises."
On 28 March 2002, the then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Allan Wilson, told the Parliament:
"We aim to repeal the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976 and replace protection orders with a new system".
He said:
"As soon as a legislative opportunity arises, we will introduce legislation to repeal the 1976 act".
He continued:
"I repeat that it is our intention to introduce legislation to repeal the 1976 act to broaden access."—[Official Report, 28 March 2002; c 10780-10781.]
On 25 April 2002, the Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Ross Finnie, told the Parliament:
"The 1976 act will be reformed and repealed. It will have to be replaced."—[Official Report, 25 April 2002; c 11360.]
On 1 July 2004, deputy minister Allan Wilson told the Parliament:
"a fisheries bill … will provide the means for repealing the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976, which would be widely welcomed."
It is an affront to parliamentary democracy for the Scottish Executive to abandon such repeated and unequivocal commitments to the Scottish Parliament, but that is what the Scottish Executive is apparently trying to do. Rather than repeal the 1976 act, it has been consolidated under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003 and there is no mention of repealing protection orders in the bill that is before us. Yet deputy minister Allan Wilson told the Parliament on 1 July 2004:
"there is a provisional slot for a fisheries bill this session. That will provide the means for repealing the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976, which would be widely welcomed. We are in the process of consulting on what we would wish to put in its place."
For years, I have been suggesting what should be put in its place: a democratically constituted Scottish anglers trust, to administer and decide the rules on freshwater fishing throughout Scotland. The then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Allan Wilson, apparently expressed support for that idea when he said in response to a question from me on 1 July 2004:
"we intend to repeal the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976 and replace it with more modern mechanisms, which will include the trusts to which the member refers.—[Official Report, 1 July 2004; c 9780-9781.]
Where is the Scottish anglers trust? There is no mention of any trust in the bill and it is little wonder that many anglers have little, if any, trust in the Scottish Executive to deliver its pledge to repeal protection orders.
The bill fails completely to honour the repeated commitments that have been given to the Parliament. It is a lost opportunity and its omissions will be seen as a sell-out by those who respect parliamentary democracy, as well as those who believe that angling should be a sporting opportunity for the many rather than the privileged few.
I remind the Parliament of those specific commitments. In August 2001, the Executive published a consultation document that announced a review of freshwater fishing. The document, which is signed by the then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Rhona Brankin, states:
"We propose to undertake the review by 2003, aiming to repeal the 1976 Act and replace Protection Orders with a new system when an opportunity arises."
On 28 March 2002, the then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Allan Wilson, told the Parliament:
"We aim to repeal the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976 and replace protection orders with a new system".
He said:
"As soon as a legislative opportunity arises, we will introduce legislation to repeal the 1976 act".
He continued:
"I repeat that it is our intention to introduce legislation to repeal the 1976 act to broaden access."—[Official Report, 28 March 2002; c 10780-10781.]
On 25 April 2002, the Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Ross Finnie, told the Parliament:
"The 1976 act will be reformed and repealed. It will have to be replaced."—[Official Report, 25 April 2002; c 11360.]
On 1 July 2004, deputy minister Allan Wilson told the Parliament:
"a fisheries bill … will provide the means for repealing the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976, which would be widely welcomed."
It is an affront to parliamentary democracy for the Scottish Executive to abandon such repeated and unequivocal commitments to the Scottish Parliament, but that is what the Scottish Executive is apparently trying to do. Rather than repeal the 1976 act, it has been consolidated under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003 and there is no mention of repealing protection orders in the bill that is before us. Yet deputy minister Allan Wilson told the Parliament on 1 July 2004:
"there is a provisional slot for a fisheries bill this session. That will provide the means for repealing the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976, which would be widely welcomed. We are in the process of consulting on what we would wish to put in its place."
For years, I have been suggesting what should be put in its place: a democratically constituted Scottish anglers trust, to administer and decide the rules on freshwater fishing throughout Scotland. The then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Allan Wilson, apparently expressed support for that idea when he said in response to a question from me on 1 July 2004:
"we intend to repeal the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976 and replace it with more modern mechanisms, which will include the trusts to which the member refers.—[Official Report, 1 July 2004; c 9780-9781.]
