Chamber and committees

My answer to question S1W-9281 confirms the Scottish Executive's position on compensation and possible assistance for the scallop sector through the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) programme.

In February this year, I introduced a relaxation to licensing and quota management provisions to allow certain vessels with Category C licences which were affected by the scallop fishery closures to fish for West of Scotland nephrops until the end of August.

In view of the most recent closures off the west coast, I have decided to extend this relaxation to the end of the year.

As at 24 August, 186 responses had been received. The closing date for submissions, originally scheduled for 4 August, was extended to 31 August. An analysis of the responses will be undertaken and a statement on follow-up action will be made in due course.

The Scottish Executive's primary investment in this area is through the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory (FFL), part of Fisheries Research Services. SERAD expenditure at FFL for the years 1997-98,1998-99 and 1999-2000 was £1.28 million, £1.27 million and £1.77 million respectively.

There are currently no government-sponsored studies into the impact of the introduction of non-native fish stocks. However, the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory maintains a watching brief on the distribution of freshwater fish species.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to release any fish not native to Great Britain into the wild without a licence. The Import of Live Fish (Scotland) Act 1978 also gives powers to Scottish Ministers to prohibit the import, keeping or release of fish that are not native to Scotland which might compete with, displace, prey on or harm the habitat of any freshwater fish, shellfish or salmon in Scotland. To date, only three Orders have been made under the 1978 Act. Whether further Orders should be made to prohibit other species which may be used as live bait will be considered under the "Protecting and Promoting Scotland's Freshwater Fish and Fisheries" review.

Importation is regulated by the Fish Health Regulations 1997 and the Diseases of Fish Act 1937 for imports from EU and non-EU countries respectively.

Fish eggs of native species can be imported, without application, from EU zones and farms with fish health status equivalent to our own, provided consignments are notified in advance. No notifications have been made in the last five years. No applications from non-EU countries have been made or granted in the last five years.

Following the widespread occurrence of Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) in 1999 a new three-year research project, with an annual estimated cost of £27,498, was commenced in April 2000. The objectives of the project are to identify the algal species responsible for ASP and to assess their seasonal and geographical distribution.

In addition the Food Standards Agency is committed to spend nearly £1 million in the next three years on research into algal toxins, of which one third can be attributed to ASP.

During the 1990s, Fisheries Research Services participated in a number of collaborative projects to address the issue of whether the sandeel fishery had potential implications for wild salmonid stocks.

Direct impacts were investigated by placing observers on sandeel trawlers off the Scottish east coast. No by-catch of salmon smolts was encountered. Potential indirect effects include the suggestion that the sandeel fishery might remove an important source of food for salmonids. An assessment of this possibility concluded that sandeels were just one of many prey species taken by salmonids, and that a properly managed sandeel fishery was unlikely to threaten the availability of this particular food source.

A Trust's annual capital depreciation charge is calculated on the estimated working lives of assets and formula capital allocation is only part of a Trust's potential capital investment, as a result, it is not possible to draw a meaningful comparison between the two in isolation.

Given that each Trust has a formula capital allocation which forms only part of their annual capital spend and that depreciation is calculated over the estimated working life of an asset, it is not possible to produce meaningful comparisons between depreciation and formula capital allocation in isolation.