Committee
Environment and Rural Development Committee, 24 Jan 2007
24 Jan 2007 · S2 · Environment and Rural Development Committee
Item of business
Marine Environment Inquiry
Can we approach the argument about complexity from a different angle and get the benefit of your experience? You all do things in the marine environment. We are told that the framework that covers the marine environment is enormously complex and that, if someone wants to do something in the sea, they must have regard to about 85 different acts. How difficult is it to operate in that environment and deal with all the regulatory mechanisms? Is it as complex as it looks from the outside? Can you cope with it? What scope is there for streamlining or simplification? As somebody remarked in the first session of our inquiry, some issues are complex.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Agenda item 4 is our third and final evidence-taking session in the committee's marine environment inquiry. I have a declaration of interest to make: I am a ...
Nora Radcliffe:
LD
We have heard conflicting evidence on marine spatial planning. On the one hand, we have heard about limited competition between uses outside the main firths ...
Gordon Mann (Scottish Coastal Forum):
The debate on the relationship between marine spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management has been raging for some time, although I am not sure t...
Dr Christopher Cutts (Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative):
Nora Radcliffe is right to suggest that there are often conflicting opinions on resource use on different parts of the coast, but part of the joy of the Scot...
Isabel Glasgow (Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative):
I, too, reiterate what Gordon Mann said. On the point about varying complexity, everyone accepts that the new venture of marine spatial planning should be at...
Dr Lorraine Gray (Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative):
I echo the points that have been made. There is a lot of competition for space and resources—that can be seen in the aquaculture and fishing industries in Sh...
Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green):
Green
We are talking about the level of marine spatial planning. In her submission, Isabel Glasgow said that there is a need for an EU-level marine spatial plan as...
Isabel Glasgow:
I will turn that on its head: marine spatial planning is based on the ecosystem approach, which is based on all human activities and is therefore, by definit...
Mr Ruskell:
Green
May I offer an example?
The Convener:
Lab
Mark, I did not mean to give you leeway to ask lots of questions; you were to ask a supplementary to Nora Radcliffe's question. I will come back to you later...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
I am not sure where Nora Radcliffe was going next, but I want to talk about the role of local authorities.
Nora Radcliffe:
LD
That is part of the same area.
Peter Peacock:
Lab
From my reading of the evidence so far, I have noticed a conflict of views between those who suggest that the leadership of integrated coastal zone managemen...
Gordon Mann:
It is clear from all the experience to date that local authorities must play a significant and important role in the process. The issue is about the relation...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
Even in the circumstances that you described around the Solway firth, where there is a more complex mix, is it the role of local authorities, either individu...
Gordon Mann:
Our view is that each partnership must be based on local circumstances. It would therefore be wrong to say, "It's the local authority's job to do this." It i...
Isabel Glasgow:
Let me just reiterate that point: it is a question of area. There are so many local authorities involved in the Clyde that it would be difficult to say that ...
Dr Gray:
I reiterate the point that one size does not fit all. In Shetland, the marine planning process works well, although I am not too sure how other sectors would...
Dr Cutts:
I back up what Isabel Glasgow, Gordon Mann and Lorraine Gray have said. With regard to who organises what in local coastal partnerships, a lot has to do with...
The Convener:
Lab
I will bring in Eleanor Scott on those points.
Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green):
Green
I want to explore the idea of local coastal partnerships. The Scottish coastal forum's submission mentioned the idea of 11 coastal units delivering for the w...
Dr Cutts:
Democratic input is crucial, because any planning in coastal and marine matters must have the community at its core. Coastal communities benefit most from a ...
Gordon Mann:
One weakness of the coastal partnerships is that they are voluntary and non-statutory. In a sense, however, that is also a strength because they will work on...
The Convener:
Lab
Eleanor Scott may respond briefly—Rob Gibson has been waiting patiently to ask a question.
Eleanor Scott:
Green
What decisions do you expect the partnerships to be able to make? How do you expect them to enforce them?
Gordon Mann:
At the moment, the partnerships operate on a voluntary basis, so they make recommendations to organisations that have power. As we move towards marine spatia...
Isabel Glasgow:
With the current voluntary approach there is a vital role for brokering—drawing together stakeholders that have signed up to management plans and pointing ou...
Rob Gibson:
SNP
That leads to the wider question of what we are trying to achieve by having a marine strategy. I am interested in seeing such a strategy applied at the most ...
Dr Cutts:
A sustainable fishery is needed in south-east Scotland. I think that we have such a fishery there, involving the creeling of nephrops and lobsters, and the t...
Rob Gibson:
SNP
Okay. Fair enough. In your case, that is what you feel. Once again, you mentioned the voluntary principle. Stable fisheries rely on the crews of local vessel...