- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4268 by Ross Finnie on 6 December 2001, whether it will make representations to the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission seeking a scientific opinion as to whether the differences in height between the genetically modified oil-seed rape and the normal oil-seed rape in the trial at Roskil farm on the Black Isle could adversely affect the comparison of biodiversity between the two.
Answer
No. The reported difference in height between crops at Munlochy does not raise any safety or regulatory issues of concern to the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment. The conduct of the farmscale evaluations is determined by an independent Scientific Steering Committee who will determine in the context of the whole UK trial programme whether such differences are significant in their final analysis.
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4268 by Ross Finnie on 6 December 2001, why there is a difference in heights between the genetically modified oil-seed rape and the normal oil-seed rape it is being compared with in the trial at Roskil farm on the Black Isle.
Answer
The relative heights of crops at farmscale evaluation sites is not a matter of safety or regulatory concern and is not measured by the Scottish Executive or our GM Inspectorate. The scientists who are overseeing these trials will consider whether any differences are significant as part of their final analysis.
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, when considering licence applications to kill or remove eider ducks in order to protect mussel farms, what assessment it gives to alternative measures to protect mussel farms and how it determines whether these alternatives are successful.
Answer
Non-lethal deterrents must have been employed before a licence is granted. Historical evidence, or that seen during a site inspection, is considered. Advice on non-lethal methods is provided to applicants and may be followed up if subsequent applications are received.
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many licence applications to kill or remove eider ducks in order to protect mussel farms have been (a) received from and (b) granted to (i) the Shetland Islands, (ii) the Orkney Islands, (iii) Argyll and Bute, (iv) the Western Isles and (v) the Highland Council area in each year from 1998 to date.
Answer
No applications have been received from the Orkney Islands, the Western Isles or the Highland Council Area since 1998.One license has been applied for and issued to the Shetland Islands in 2001-02. In Argyll and Bute, the following figures apply:
1997-98 | 2 applications | 2 licences issued |
1998-99 | 5 applications | 4 licences issued |
1999-2000 | 2 applications | 2 licences issued |
2000-01 | 2 application | 2 licence issued |
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures for site inspection and local consultation are used in the determination of whether to issue licences to kill or remove eider ducks for the protection of mussel farms.
Answer
Site inspections are carried out on every occasion when the application is the first in respect of an area. They are undertaken by a representative of the Fisheries Research Services Marine Laboratory and the local Scottish Natural Heritage officer.
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what tests it applies in relation to licence applications to kill or remove eider ducks to protect mussel farms and what scientific advice it has received as to determining the level of damage which could be caused to such farms.
Answer
An assessment is made of the site development, including standing stock, production levels, staff presence on site and site situation. Records of predation, and evidence of non-lethal measures and anti-predator devices used are considered. Applicants are required to maintain records of temporal and spacial distribution of predator species and to produce these for inspection.
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimate is of the eider duck population; how many and what proportion of these are found in (a) the Shetland Islands, (b) the Orkney Islands, (c) Argyll and Bute, (d) the Western Isles and (e) the Highland Council area, and what the local population changes in each of these areas have been over the past 25 years.
Answer
The most recently published estimate of the eider duck population - 77,500 wintering in Great Britain, including 66,000 in Scottish inshore coastal waters - is for the period 1986-92. The totals and proportions for Shetland, Orkney, the Western Isles, Moray Firth and the west coast of Scotland are set out in the table. Data for the administrative regions of Highland Council and Argyll and Bute are not available.
Area | Population | Proportion | Trend |
Shetland Islands | 7,000 | 10.6% | Declining |
Orkney Islands | 6,000 | 9.1% | Not known |
Western Isles | 6,000 | 9.1% | Not known |
Moray Firth (only part of Highland Council area) | 2,500 | 3.8% | Not known |
West coast of Scotland (includes Argyll & Bute) | 9,000 | 13.6% | Probably increasing |
The population in the UK is resident, although winter numbers may be enhanced by variable numbers of birds originating from the large north-west European population.Limited evidence suggests an increase in the population up to at least the late 1980s, apart from in Shetland, where marked declines in the population have occurred (from a maximum of 16,500 in 1977 to an estimated 5,700 in 2001).
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has conducted any site visits or local consultations in regard to licences to kill or remove eider ducks in (a) the Shetland Islands, (b) the Orkney Islands, (c) Argyll and Bute, (d) the Western Isles and (e) the Highland Council area during 2001 or whether any such visits or consultations are planned in the next six months.
Answer
One site visit has been carried out in 2001. Such visits are always made on the first occasion an area is the subject of an application.
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what species of eider duck are found in (a) the Shetland Islands, (b) the Orkney Islands, (c) Argyll and Bute, (d) the Western Isles and (e) the Highland Council area.
Answer
The species of eider found in all parts of the UK is the common eider (Somateria mollissima).
- Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 6 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to any difference in growth between the genetically modified (GM) oil-seed rape and the normal oil-seed rape with which it is being compared at the GM field trial at Roskil farm on the Black Isle.
Answer
The farm scale evaluation programme is concerned with effects on biodiversity. The relative rate of growth of the GM and conventional crops is not one of the key indicators of the programme.However, scientists overseeing these trials across the UK note any major differences between the crops over the entire cropping cycle and will consider these as part of their final analysis.