Chamber and committees

Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have not met formally with the Fishing Vessel Agents & Owners Association (Scotland) Ltd since we were appointed to our roles.

The Scottish Government does not have the powers to prosecute Marine and Fisheries offences, these powers lie with the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) who prosecute on our behalf. This is a technical point.

The 1984 Act is one of many acts and orders which the Scottish Government uses to control marine and fisheries activities.

The 1984 Act mainly controls restrictions on fishing methods in vulnerable areas, much of which is now covered by orders made under the Marine Scotland Act 2010.

The legislation used depends on the offences committed and the penalties available.

Additionally, the Scottish Government has powers to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) in lieu of reporting cases to the COPFS. Most cases where a penalty was deemed appropriate were dealt with in this way. Details of FPNs are published, link Reporting statistics from marine and fisheries compliance - gov.scot

Table detailing cases prosecuted under the 1984 Act.

The Scottish Government has since 2021 awarded £8.25m to Seafood Scotland as Scotland’s national trade and marketing organisation for the seafood industry. Seafood Scotland projects have included those:

• supporting domestic and export market development;
• promoting wide awareness of Scottish seafood as a sustainable food source and the opportunities it offers as a career destination; and
• co-hosting, in October 2024, the Responsible Seafood Summit in St Andrews which attracted 350 delegates from around the world to further develop a healthy, responsible global seafood community.

Seafood Scotland is currently leading on the development of a Scottish Ocean Cluster alongside other key stakeholders including Zero Waste Scotland, Ibioic, Opportunity North East and Aberdeenshire Council. This project is part of a concerted and integrated movement to increase the utilisation of processing and catching by-products, and to increase their value by converting them for example to food and biomedical products.

We acknowledge that there is an overall lack of data and evidence on women in fisheries for a number of reasons, and we agree that steps are needed to improve this. This is an important issue and many of these gaps will need to be filled in collaboration with the industry and the wider research communities.

The Scottish Government recognises and values the very important role that many women play in Scotland’s fisheries sector.

Scotland's Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030 seeks to recognise the important role that all parts of society make to the fishing industry, and to promote involvement across all genders and equalities groups in a positive and inclusive way.

We want to work with the industry to shape the policy outcomes which contribute to better outcomes for women working in the sector.

Our commitment to Scotland’s seafood sector was reflected in the publication of the Strategy for Seafood in October 2022. While there are no current plans to update this document, Scottish Government will continue to work with industry to realise our ambitions for the sector. This includes continuing to work with the sector on trade barriers arising from EU Exit, which has impaired the competitiveness of Scottish seafood.

The Scottish Government does not have the powers to prosecute Marine and Fisheries offences, these powers lie with the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) who prosecute on our behalf. This is a technical point.

The 1967 Act is a parent act under which orders were made, it is therefore more likely that any offence would be taken against a subordinate order rather than the act itself. Other acts have also superseded the 1967 Act, such as the Fisheries Act 2020, which is where licensing powers comes from. Any licence breaches are therefore pursued under the 2020 Act.

Additionally, the Scottish Government has powers to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) in lieu of reporting cases to the COPFS. Most cases where a penalty was deemed appropriate were dealt with in this way. Details of FPNs are published, link Reporting statistics from marine and fisheries compliance - gov.scot

Table detailing cases prosecuted under the 1967 Act or subordinate orders.

I understand the concerns around increasing competition for marine space and the different pressures on various marine activities.

I welcomed publication of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations’ and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation’s joint report, ‘Spatial Squeeze in Fisheries’ in June 2022. I am very aware of the potential cumulative impacts on the fishing industry and my officials and I continue to engage stakeholders to explore this issue within the policy development process.

Effectively managing how we use our marine space is critical in our transition to net zero, the achievement of our national and international biodiversity commitments and to maximise the opportunities a blue economy approach can deliver for our marine industries and communities.

That is why we have committed to developing a new National Marine Plan for Scotland (NMP2). Marine planning is a powerful tool for managing multiple uses of our seas by bringing together different interests and seeks to balance the needs of people and our environment through decision-making. Encouraging economic growth across both developing and existing marine sectors is a key priority.

A new planning framework as part of NMP2 must help facilitate this, and further action aimed at tackling the climate and nature emergency. Delivering a new National Marine Plan relies on speaking and working with those who know our seas best. We have taken forward a number of engagement events that have discussed the full range of marine planning issues, of which pressures on the marine space has been a high level topic. Please find details of these below:

Fisheries stakeholders present:

• 22-06-2023 – NMP Forum, in-person event at EICC, Edinburgh
• 20-06-2024 – NMP2 HLO Fisheries workshop, virtual
• 22-8-2024 – NMP2 Fisheries in-person workshop at FSS offices in Aberdeen
• 13-11-2024 - NMP Forum, in-person event in Stirling
• 21-01-2025 – NMP2 Community Engagement drop-in session, virtual meeting

Environmental stakeholders present:

• 22-06-2023 – NMP Forum, in-person event at EICC, Edinburg
• 11-01-2024 – NMP2 consultation authorities workshop, VQ
• 02-02-2024 – Meeting with consultation authorities, VQ
• 23-4-2024 – NMP2 HLO workshop with Consultation authorities, VQ
• 25-8-2024 – NMP2 HLO and draft policy ideas workshop with eNGOs, virtual
• 30-5-2024 – NMP2 HLO Workshop with young Environmentalists, virtual
• 13-8-2024 – NMP2 HLO follow-up discussion with Young Environmentalists, virtual
• 15-8-2024 - NMP2 Environment follow-up discussion on HLO and draft policy ideas, virtual meeting
• 13-11-2024 - NMP Forum, in-person event in Stirling
• 21-01-2025 – NMP2 Community Engagement drop-in session, virtual meeting

We set up the Fisheries Management and Conservation (FMAC) Climate Change Subgroup in early 2023 to help guide us and to build our knowledge and understanding of both climate mitigation and adaptation. The group is formed of industry reps, eNGOs, academia, as well as organisations such as Seafish and Fisheries Innovation and Sustainability.

We will work with the subgroup to understand what options for reducing emissions from fishing can be taken in the short, medium and long-term and develop a plan of actions.

From 2019 the landing obligation requires all species subject to a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) be landed irrespective of whether they are above the required marketable size. It is therefore not illegal to land fish below the minimum size if it is recorded and not sold for human consumption. It can be processed for fishmeal or used as bait in creel fisheries. The following link provides further information Landing obligation and discarding - Sea fisheries - gov.scot

The following table details reports where fish below the relevant minimum size was landed to be sold for human consumption.