Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-23164 on 27 November 2014. 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

Responsibility for agricultural land in the ownership or control of the Scottish Government lies with the Agriculture, Food and Rural Communities Directorate (under the management of the Rural Payments and Inspections Division).

The Scottish Government has landholdings which could come under the definition of greenfield, however responsibility lies with the directorate under whose banner that land is held. The information requested is thus not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Any complaint would be to the appropriate Scottish Government directorate. In the case of agricultural land, that would be the Rural Payments and Inspections Division. No directorate has overall responsibility for greenfield land so any complaint would have to be directed to the directorate which owns the land in question.

Any member of the public who has a complaint about the misuse of greenfield and agricultural land in the Scottish Government’s ownership or control should, in the first instance, contact either the Scottish Government’s Central Enquiry Unit (CEU) to be directed to the correct business area or follow our complaints process. Contact details for the CEU as well as information on how to make a complaint can be found on our website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Contacts

Marine Scotland has commissioned consultants Grid Economics (Geoff Riddington and Alan Radford) to produce an economic analysis of the impacts of possible new management measures in Scotland’s inshore fisheries. We have received a draft report which is currently being finalised. We expect to be able to publish early in 2015.

Scottish Natural Heritage provides advice to Marine Scotland on Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for territorial waters. This includes advice on the selection of Nature Conservation MPAs, how the conservation objectives of an MPA may be achieved and activities which can damage a natural feature of an MPA, as well as providing advice on the recommended boundary of an MPA. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee provides equivalent advice for waters outside the 12 nautical mile limit and Historic Scotland leads on Historic MPAs.

Marine Scotland was established on 1 April 2009 as a directorate of Scottish Government by merging together the functions and resources of the previous Scottish Government Marine Directorate, Fisheries Research Services and the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

Marine Scotland is directly accountable to Scottish Ministers and does not have a statutory board. An internal board of senior management including two non-executives provide challenge on processes, financial management and risk.

There are no plans to review the membership in the near future but in line with normal practices Marine Scotland will be reviewed in 2015.

There are no immediate plans to assess the Norwegian model of scallop management as scallop fishing in Norway is not analogous to scallop fishing in Scotland.

In Scotland, scallop fishing is targeted principally by dredgers alongside a small but important, on a localised basis, dived sector. Scottish vessels operate right around the coast of the British Isles and in 2012 Scottish vessels landed 17,092 tonnes of scallops (with a first landing value of £31.3 million).

The king scallop fishery in the other nations of the British Isles has a similar tradition and occurs along similar lines. However, in Norway the fishery is prosecuted on a much smaller scale (676 tonnes landed in 2012) and is prosecuted by divers.

In 2013 Marine Scotland commissioned a review of the Scottish scallop fishery; the review concluded in 2014 and made recommendations about scallop management. As part of the review process the consultants looked at the management frameworks in place in other parts of the British Isles to inform the process.

Marine Scotland is currently consulting on new management measures in its king scallop fishery which can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the dredged scallop fishery to Scotland. However, we are aware of its environmental impact and have and are taking steps to help manage this.

Scotland has a long tradition of commercial scallop dredging and it provides important employment opportunities in many coastal communities, not just fishing, but in processing and secondary industries. Of the 17,518 tonnes caught by Scottish vessels last year, 16,966 were caught by dredge.

Marine Scotland is currently consulting on introducing new management measures into the king scallop fishery. In addition it was recently announced that the ability to target king scallops by mechanical dredge would be suspended to those vessels with a scallop entitlement that had not targeted the fishery in the past six years.

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 under which the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been designated provide powers to designate MPAs for the conservation of marine flora or fauna, marine habitats and geological features. The powers in the Acts relate to the protection of features for which an MPA has been designated. By protecting the features that support the overall ecology of the MPA, we are better able to design management and develop monitoring tailored to the conservation of particular species and habitats and this can also provide effective conservation benefits for the ecosystem.

We have commissioned independent research from the consultants Grid Economics to assess options for management of Scotland's inshore fisheries, including the socio-economic impact of applying a three mile limit on mobile fishing gear. We expect this research to be published early in 2015.