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Environment and Rural Development Committee, 28 Mar 2007

28 Mar 2007 · S2 · Environment and Rural Development Committee

Item of business

Subordinate Legislation

Inshore Fishing (Prohibited Methods of Fishing) (Firth of Lorn) (No 2) Order 2007 (SSI 2007/240)

Morrison, Mr Alasdair Lab Western Isles Watch on SPTV

I am grateful to my colleague for his forensic and logical analysis of the events. I am also grateful to Ross Finnie for his response to my question about the final paragraph of John Elvidge's letter to Fergus Ewing. To be fair, the minister was quite candid and acknowledged that the Executive had been loose in its language in relation to the distinction between consultations and discussions. He properly articulated the way in which officials and all the relevant agencies will conduct themselves. There is no reason for me to repeat the points that have been ably outlined by Peter Peacock. All that Richard Lochhead managed to do, in an attempt in his own mind to expose the minister's confusion and contradictions, was to amplify his own shortcomings and inability to follow a logical sequence of statements of fact. As the constituency MSP, Fergus Ewing has rightly been deeply involved in the issue. He said that he had contributed to seven of the eight debates in the past few years, and he mentioned the excellent programme about the livelihoods of trawler fishermen, "Trawlermen". Such a livelihood is a dangerous one, which involves risk and expertise to bring produce to the tables of the United Kingdom and beyond. He made an emotional plea to the minister about not exposing fishermen to the dangers of small boats. If the order is passed, they may have to go to dangerous waters. Mr Ewing knows his constituency better than I do, so I cannot debate that, but I would ask him to reflect on the language he used the previous time he—quite rightly—appeared at the committee as a visiting member. Mr Ewing was joined then by another nationalist, Mr Rob Gibson, who has been uncharacteristically silent at today's meeting—perhaps it has something to do with a discussion at the breakfast table. Mr Gibson has not got a leg to stand on when it comes to west coast fishermen. Mr Gibson and Mr Ewing were the two MSPs who led a campaign to deny Western Isles fishermen their livelihood. They took east coast of Scotland arguments and translated them to the west coast. They took their instructions from Mr Alex Salmond, who clearly said, "Whatever you do, do not limit the number of dredges that boats can use to prosecute a fishery on the west coast of Scotland because we will not be able to go to the west coast of Scotland." It was a betrayal of Western Isles fishermen. They ignored the pleas of the Western Isles Fishermen's Association, the Western Isles MSP and the Western Isles Council. Given the way in which Mr Ewing has been behaving and what he has been saying in the past eight years, we should put Mr Ewing's pleadings on behalf of his constituents into their proper historical context. With regard to Mr Brocklebank's statements, we all know that he has a clear, consistent and principled position. It is one that I fundamentally disagree with. Any member who has a vote in committee should put into context what the nationalists have been saying and doing in the Parliament and its committees.

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Environment and Rural Development Committee, 28 Mar 2007

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