Where is the Scottish anglers trust? There is no mention of any trust in the bill and it is little wonder that many anglers have little, if any, trust in the Scottish Executive to deliver its pledge to repeal protection orders.
The bill fails completely to honour the repeated commitments that have been given to the Parliament. It is a lost opportunity and its omissions will be seen as a sell-out by those who respect parliamentary democracy, as well as those who believe that angling should be a sporting opportunity for the many rather than the privileged few.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Trish Godman):
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S2M-5224, in the name of Ross Finnie, that the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Aquaculture...
The Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Rhona Brankin):
Lab
I thank all those who were involved in the preparation and scrutiny of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill. In particular, I record my gratitude to...
Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP):
SNP
I, too, welcome the committee's report and the debate, in which I speak both as the spokesperson for the Scottish National Party and as a member of the Envir...
Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
Conservative members, too, welcome the debate and the committee's report. Although this week much attention has rightly been focused on Brussels, where minis...
Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD):
LD
It is fair to say that the bill was introduced after a lot of good work had already been done to bring together the different interests of fish farming, shel...
Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab):
Lab
I speak on behalf of the Environment and Rural Development Committee, so I thank the committee clerks for all their work in helping to arrange our scrutiny o...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
I remind members that mobile phones should be switched off.
Sarah Boyack:
Lab
Members have talked about how the process helped us to have a fairly consensual debate at stage 1.I will focus on parts 1 and 2 of the bill. All speakers in ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
I say again to members that someone still has their phone on. Please put it off.
Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP):
SNP
I have checked that my phones are off.I have constituents who are closely tied to the success of our distant water fishing fleet, but I also have many consti...
Mr Brocklebank:
Con
How big?
Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD):
LD
This big?
Stewart Stevenson:
SNP
Yes, I thought they were waiting for that, and very enjoyable it was too. As I was saying, I also worked for the Tay Salmon Fisheries Board.The world has cha...
Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green):
Green
Although the bill has some interesting content, it has not been hugely controversial, with the exception of a few sections that previous speakers have mentio...
Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
It gives me great satisfaction to speak in support of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill, which is the culmination of years of hard work by all th...
Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind):
Ind
Thirty years ago, I voted in the House of Commons against the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976, which introduced protection orders. The Go...
Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the opportunity to take part in this stage 1 debate on the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill. During their contributions, Sarah Boyack, Mau...
Richard Lochhead:
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Mr Morrison:
Lab
I do not have enough time. It is amazing that when one mentions dreary, Mr Lochhead gets on his feet.The Prime Minister is and was interested in fish farming...
John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD):
LD
We have had a wide-ranging debate, and I am sure that there is consensus all round about what should happen to the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill....
Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
This has been a good debate about a bill that I hope will prove to be a good piece of legislation. As my colleague Ted Brocklebank said, the Scottish Conserv...
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP):
SNP
This has been an interesting debate—reasoned for the most part—in which there has been a strong degree of consensus.It is interesting to note the background ...
Rhona Brankin:
Lab
I thank the members who have spoken in today's debate. The vast majority have been thoughtful and constructive and have brought a degree of consensus to our ...
Richard Lochhead:
SNP
I take the minister back to stopping GS coming into the country in the first place. She has not addressed the widespread concern that the Scottish National P...
Rhona Brankin:
Lab
The member will be aware that the importation of live fish is regulated at European Union level, so no scope exists to do anything unilaterally. However, cur...
Dennis Canavan:
Ind
Will the minister take an intervention?
Rhona Brankin:
Lab
My time is restricted.
The Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid):
NPA
I am sorry, but the minister is in her final minute.
Rhona Brankin:
Lab
Alasdair Morrison and other members mentioned minimum import prices. It is hugely important that we have a floor price that is aimed at promoting market stab...