Chamber and committees

There are no reliable estimates of the tonnage of illegally landed fish.

However the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) makes an on-going assessment of the quantity of fish which may have been landed illegally through a systematic analysis of the available data including returns completed by fishermen and the results of surveillance activity on the quayside and beyond the point of landing. That information is used to guide enforcement activity on an on-going basis. However, it cannot be relied upon as statistically accurate or suitable for evidential purposes, nor does it provide a reliable estimate of tonnage.

The SFPA are able to estimate the amount of fish landed that might otherwise have gone unrecorded had a boarding at sea or an inspection at the point of landing not been carried out. Had the catch not been inspected it might be reasonable to assume that some or all of the quota sensitive species retained on board may not have been declared in returns made to fisheries departments. As reported in the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency’s Annual Report 2003-04 it is estimated that this amounts to between 500-700 tonnes per month for the demersal species.

The following table provides the total number of complaints issued by procurators fiscal against the owners and/or masters of fishing vessels registered at a Scottish port, in the years 2000 to 2004, for complaints which related directly to the illegal landing of fish.

Year	Totals
2000	3
2001	5
2002	15
2003	11
2004	8

 

The SFPA has never provided an estimate of the tonnage of illegally landed fish.

No Scottish vessels have licences to fish in West African waters under agreements negotiated through the European Union or United Kingdom.

The registration of engine power is supplied to the Registry of Shipping and Seamen by measurers appointed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The MCA’s responsibility is to ensure that the correct maximum continuous engine power (mcep) or where modified, the permanently de-rated power, is registered against each fishing vessel. Details of Scottish vessels whose engines have been checked against registration each year since 2000 are as follows:

Year	Under 12	15 – 24 Metre	Over 24 Metre	Total
2000	8	No data	No data	8
2001	14	63	4	81
2002	16	64	28	108
2003	No data	97	25	122
2004	No data	110	26	136
2005	No data	17	2	19

 

Engine power is checked as part of an agreement between MCA and the UK Fisheries Departments and requires checks to be made against the details that have been registered for all vessels. All fishing vessels must be registered with the correct mcep. If there is any disparity, MCA are responsible for checking and ensuring the power is correctly registered.

Vessels which fall into the survey regime have their engine plate details checked on initial build and thereafter every four or five years depending on the Survey regime. In November 2002, vessels between 12 metres and 15 metres length overall (LOA) were no longer required to be surveyed, a consequence of the introduction by MCA of the 15 to 24 metres code.

However, vessels between 12 metres and 15 metres are now included in the Small Code. The code does not require a survey but all vessels under 15 metres are inspected to ensure that they comply with the code and therefore any engine discrepancy found as a result of an inspection is resolved and the correct power registered.

No vessel owners have been prosecuted for infringements in relation to registered engine power in any of these years.

No. I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-15023 on 18 March 2005. 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/webapp/wa.search

While the IT systems being developed will allow sharing of information about children who are on child protection registers they are not intended as a replacement for the registers.

No.

IT systems are being developed to allow sharing of agreed information between agencies through development of a secure integrated childrens record. The Scottish Executive is supporting pilot projects in Glasgow, Grampian, Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway.

As the systems are concerned with the sharing of personal information any data sharing issues are subject to data protection legislation. Discussions have therefore been held with the Assistant UK Information Commisioner (Scotland) as data protection issues are governed by the UK Information Commisioner.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-13486 on 28 January 2005. 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/webapp/wa.search.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate runs a programme of surveillance for residues of veterinary medicinal products and certain other substances in products of animal origin. As part of this, Scottish  Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department’s Fisheries Research Service collects samples of salmon, which are analysed for avermectins. Emamectin was included in this surveillance in 2003, but not included prior to this date.

Year	Number of Samples Analysed	Number with Detectable Residues	Residues below the MRL and Concentration (µg/kg)	Residues above the MRL and Concentration (µg/kg)
2003	180	2	60, 70	0
2004	179	0	0	0

 

During 2003 and 2004, a total of 359 samples of salmon were collected for emamectin analysis. No samples were found to contain residues above the MRL of 100µg/kg. In 2003 two samples were found to contain residues at concentrations of 60 and 70µg/kg. No samples analysed in 2004 were found to contain detectable residues of emamectin.