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Meeting of the Parliament 28 February 2013

28 Feb 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Pearson, Graeme Lab South Scotland Watch on SPTV

As someone who is not a member of the committee, I am delighted to be speaking in the debate. I wish the minister well in seeing his first bill through Parliament successfully. In spite of some divided opinions shared with the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee in evidence sessions, we have had a largely consensual debate around the measures proposed in the bill, although with the caveat that the committee believes that the bill can and needs to be improved before it can achieve the aims set out by the Scottish Government. I have to say that I share that view.

Given that the Scottish Government has recognised that it is not only achievable but desirable to strengthen the bill and given that it has already suggested some amendments for stage 2—should the bill pass stage 1—I believe that we can support the bill with a degree of confidence that it will be improved considerably by stage 2.

One aspect of the bill that the committee feels needs strengthening is the provisions on illegal cockle fishing. I have a particular interest in that, not solely because of my engagement in South Scotland as a regional representative but because since the cockle-fishing ban was introduced in the Solway almost 18 months ago criminal gangs have been involved in poaching there. Those gangs have been organising the lifting of significant numbers of cockles and have often been exploiting foreign workers to get the work done.

Despite that being a major problem, the police have struggled to prioritise sufficiently work to tackle it as the current legislation does not give them a sufficiency of powers to deal with it. The Scottish Government has recognised the need and the potential to strengthen the bill in that respect. I am pleased that the committee has backed the principle that the bill be improved to help deal with illegal cockle picking and has advocated that the Scottish Government discuss any possible amendments with the police and other authorities to ensure that the bill addresses the issues that officers are experiencing on the ground.

The committee also advocated that the Scottish Government consider the suggestion made in evidence sessions by David McCallum, a chief inspector in Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, that any amendment be split into two parts: the first to deal with a person found in circumstances in which it is reasonable to suspect that they intended to commit the offence; and the second to deal with those found with tools and paraphernalia from which it is reasonable to conclude that they intended to commit the offence. It is crucial that any new legislation is fit to deal with organised criminality in this context. I commend those suggestions to the committee and to the Parliament.

The committee rightly noted in its report that strengthening the bill will not in itself be enough to resolve the issue of illegal cockle picking or other illegal shellfish harvesting in Scotland. It did, however, suggest that further progress could be made if the Scottish Government continued to work closely with all relevant agencies and industry bodies to develop proposals for tackling issues such as the difficulty in tracing and tracking shellfish and the documentation required to sell it both in the UK and overseas.

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Meeting of the Parliament 28 February 2013

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