Current status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 21 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding commercial fishing activity in Scottish inshore waters, whether it will provide the name and membership information of all the fishery (a) working groups, (b) co-management groups, (c) research groups and (d) management bodies, which are both informal or formally constituted, whose membership includes representatives of commercial fishing industry, scientists and/or Scottish Government officials and which are currently operating or have operated since 2020.
The Scottish Government engages with a wide range of groups relating to commercial fishing activity in Scottish inshore waters. These groups vary in purpose, duration and membership, and there is no centrally held or comprehensive record of all groups that have operated since 2020.
Membership is determined by the remit of each group and may include representatives from fishing organisations, scientific and academic institutions, environmental organisations and Scottish Government officials. Membership can also change over time as projects, programmes and areas of work evolve.
Providing a definitive list of all groups relating to commercial fishing activity in Scottish inshore waters, together with their memberships since 2020, would require extensive consultation across the Marine Directorate and parts of the wider Scottish Government. This would include teams covering sea fisheries, marine science, aquaculture, marine renewables, marine environment, licensing, compliance and operational delivery, together with a review of records held across multiple policy, research and delivery programmes.
Given the breadth of activity involved, the changing nature of membership and the absence of a central record, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
In relation to inshore fisheries management specifically, information on a number of key groups is already publicly available through Scottish Government and related stakeholder websites:
https://www.gov.scot/groups/fisheries-management--conservation-group-fmac/