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: S3W-25660

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 29 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what role the local community has been given in respect of the management of the no-take zone in Lamlash Bay on the Isle of Arran.

Question reference: S3W-25670

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 29 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any organisations or individuals have been excluded from becoming members of any inshore fisheries group.

Question reference: S3W-25676

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 29 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive who has ownership of the fish in (a) Scotland’s inshore waters, (b) Scotland’s offshore waters and (c) international waters.

Ownership of fish in inshore waters is mixed. Insofar as fish, including salmon, are on the foreshore, or comprise mussels or native oysters, they are vested in the Crown. Unless otherwise regulated under statute, wild salmon and white fish are res nullius, that is ownerless until they are caught, when they become the property of the captor. If the captor has no right or permission to fish, or does so contrary to law, the fish are forfeit.

In offshore and international waters, all fish, including shellfish, are res nullius, until lawfully caught, when they become the property of the captor.

Question reference: S3W-25663

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many infractions of inshore fisheries regulations have been reported in each of the last 10 years, broken down by regulation, and, of these, how many resulted in (a) temporary loss of licence for the infractor, (b) permanent loss of licence for the infractor or (c) a fine or other punishment for the infractor.

Details of breaches of inshore related fisheries regulations reported by front line officers to the headquarters of the then Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA), for consideration of formal enforcement action, in each of the last 10 years is provided in the following tables. None of the infringements pursued resulted in either a temporary or permanent withdrawal of the associated fishing licences.

No reference years are provided to the list of statutory provisions given below as most have been subject to many revisions including in some cases orders which are renewed annually.

List of statutes:

A - The Sea Fishing (Prohibited Method of Fishing )(Firth of Clyde) Order(s).

B - The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Conservation Measures)(Scotland) Order(s).

C - The Inshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing and Fishing Methods)(Scotland) Order(s).

D - Food Protection (Emergency Prohibition)(Amnesic Shellfish Provision)(East Coast)(Scotland) Order(s).

E - The Prohibition of Fishing for Scallops (Scotland) Order(s).

F - The Shetland Islands Regulated Fishing (Scotland) Order(s).

G - Inshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing for Cockles ) Order(s).

H - The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) (Scotland) Order(s).

I - Council Regulation 2371/2002 (prosecuted directly under the Fisheries Act 1981 S.30(1)).

Figures given in the table below for each year relate to total cases reported to SFPA HQ with the figures in brackets being the number where a fine was ultimately imposed in any subsequent court proceedings.

Infractions of Inshore Related Fisheries Regulations, 1997 “ 2008

Statute	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
A	1(0)	1*(0)				2(2)	1(1)	1(1)			1(1)
B	4(2)	2(1)	3(2)	1(0)		3(3)	2(0)			2(0)		2(0)
C	3(1)	5(0)		1(0)	3(2)	2(2)		1(1)		1(1)
D				2(0)	1(0)		2(2)	1(1)
E								1(0)	2(1)		2(1)
F											1(1)
G						1(1)				2(0)
H											3(0)
I												1(1)
Totals	8(3)	8(1)	3(2)	4(0)	4(2)	8(8)	5(3)	4(3)	2(1)	5(1)	7(3)	3(1)

Note: *Found guilty but no penalty imposed.

Question reference: S3W-25658

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vessel monitoring system-equipped vessels have entered the no-take zone in Lamlash Bay on the Isle of Arran since it was established.

Question reference: S3W-25659

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any person has been caught contravening the Inshore Fishing (Prohibition on Fishing) (Lamlash Bay) (Scotland) Order 2008

Question reference: S3W-25657

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any scallop dredgers have operated inside the no-take zone in Lamlash Bay on the Isle of Arran since they were banned from doing so in September 2008.

Question reference: S3W-24964

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has consulted on the use of routine post mortem testing for mercury and aluminium traces as a useful way of aggregating evidence in relation to the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and, if so, what the responses were.

Question reference: S3W-25371

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what support is available to organic farming through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

Question reference: S3W-25372

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to increase the contribution that farming can make to reducing the impact of greenhouse gasses on climate change; what relevant strategies it is introducing or supporting, and when it will introduce a coordinated strategy for agriculture with reference to climate change impact reduction.

Chapter 6 of the Scottish Government''s Climate Change Delivery Plan, published in June, sets out the Government''s intentions in relation to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming and other rural land uses. As the delivery plan makes clear, more detailed strategies for all sectors will be published in 2010 in the Government''s report on proposals and policies.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/18103720/0.