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Plenary, 20 Dec 2006

20 Dec 2006 · S2 · Plenary

Item of business

Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Morrison, Mr Alasdair Lab Western Isles Watch on SPTV

I welcome the opportunity to take part in this stage 1 debate on the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill. During their contributions, Sarah Boyack, Maureen Macmillan and others outlined the joint working between stakeholders, the industry and the Executive. Maureen Macmillan also reflected on recent history and the work of various committees, as did the measured Ted Brocklebank from the Tory benches.

I will focus on the needs of my constituency and the role that it plays in what is a hugely important industry. There is no need for me to retrace the facts and figures that the minister quoted in her opening speech. Members have already placed on the record the numbers employed, exports and so on.

In many of the communities that I represent, fish farming is the central, dominant economic activity that helps to retain and sustain the population and vibrancy of many villages. In the Western Isles, the importance of fish farming cannot be overstated. I was particularly delighted to read last week in the West Highland Free Press, which, among other things, champions the aquaculture industry, that the European Commission has rejected decisively the case that is being presented for a review of the minimum import price imposed on non-European Union countries—namely, salmon that is farmed in Norway. For years, our fish farmers have been trying to compete against industry barons whose banks were constantly backed by the Norwegian Government, which helped the Norwegians to flood the market with cheap salmon.

There is no doubt in my mind—and in the minds of many in the Western Isles—that securing the minimum import price was a triumph for British diplomacy. From the Prime Minister down, UK and Scottish Executive ministers and officials are to be congratulated on their efforts in Europe on behalf of Scottish fish farming. The prospects for businesses, for their employees and for families are infinitely better today than they were when we debated aquaculture previously.

To those who constantly come to the chamber wittering away and asking people to stand up for Scotland, I pose the delicate question: where were the separatists when we were fighting for Scottish jobs, most of which are based in the islands and in the west Highlands? The separatists—the Scottish nationalists, one of whom I see has deemed the debate important enough to turn up at this stage—ignore the needs of Scottish fish farmers. They were content—as they still are—to roam the country peddling their dreary politics of grudge and grievance while others focused on the politics of making a difference for Scottish fish farmers and their families.

Some years ago, when the political editor of the Sunday Post, Campbell Gunn, splashed on the front page a story that quoted Allan Wilson, the then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, as saying that the minister had secured the support of the Prime Minister, the London leader of the Scottish nationalist party scoffed and dismissed it and said that the Prime Minister would not be interested in fish farming.

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Plenary, 20 Dec 2006

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