Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16386 on 23 July 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The terms of reference for the study required the consultants to gather data from potential operators. This information was used to inform the analysis and findings as set out in the final report.

We do not publish the levels of subsidy required for individual routes, this information is considered to be commercially sensitive.

It will be for the operator to make decisions about how vessels will be deployed in the event of breakdowns within the network.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14881 on 16 May 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14881 on 16 May 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has listened carefully and responded to fishermen’s concerns about the number of days at sea that will be available to inshore prawn fishermen in 2013. As a result, days at sea allocations for west coast prawn vessels will be equivalent to 95% or more of the hours spent at sea on the west coast in 2009-2011.

To assist skippers the Government has offered fishing vessels an option in 2013 to participate in a range of publicly funded marine science initiatives identified by Marine Scotland that will improve inshore fisheries and marine science on the west coast. Representatives of 21 vessels have applied for this work.

We fully expects that the allocations agreed this year should allow us to return effort limits to normal levels in 2014-15, but this will depend on effort uptake in 2013-14.

We have also initiated discussions with the European Commission officials seeking the exemption from the effort limits of the cod plan for inshore prawn vessels that can document very low cod catches. The Scottish Government cannot itself exempt vessels: this can only be achieved by the European Commission making a proposal to the Council of Ministers. The Government is therefore working with the Commission to seek an agreement about the types of documentation that can be agreed as being satisfactory for the purposes of verifying very low catches of cod. The Government will also discuss the terms of an application for exemption with representatives of the fishing industry prior to its submission.

Transport Scotland officials regularly meet with Argyll Ferries Limited to monitor and receive performance updates on the service. The two passenger vessels which operate between Gourock and Dunoon town centres currently have a very high technical reliability rate. However, the two vessels have proved to be susceptible to disruption and cancellations during bad weather and in particular during the severe weather experienced this March 2013.

It has been recognised that the performance of the service is below the reasonable expectation of the local communities. As a consequence Scottish Ministers and Argyll Ferries Limited are currently in the process of searching for replacement vessel options.

Impacts of open pen freshwater aquaculture production on wild fisheries was published on the Scottish Government website on Wednesday 24 October 2012 and is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/10/5393.

The authors, Homarus Ltd, consulted a wide range of stakeholders including farmed salmon and rainbow trout businesses, fisheries trusts, District Salmon Fishery Boards and scientists during the study. A full list of consultees is published in Annex 2 of the report.

A pre-publication workshop was held on 19 July 2012 to discuss the main findings of the report. Invitees included representatives of farmed Atlantic salmon businesses, Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, British Trout Association, Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland, Association of Salmon Fishery Boards, Scottish Environment Link, Scottish Association of Marine Science, Seafood Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, The Crown Estate, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Marine Scotland.

<>An Investment Plan providing the estimated funding required for all of our short term proposals was set out in the Ferries Plan, published on 19 December 2012. The actual level of funding required for the new service between Campbeltown and Ardrossan is being finalised to reflect the published timetables agreed by the community.

The timetable and fares structure was published on CalMac’s website on 19 April 2013.

The new replacement bus service is currently operating ahead of a formal contract variation to the public services contract between Argyll Ferries Limited (AFL) and the Scottish Ministers.

Argyll Ferries Limited will be tendering for the replacement bus service including the costs of the arrangement and will formally submit a contract variation once this has been completed.

Although a formal variation has not yet been received, Scottish Ministers in agreement with all parties, AFL and Western Ferries (Clyde) Limited, wanted to deliver this contingency arrangement as soon as possible to ensure that disruption to the communities of Gourock and Dunoon were kept to a minimum during occasions of adverse weather.

All contract variations in respect of this service are published by Transport Scotland at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/water/ferries/subsidised/gourock-dunoon.

The contract variation, once submitted will have an impact on the level of subsidy given by Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Government agreed to fund 90% costs of the replacement bus service and AFL will contribute the remaining 10% of costs. As the cost of the service will be paid at the end of each financial year the precise costs of this new arrangement are not yet known. In any case it is difficult to estimate the cost given it is dependent on future weather conditions and any consequential disruption to the town centre service. Budgetary provision has been set aside to cover the cost of the new arrangement. The cost of the contract variation is commercially sensitive and therefore will not be published.