Question reference: S6W-25042
- Asked by: Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 30 January 2024
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its consultation on proposals to close fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters, whether it will be implementing management measures for the sandeel fishery in Scottish waters.
Answer
Sandeel aid the long-term sustainability and resilience of the marine environment and are an important food source for many species, including marine mammals, seabirds and predatory fish. It is therefore critical that we manage our marine environment in a such a way as to ensure its sustainable use, protecting biodiversity and ensuring healthy functioning ecosystems. I am therefore pleased to announce today that following full consideration of the all the consultation responses, we will be proceeding with prohibiting fishing for sandeel in all Scottish waters.
I would like to thank everyone that responded to the consultation. We received a total of 494 written representations from individuals and organisations including the fishing sector, renewable energy developers and recreational interests covering a range of issues, as well as 9,815 campaign submissions. This emphasises the strong interest from both the public and sectors, for which there was overwhelming support for the option to prohibit fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters with 97% or respondents indicating support.
The Sandeel (Prohibition of fishing) (Scotland) Order 2024 will be laid in Parliament on 5 February 2024 and will come into force on 26 March 2024 ahead of the 2024 fishing season.