Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-40158

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which measures under tier 2 of the agricultural policy support sustainable grazing practices on restored peatland.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to delivering our vision for agriculture and support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. To achieve this we are delivering a phased transition from legacy Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support into the new four-tier framework ensuring ensure a just transition for our farmers and crofters.

In 2025 we introduced additional measures to protect wetlands and peatlands as part of the mandatory conditions of GAEC 6. These measures are designed to promote healthy peatland contributing to improved biodiversity by providing a habitat for plants and insects as well as regulating water flow and prevent flooding.

Work is continuing with the industry as we demonstrate our commitment to co-develop the future support framework delivering the Vision for Agriculture and meeting the objectives of the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2025.

Question reference: S6W-39917

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on what the recorded landings were, by weight, of (a) haddock, (b) whiting, (c) cod and (d) saithe at west coast fishing harbours in (i) 1986, (ii) 1996, and (iii) 2006, and what the recorded returns were for wild salmon for the same harbours and years.

The available information on the recorded landings of UK vessels by species and district landed into Scotland in 1986 are published in table 6 of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 1986:

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2020/11/sea-fisheries-statistics-1922-2010/documents/1986/1986/govscot%3Adocument/1986.pdf

There is no information available for 1986 on the recorded landings of foreign vessels into Scotland in 1986 by species and district landed.

The available information on recorded landings by species and district landed into Scotland for 1996 are published in tables 12 (for UK vessels) and 26 (for foreign vessels) of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 1996:

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2020/11/sea-fisheries-statistics-1922-2010/documents/1996/1996/govscot%3Adocument/1996.pdf

The recording landings in tonnes for all vessels into west coast ports in Scotland for the requested species by district in 2006 are as follows:

District	Cod	Haddock	Saithe	Whiting
Ayr	7	39	5	1
Campbeltown	2	19	0	4
Kinlochbervie	250	745	760	43
Lochinver	203	632	5,586	7
Mallaig	13	267	9	74
Oban	2	2		2
Portree	0	86	4	0
Stornoway	3	9	0	6
Ullapool	75	2,039	609	18
Total West Coast	555	3,838	6,972	154

Prior to 2016, salmon were caught in commercial coastal net fisheries, but they were not landed through harbours. Salmon catches for 1952-2024, including 1986, 1996 and 2006, are published as official statistics in Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781836914761/documents. Detailed supporting data is available for download: https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/salmon-and-sea-trout-fishery-statistics-1952-2024-season-reported-catch-and-effort-district

Question reference: S6W-40155

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which measures in the Rural Support Plan will address the barriers highlighted in the study on Less Favoured Areas, including (a) small scales, (b) insecurity of tenancy agreements, (c) high investment cost and (d) inadequate advice.

Question reference: S6W-39740

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent introduction of mandatory remote electronic monitoring (REM) for scallop fishing vessels, what the current levels of compliance are among these vessels.

There are currently 80 Scottish registered fishing vessels and a further 21 vessels from other UK and Isle of Man administrations targeting scallops and fitted with Remote Electronic Monitoring equipment. Between 14 June 2024 and 13 August 2025 analysis has been carried out on approximately 1240 fishing voyages targeting Scallops and as a result of this analysis, two infringements are currently under investigation.

Question reference: S6W-40163

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, with regard to the objectives of the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024, what assessment it has made of enabling farming and crofting tenants to cull deer on unimproved land and moorland on common grazings.

Question reference: S6W-40157

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is planning to facilitate the use and management of common grazings in alignment with supporting sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Question reference: S6W-40162

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any financial benefits of carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services should be directed to the parties that are carrying out the work and/or have their use rights, including grazing rights, restricted through such projects.

Question reference: S6W-40161

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the scoring mechanism for peatland restoration, in light of the impact on projects in crofting areas that are caused by the effects of (a) high costs due to remoteness from central infrastructure and (b) the smaller scales of individual holdings.

Question reference: S6W-40156

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to support crofter-led environmental initiatives, including woodland creation and peatland restoration on common grazings, as set out by the provisions proposed in the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill.

Question reference: S6W-40159

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what actions have been carried out to align agri-environment climate schemes for peatland restoration and peatland action projects.