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Official Controls (Location of Border Control Posts) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 (SSI 2026/61)
Our next item of business is consideration of three negative Scottish statutory instruments, which I will deal with individually. Do members have any comments on the first negative instrument?
I see that there are no comments.
Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Revocation Order 2026 (SSI 2026/95)
Do members have any comments on the second negative instrument?
:I think that the committee broadly agrees that revoking the Clyde cod SSI was the right thing to do. We saw that from all perspectives during the committee’s round-table meeting. It is important that there is something in place to protect Clyde cod. Ideally, there will be a new SSI early in the next parliamentary session that offers better protection measures. We need external scientists, such as those from the University of Strathclyde who came to the meeting, fishers and conservationists around the table, with the marine directorate, to find a workable solution.
From the letter that the cabinet secretary sent to the committee this week, we have learned that a science programme is under way, but it is my understanding that that does not include the academics from the University of Strathclyde, despite their having produced the most comprehensive research that we have on the condition of Clyde cod stocks. In light of that, I want to raise my deep concern about how meaningful the science programme will be. Without proper impartial science, it is unlikely that future protection measures will be effective.
Clyde cod is important because it is unique and because the Clyde could once again be a sustainable fishery, given the space to recover. To create a sustainable fishery, we need the Government to urgently review how it approaches science and to recognise the evidence from the scientists who attended our round-table meeting a few weeks ago. It is only with rigorous peer-reviewed science that we can begin to work out how to protect the Clyde cod and enable its recovery. The revocation of the SSI is important. It was a considerable effort on everybody’s behalf to raise with the Government the fact that what it was doing was not working, but we absolutely need the right people in the room for the next steps.
Thank you. I see that there are no other comments.
Water Environment (Shellfish Water Protected Areas: Designation) (Scotland) Order 2026 (SSI 2026/57)
Are there any comments on the last negative instrument?
:I have a couple of comments on matters that arose in the consultation responses. First, Shetland Islands Council does not agree with some of the de-designations because, in 2023, around 84.3 per cent of the mussel production in the whole of Scotland took place in Shetland; it is a significant business there. The concern is about the mussel spat sites, so it would be helpful to have an understanding of the Government’s position on that.
Secondly, although it did not disagree with the proposed designations, the response from Seafood Shetland referred to SEPA’s monitoring programme, which it considers amounts to little more than reviewing data supplied by Food Standards Scotland. Seafood Shetland believes that that process does little to provide an informative and accurate picture of the true state and health of the wider shellfish water protected areas. Therefore, the committee might like to have an understanding of the Government’s response to those consultation responses.
Thank you. We can certainly ask for clarification.
:My comments are along the same lines. One of my concerns is that these areas are often fished by very small inshore fishers, who are not part of larger organisations. If we are writing to the Scottish Government, I would like to clarify with it that it has taken steps to ensure that anyone affected by the changes has been contacted and spoken to and that, if there is any displacement, steps have been taken to help them with that.
Thank you. We can certainly do that.
Does the committee agree to make no recommendations on the instruments?
Members indicated agreement.
That concludes our business in public and we move into private session.
11:14
Meeting continued in private until 11:29.
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